For the first time since he left Houston to play at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, receiver Keenan McCardell is going to play for his hometown team. McCardell, 37, agreed to a one-year contract with the Texans on Thursday. He will sign the $860,000 deal today and be on the practice field with his new teammates for the start of training camp. "I think the Texans are building something good, and I want to be part of it," said McCardell, who played quarterback at Waltrip High School. "I considered several offers, but playing for the Texans just feels right. "I know my family's really going to enjoy me playing here." McCardell will compete with veteran Kevin Walter and rookie Jacoby Jones for the starting job opposite Andre Johnson.

The Texans are continuing talks with their unsigned rookies, and Saturday they announced an agreement for a four-year deal with fifth-round draft pick Brandon Harrison, a safety from Stanford. That means the Texans have just three rookies to negotiate as they near the start of training camp. Amobi Okoye, Jacoby Jones and Brandon Frye are the players who have not agreed to deals. Harrison's agent, Zeke Sandhu, said his client is looking forward to joining the team this week. Harrison missed all of the organized team activities and minicamp in the offseason because Stanford's graduation wasn't until the middle of June. NFL rules do not allow seniors to join their teams in the offseason until their class has graduated.

The Texans have agreed to a four-year deal with sixth-round pick Kasey Studdard, an offensive guard out of Texas. Studdard, 6-foot-2, 300 pounds, is the third rookie to agree to terms with the Texans, joining linebacker Zac Diles and cornerback Fred Bennett. The Texans are still working on deals with Amobi Okoye, Jacoby Jones, Brandon Harrison and Brandon Frye. Rookies must sign their contracts before they are allowed to participate in training camp. At this point, only Diles' contract is signed. Rookies and veterans report to Reliant Stadium next Thursday with the first practice being on Friday morning.

The veteran, who hails from Houston, is waiting to receive a better offer than the Texans' bid. The youngsters can handle the speed and special teams; Keenan McCardell would bring experience and professionalism to a group that has a lot to learn. You can't ignore the effect quarterback Matt Schaub should have. Andre Johnson said he noticed it in offseason workouts. "When you look at it, the differences that I see is that with David you had to wait on the ball a little bit more," Johnson said a few weeks ago. "With Matt, he's pretty decisive with what he's doing. He's going to get back in his drop and let the ball go. When you're in your route, you don't have to wait on the ball or anything like that."

Often-injured and much-traveled wide receiver Bethel Johnson, at one time considered one of the fastest players in the league, on Monday signed a free agent contract with the Texans, team officials announced. Johnson has been either traded or released by three teams in the past 13 months, and so his addition is a gamble by the Texans, who continue to seek help at wide receiver. But even before injuries cost him some of his once-blistering speed, Johnson never caught more than 16 passes in a season, so it is doubtful he will fill the Texans' search for a complementary wideout to star receiver Andre Johnson.