HEADLINES

Keshawn Martin

Texans Claim Oday Aboushi, Trade Keshawn Martin To Pats

September 17th, 2015 at 2:18pm CST by Luke Adams

THURSDAY, 2:18pm: The Texans will receive a fifth-round pick from the Patriots and the Texans gave the Patriots a sixth-round choice, Mark Berman of FOX 26 tweets.

WEDNESDAY, 4:00pm: A day after he was cut by the Jets, offensive lineman Oday Aboushi has been claimed off waivers by the Texans, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Texans had an open roster spot after placing tight end Ryan Griffin on IR-DTR, so Aboushi slides into that opening.

Aboushi, 24, was suspended for the first game of the 2015 season for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, and when it came time to reinstate him this week, the Jets opted to simply waive him instead. A year ago, Aboushi started 10 games at left guard for New York and held his own — Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked the former fifth-round pick as the 43rd-best guard out of 78 qualified players, giving him an above-average grade as a run blocker.

In Houston, Aboushi reunites with Mike Devlin, who served as the Jets’ offensive line coach in 2013 and 2014. Devlin now holds the same position for the Texans, who could be without starting left tackle Duane Brown this Sunday.

As Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reported earlier today (via Twitter), the Texans are also promoting WR/KR Chandler Worthy from the practice squad. In order to accommodate Worthy, Houston has traded WR/KR Keshawn Martin to the Patriots, per John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).

Martin, 25, acted as Houston’s primary kick and punt returner and caught 32 balls in his first two years with the Texans, but had just six receptions in 2014 and didn’t play in the team’s opener this year. It’s not clear yet what sort of compensation Houston got from New England for Martin, but I can’t imagine it was more than a late-round draft pick, perhaps a conditional one.

Extra Points: Zimmer, 49ers, Texans, Bengals

June 2nd, 2014 at 11:05pm CST by Dallas Robinson

A few assorted items to close out this Monday evening:

  • The union between the Vikings and new head coach Mike Zimmer almost didn’t happen, writes Mike Garafolo of FoxSports.com. Having missed out on the Titans job, Zimmer felt as though his opportunity for a head coaching job might never come. “I almost didn’t go (on the second interview with Minnesota), yeah. I was so disappointed,” said Zimmer. “It was like, ‘Why even do this?’ It was to that point. I figured I was getting too old. I thought, ‘Forget this.'” Zimmer had been a successful defensive coordinator for the past 14 seasons.
  • The 49ers are creating more cap space to make room for a Colin Kaepernick extension, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. San Francisco got $6.6MM in relief when Carlos Rogers‘ contract (a post-June 1 designation) was cleared off the books, and received another $2.6MM after NaVorro Bowman converted some of his base salary into a signing bonus.
  • Keshawn Martin will face competition for the Texans’ returner job, per David Barron of the Houston Chronicle. “There are many candidates for those jobs,” said head coach Bill O’Brien. “Preseason is when we really have to get a true evaluation of the guys who are back there and who is going to return punts, who are going to be the kickoff return guys, and who will be the emergency guys if something happens to the starters.”
  • New Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson thinks that right tackle Andre Smith is entering the upcoming season with a new fire, writes Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “In my opinion, this Andre Smith is a different Andre Smith than the one I’ve ever seen,” said Jackson. “He’s a more focused, agile, hungry guy after something.” Pro Football Focus rated Smith as the 20th-best offensive tackle in the NFL last season (subscription required).
  • It might just be the usual preseason platitudes, but Raiders coach Dennis Allen claims there is no official depth chart as of yet, and states he is especially looking forward to the running back competition between Darren McFadden and Maurice Jones-Drew. “We’re going to put the best players on the field, and the guys that give us the best opportunity to win, whoever that may be,” said Allen. “I do know this: I do know throughout the course of a 16-game season, you’re going to need everybody. I think it’s great when you have multiple players that you feel confident that they can come in and do the job. We’ll let the competition dictate who plays and how much they play. It’s a good feeling to know that you’ve got some qualified people in the running back room that can carry the loads for you.”