One piece to the Texans’ 2025 offensive line puzzle has emerged. Veteran guard Laken Tomlinson has a deal in place with Houston, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.
Tomlinson will join the Texans on a one-year contract, per Garafolo. The pact has a base value of $4.25MM and can reach a maximum of $5MM. A veteran of 163 games and 155 starts, he will be able to operate as a first-team option on his latest team.
Although the Texans fired Bobby Slowik after two seasons, DeMeco Ryans was on staff during Tomlinson’s run with the 49ers. Tomlinson, 33, no longer profiles as the level of player he was with San Francisco but did hold down a Seattle starting guard job last season. The former Lions draftee is also one of the NFL’s most durable players, having not missed a game since the 2017 season.
The 49ers’ 2017 trade for Tomlinson revived the former first-round pick’s career, and he started 80 games for the team. This also brought starts in two NFC championship games and Super Bowl LIV. Tomlinson reunited with another ex-49ers DC (Robert Saleh) in 2022, after his lone Pro Bowl season, but the Jets cut bait on his three-year, $40MM contract after two seasons. Tomlinson made his way to Seattle to be a low-cost guard option, playing for the veteran minimum in base value last season.
Pro Football Focus viewed the 10-year veteran as taking a slight step forward last year, ranking him 44th at the position among regulars. The Texans cut fellow durable guard Shaq Mason, after his ironman run ended late last season. They are adding another 2015 draftee in Tomlinson, who has made 155 career starts. Tomlinson joins an O-line that lost anchor Laremy Tunsil on Monday; the Texans traded Tunsil to the Commanders to end a six-year partnership. This could keep Tytus Howard at right tackle, after he has vacillated between tackle and guard in Houston.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.
If their plan to fix the guard spot is to grab part of Seattle’s interior line from last year, yikes.
Based on pff, Mason and Tomlinson had similar seasons.
Both scored 65 in pass blocking
Tomlinson had a higher run blocking grade (59 vs 57)
Both scored a 62 grade
Tomlison allowed two less sacks
Idk how much money they saved cutting Mason but Tomlinson checks in at cheaper by comparison. But Tomlinson is a significant upgrade over Green.
Green has been awful. Being better than Green is not the standard they should be worried about. Finding an actual good answer should be. Tomlinson hasn’t been full blown good since before the Jets. If this is just depth/insurance, fine. But an intended playoff team that needs to fix its line should not be content planning to start Tomlinson at this stage in his career.
Well – a little better and more proven commodity than Green….
Watch any film. Laken Tomlinson is trash. Respectfully.
I watched Fletch today. Saw nothing, absolutely nothing about Laken Tomlinson in it