Texans Have Had Trade Talks Involving CB Kevin Johnson

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Texans have had trade talks involving CB Kevin Johnson. 

Rapoport notes that Johnson is owed $9.1 million under his fifth-year option and it’s possible he could end up being a free agent if the Texans release him. However, no decision has been made in this regard. 

Texans GM Brian Gaine was recently noncommittal about Johnson returning for the 2019 season, so this is clearly a situation worth watching.

“Kevin has had some tough luck the last few years,” Gaine said, via the Houston Chronicle.  “We’re still rounding out some roster decisions. We haven’t finalized anything, nothing’s been conclusive in terms of some of these decisions. Some of them are football decisions, some of them are financial decisions.

“We haven’t arrived at that conclusion yet. We’re hopeful that he could be a part of the future, but we have more decisions to make as it relates to the impact of that.”

Johnson, 26, is a former first-round pick out of Wake Forest by the Texans in the 2015 NFL Draft. He was entering the final year of his four-year, $10.04 million rookie contract when the Texans picked up his fifth-year option last year. 

According to OverTheCap.com, trading Johnson would free up $9,069,000 of available cap space while creating no dead money. 

In 2018, Johnson was limited to appearing in one game and recorded four tackles and no interceptions for the Texans before he was placed on injured reserve with a concussion.