Houston will have decisions to make on the interior defensive line with Mario Edwards Jr. and Folorunso Fatukasi set to be free agents.
Per Jonathan M. Alexander of the Houston Chronicle, the Texans are prioritizing improvement at defensive tackle in free agency. Alexander named former Bengals DT Sheldon Rankins as a reunion option after Cincinnati let him go for salary cap purposes.
Alongside Tim Settle Jr., Alexander believes Houston will add a tackle in free agency and the draft to overhaul the position.
Rankins, 30, is a former first-round pick of the Saints back in 2016. He was entering the final year of his four-year, $12.8 million contract when the Saints picked up his fifth-year option worth $7.7 million for the 2020 season.
New Orleans reworked Rankins’ contract before the start of the 2020 regular season, which allowed him to become a free agent in 2021. He later signed a two-year contract worth up to $17 million with the Jets.
Rankins signed a one-year, $10.5 million deal with the Texans when testing the market in 2023. He then signed a two-year deal with the Bengals last offseason but was released before the 2025 league year.
In 2024, Rankins appeared in seven games for the Bengals and recorded 18 total tackles and one sack.
