It was looking like the offseason was going great for the Houston Texans. Suddenly however, things have changed with one speech from wide receiver Andre Johnson. Johnson spoke on Tuesday after presenting a check to the Houston Area Women’s Center and said that he is wondering if Houston is still the place for him. He added that he has no plans to take part in organized team activities or the team’s mandatory minicamp in June. This is a development that is stunning and should be concerning to the Texans as a whole.
Johnson is the leading receiver in team history but his frustration boiled over last season as the Texans lost their last 14 games and ended up with the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. He has no interest in a rebuilding project it would appear and Houston has to make some decisions on what to do next. They didn’t select a wide receiver in the draft and only took one true pass catcher in Iowa tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz in the third round.
If Johnson leaves, what does the team do then? It would leave DeAndre Hopkins as the top wide receiver. There would be a massive hole for the Texans to fill in the process as well. Does Houston look to see what is left in free agency for another wide receiver? It would likely mean looking at someone like Santonio Holmes, Miles Austin or Earl Bennett. The hope has to be that Johnson decides that he wants to be part of the organization. Otherwise, Houston could be looking at another bad season ahead. The Texans need more of these types of plays out of their star receiver instead of talk about leaving.
There is already enough turmoil with a new coach in Bill O’Brien and the team’s quarterback situation with Case Keenum and the selection of Tom Savage in the draft. Johnson is probably quite irritated and wants to get into a winning situation which hasn’t happened much for the Texans. Houston has only been the playoffs twice in their entire history in 2011 and 2012 along with the fact that they have only had a winning record just three times. Changes are coming and that’s not a good thing when it should be a time where the Texans have some hope going into the 2014 season with a healthy Arian Foster and the arrival of Jadeveon Clowney. The situation with Johnson and Texans must be addressed right away.
