Upon trading away Laremy Tunsil and Kenyon Green, and releasing Shaq Mason, the Houston Texans have worked quickly to get new bodies into the offensive line room. Over the last week or so, they've signed guard Laken Tomlinson and tackle Cam Robinson, in addition to trading for guard Ed Ingram.
Well, the "new player" parade continued on Friday, with tackle Trent Brown agreeing to a one year, $3 million deal to join the Texans:
Brown was most recently a Cleveland Brown in 2024, but dealt with injuries, and played in just three games. Prior to his season in Cleveland, Brown spent three years in New England, his second stint with the Patriots, and started 32 games. Brown spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons with the Raiders, and made his only Pro Bowl win 2019. His first stint in New England was in the 2018 season. His first three seasons in the league were in San Francisco (2015 through 2017), after being drafted in the 7th round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
In reading Brown's lengthy, circuitous bio above, you can connect some dots between Brown and current members of the Texans' staff. Most notably, GM Nick Caserio, who signed Brown on Friday, was with the Patriots during Brown's 2018 season there. DeMeco Ryans was a quality control coach in 2017 in San Francisco. Additionally, Brown's two tenures in New England, at various times,overlapped with Texans current offensive coordinator Nick Caley and offensive line coach Cole Popovich.
As for where Brown fits into the increasingly complex puzzle that is the Texans' offensive line room, this feels like a veteran body that the team envisions as a swing tackle, as Brown has payed both left and right tackle. I would compare it to the signing of George Fans back in 2023, where Fans actually wound up starting most of that season at right tackle.
As of right now, the Texans offensive line room looks like this, noting that Tytus Howard, Jarrett Patterson and Juice Scruggs can play multiple positions:
TACKLE: Cam Robinson, Trent Brown, Tytus Howard, Blake Fisher
GUARD: Laken Tomlinson, Ed Ingram, Tytus Howard, Nick Broeker, Jarrett Patterson, Juice Scruggs
CENTER: Jarrett Patterson, Juice Scruggs
The Texans will obviously add talent, probably high level talent, to this group through the draft, but if they had to play a game tomorrow, my best guess at a starting five on the offensive line would be as follows:
LT: Robinson
LG: Howard
C: Patterson
RG: Ingram
RT: Fisher
The draft will be very interesting, come April, for sure!
