5:30pm: Shorts will receive $2.5MM guaranteed, tweets Tania Ganguli of ESPN.com.
2:52pm: Shorts’ two-year deal with the Texans is worth $6MM, according to Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports (Twitter link).
1:52pm: After hosting him for a visit today, the Texans have reached an agreement on a contract for wide receiver Cecil Shorts, reports John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter links). According to McClain, it’s a two-year deal for Shorts, whose agreement with Houston was first reported by Zac Jackson of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
Shorts, 27, has spent the first four years of his NFL career in Jacksonville, totaling 176 receptions for the Jaguars. His best season came in 2012, when he racked up 979 yards on just 55 receptions, reaching the end zone seven times. The former fourth-round pick has been nagged by injuries over the last two years, and averaged just 10.5 yards per catch in 2014.
On the surface, Shorts will be tasked with replacing Andre Johnson on the depth chart in Houston, though no one will expect him to replicate the longtime Texan’s production. As McClain observed earlier today (via Twitter), even after adding a veteran wideout in free agency, Houston will likely address the position in the draft as well to ensure that the group – led by DeAndre Hopkins – isn’t too thin.
Shorts is the second notable wideout to make the move from one AFC South team to another this offseason. After being cut by the Texans, Johnson landed with the Colts.