Earl Thomas, Baltimore Ravens. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Earl Thomas will not be signing a deal with the Houston Texans.
The Houston Texans are 0-3 and looking for answers. To be fair, Bill O’Brien’s squad did have games against the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, and Pittsburgh Steelers to begin the season. But to be a great team you must beat other great teams.
The main focus is on offense. Houston could desperately use DeAndre Hopkins, and David Johnson isn’t doing much at running back. The team was also reportedly looking at Earl Thomas to upgrade the defense.
That pursuit is reportedly off as a visit between the two sides was canceled.
Earl Thomas remains a free agent
Thomas signed a four-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens in 2019. He seemed to be a core piece on that defense until he punched a teammate in practice this year and was promptly let go. 2018 saw Thomas’ season end early with a broken leg and he famously gave his own coach the finger.
Character issues surround the safety, for what those are worth, and that likely played a role in the Texans ultimately deciding not to sign him. Money may have also been an issue if Thomas is asking for annual values close to the four-year, $55 million deal he signed in Baltimore.
Thomas is 31 years old and the Texans already have internal problems to deal with. Adding more may not be worth it as O’Brien looks to turn things around right away.
The Texans have loosely been linked to Antonio Brown, so don’t think O’Brien is avoiding players with drama just yet. But the offense is where the Texans need the most help so it may be worth taking such a big risk.
Thomas will continue to search for a job and all the injuries seen so far in 2020 boost his chances of getting signed somewhere. He may just have to take a pay cut and prove he is not a problem for his new team.