{"id":63575,"date":"2022-09-02T06:57:05","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T06:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/oj-howard-to-texans-after-visiting-bengals-nfl-free-agents-2022\/"},"modified":"2022-09-02T06:57:05","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T06:57:05","slug":"oj-howard-to-texans-after-visiting-bengals-nfl-free-agents-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/oj-howard-to-texans-after-visiting-bengals-nfl-free-agents-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"OJ Howard to Texans after visiting Bengals: NFL Free Agents 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The OJ Howard dream is officially over for the Cincinnati Bengals.<\/p>\n

After hosting Howard for a visit Wednesday, the veteran tide end visited with the Houston Texans today. <\/p>\n

Now, Howard has agreed to a deal with the Texans, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, what exactly happened?<\/p>\n

After all, when news broke that Howard was visiting the Bengals, the expectation was a deal would get done assuming the visit went well.<\/p>\n

However, that was before the Bengals claimed tight end Devin Asiasi off of waivers from the New England Patriots. While the Bengals still hosted Howard for a visit, Asiasi joining the roster likely led to Howard and\/or the Bengals cooling off on getting a deal done.<\/p>\n

While Howard seems like the superior option, he’s clearly taken a step or two back after tearing his Achilles in 2020. He followed that up with a 2021 season in which he was unable to make an impact, catching just 14 balls in 17 games while finishing with a career-low 49.0 PFF score.<\/p>\n

Howard then signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Buffalo Bills this offseason but was released during final roster cuts. The Bills will now eat $2.6 million in dead cap this season, and another $625,000 next year. That’s a pretty telling sign that Howard just isn’t the same player he was early in his career with the Bucs.<\/p>\n

Here’s to hoping this doesn’t come back to bite the Bengals down the road. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n