A Texans-to-Vikings pipeline is forming on defense. Hours after Jonathan Greenard committed to leave Houston for Minnesota, the Vikes are poaching another of DeMeco Ryans‘ troops.
Blake Cashman has a past in the Twin Cities, however, and the Eden Prairie, Minn., native is returning home. Cashman is coming back to Minnesota on a three-year deal worth up to $25.5MM, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero.
Brought in as a special-teamer in Houston, Cashman became a defensive regular on the team’s divisional-round-qualifying team last season. He was expected to generate a market, and that came to fruition. This will give the Texans another defensive cog to replace.
The Texans expected Cashman to draw a notable market, which differs from where his value was before last season. Houston had employed the ex-Jet fifth-rounder as a special-teamer, but Ryans gave him a much bigger defensive role in 2023. Cashman started 13 games — after totaling just eight starts from 2019-22 — and made 106 tackles, intercepting a pass and adding two sacks. The Texans used Cashman, Christian Harris and Denzel Perryman extensively; only Harris is signed for 2024.
The Vikings have both Jordan Hicks and Troy Dye unsigned for the ’24 season. With change coming on the edge in Brian Flores’ defense, it can be expected more ILB moves are on tap as well. Hicks and UDFA Ivan Pace led the way in LB snaps for the ’23 Vikings; Pace appears set to team with Cashman on a low-cost linebacking corps.