By Jordan Long
The Houston Texans are making a move to save cap space. They decided to cut wide receiver Demaryius Thomas who was going to make $14 million on a non-guaranteed contract for 2019. This gives the Texans $14 million more to spend in free agency.
The Texans acquired Thomas from the Denver Broncos on October 30th for a 4th-round draft pick in the 2019 NFL draft. The Broncos and the Texans also swapped 7th-round draft picks. The Texans were hoping adding Thomas would give the wide receiver position more depth. The Texans were without Will Fuller who tore his ACL in week 8. Thomas was going to be another deep threat and take pressure off of DeAndre Hopkins.
Thomas didn’t put up large numbers with Houston but was still productive. In 7 games he had 23 receptions for 275 yards with an outstanding average of 12 yards per catch. Thomas found the end zone 2 times. With his help, Houston ended up winning the AFC South division.
In week 16, Thomas suffered a ruptured Achilles. The injury occurred late in the 3rd quarter of the Texans 32-30 loss to the Eagles. It was a non-contact play. Thomas was trying to block for Hopkins and went down. He was done for the year.
The Texans had to release him because who knows how long it will take for him to be back on the field. Even if he comes back, he may not be the same player. This was the right move for the Texans to move on from him.
Thomas doesn’t have any plans to retire. He would like to play next season but knows his health is the 1st priority. According to ESPN, Thomas said, “My main priority right now is getting back healthy. I can still play, man. I’m not thinking about retirement. I just don’t know where it will be.”
Thomas is getting up there in age for a wide receiver. He is 31 but has shown he can still gain yards with the football. He has a total of 9,330 yards and 62 touchdowns. Thomas can be a deep threat for an offense. It’s a matter of how healthy he is. If he can prove after the Achilles injury he is the same wide receiver, somebody will pick him up, otherwise he might need to think about walking away from the game. 48 \ls
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