{"id":857232,"date":"2026-04-06T17:29:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T17:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/857232\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T17:29:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T17:29:20","slug":"texans-have-perfect-opportunity-to-add-a-difference-maker-for-demeco-ryans-defense-before-the-2026-nfl-draft-even-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/857232\/","title":{"rendered":"Texans have perfect opportunity to add a difference maker for DeMeco Ryans&#8217; defense before the 2026 NFL Draft even begins"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Texans may find a great deal late in free agency to improve the depth of their defense.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/USATSI_26728059-scaled.jpg\" class=\"attachment-1280 size-1280 wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"  data-hero=\"atoz-hero\" decoding=\"async\" \/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJul 28, 2025; Berea, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. (1) during training camp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When it comes to making smart moves in the NFL, value reigns quite often. The Houston Texans have a smart move on their radar ahead of the NFL Draft that would improve DeMeco Ryans\u2019 team immediately. <\/p>\n<p>CB Martin Emerson Jr. visits with Texans during later stages of free agency<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Ian Rap0port, former Browns cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. is visiting with the Texans. Houston is clearly keeping an eye on addressing the depth and upside in their secondary. <\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Former <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Browns?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">#Browns<\/a> starting CB Martin Emerson Jr, who missed last season after tearing his Achilles, is on a visit with the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Texans?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">#Texans<\/a>, source said. <\/p>\n<p>Emerson was heading into a contract year after starting 27 games for Cleveland before his injury. Now a potential addition in Houston. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/GaQH7hh7nU\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/GaQH7hh7nU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RapSheet\/status\/2041195692073316561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>How Emerson\u2019s time with the Browns could help Houston land him<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEmerson looked like a real steal for the Browns early on when they drafted him in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Emerson immediately stepped in as the cornerback opposite Denzel Ward and had a strong first two years as a pro including four interceptions in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tragedy hit last training camp when Emerson went down early on with an Achilles injury and he missed all of 2025 as a result. 2024 was a down year for Emerson and 2025 was a chance to bounce back in his \u201cmoney year\u201d. Emerson is going to battle for a starting spot wherever he lands and he matches up well especially against larger wideouts, which is nice to have.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A cornerback who has shown borderline Pro Bowl-level ability early on in his career. Now it\u2019ll be all about what Emerson looks like after the injury.\u201d \u2014 Brandon Little, A to Z Sports<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Browns GM Andrew Berry made it fairly clear recently that Emerson may not be back in the fold for Cleveland\u2019s secondary. His comments left the door open, but it felt like more of a hint he would not be back. <\/p>\n<p>For Houston, that has become an intriguing opportunity to get involved. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAbsolutely love MJ., both as a person and as a player,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cleveland.com\/browns\/2026\/04\/todd-monken-on-shedeur-sanders-mobility-martin-emerson-jrs-chances-of-returning-browns-takeaways.html?outputType=amp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Berry said at the\u00a0<\/a>NFL Annual League Meeting. \u201cSelfishly, I would love to have him back. I think we\u2019re also realistic that with MJ and the injury that he\u2019s coming off of, to reach his personal goals, he\u2019s also got to be in a position where he has maybe a strong opportunity to compete for a starting spot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Coming off the injury, Emerson\u2019s price tag probably won\u2019t be nearly what was expected even just a year ago. Instead, Houston could jump on value here and add a talented player with everything to prove. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some of these deals made once free agency dies down a bit end up being the most valuable for contending teams. Emerson could look for just a short-term deal to prove the injury won\u2019t slow him down going forward, and that\u2019s a big-time chance for the Texans to take advantage of for 2026. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"100\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simulator-6.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-442013\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/USATSI_27889939-200x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" itemprop=\"image\" loading=\"lazy\"   width=\"200\" height=\"200\" style=\"object-position:47% 19%\"\/>\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"query-card-horizontal__category is-style-eyebrow\">Houston Texans News<\/p>\n<p class=\"is-style-body-small\">A new 2026 mock draft has the Texans landing a shiny new weapon for CJ Stroud and their passing game.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Texans may find a great deal late in free agency to improve the depth of their defense.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":857233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2056],"tags":[86,7,221,253,2368,6,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-857232","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-texans","8":"tag-browns","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-houston","11":"tag-houston-texans","12":"tag-houstontexans","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-texans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116358950931133803","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}