May 2020 - Houston Texans Wiretap
The Houston Texans do not plan to sign Earl Thomas, according to a source.
The free agent safety met with Houston and underwent a physical. Thomas had a workout scheduled, but it did not take place.
Bill O'Brien told Thomas' agents that the NFL required the Texans to cancel Thomas' workout because of COVID-19 concerns.
However, a source said the decision not to sign Thomas wasn't related to COVID-19.
The Houston Texans had a "batch" of false positive COVID-19 tests prior to Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The report did not indicate when the false positives occurred, but subsequent retests were negative and no player missed Sunday's game for testing reasons.
Players are tested daily, including a "pregame" test the morning before the game. Before the beginning of the season, the NFL implemented a new protocol that accelerated the process of identifying false positives.
The Houston Texans are likely to sign Earl Thomas.
The Baltimore Ravens released Thomas in August after he had an on-field altercation with teammate Chuck Clark. Thomas allegedly punched Clark during practice.
On Monday, the Texans put safety A.J. Moore on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, although he is expected to return later this season.
The Week 1 opener between the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans drew 19.3 million viewers, which is a drop of 12.3 percent from the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears to open the 2019 season.
In early numbers, the primetime NBC game scored a 5.2 among adults 18-49 and 16.4 million viewers between 8-11 p.m. ET.
The NFL is facing more competition this year as the NBA and NHL playoffs are competing for eyeballs. Total sports viewership is up in 2020 compared to 2019 while individual games are down.
Bill O'Brien wasn't pleased with how the Houston Texans looked in Thursday night's season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs won 34-20 as they celebrated February's Super Bowl victory.
"There's a lot to fix," O'Brien said. "We have a long way to go here obviously. We had trouble stopping the run. Our defense could not get off the field, so we got down. We have to improve very quickly this week."
The Texans' offense struggled in its first game following the DeAndre Hopkins trade. They'll face the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2.
Players and coaches from the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans met at midfield for a pregame "Moment of Unity" before their Week 1 game, which was met with a scattering of boos from the limited fans at Arrowhead Stadium.
Seven phrases developed by players on both teams were displayed on the scoreboard during the moment:
The "Moment of Unity" took place following the performance of the national anthem.
Fans in attendance at Thursday's season opener also took part in the "Arrowhead Chop," which the Chiefs have attempted to distance themselves from.
The Houston Texans have agreed to terms on a contract extension with Deshaun Watson.
The quarterback's agent confirmed the four-year, $160 million deal on Saturday morning.
The total value of the deal is $177.54 million with nearly $111 million in guaranteed money. Watson will make $39 million per year in base salary, on average, over the next four years.
Watson's deal trails only Patrick Mahomes' 12-year pact as the largest in NFL history.
The Houston Texans are working on a new contract for Deshaun Watson as the 2020 season nears.
According to sources, the deal is likely to be more in line with the contracts Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson received. The pair of quarterbacks are set to earn $35 million per season after inking four-year extensions worth roughly $140 million.
Watson, 24, won't command a deal that comes close to the 10-year, $450 million deal Patrick Mahomes received from the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Houston Texans reportedly want to get a new deal done with Deshaun Watson before the start of the regular season.
With a little more than a week left until the Texans open against the Kansas City Chiefs, Bill O'Brien says the team is working hard to lock the quarterback up long-term.
"I think, look, obviously we feel good about where we're at as a team," O’Brien said. "We feel like we have a lot of, like I said earlier, we've got a lot of dependable, tough, smart guys and they get along well. They want to be here. Houston's a great city. They want to live here and they want to represent this city. Like I've said all along, I don't really want to get into specific contract talks but quite obviously we want Deshaun Watson to be here for a long time. He's had a great training camp, he's a great player and we're going to work hard to get that done."
