Former second-round pick Ross Blacklock is changing teams. The Texans are trading the third-year defensive tackle to the Vikings, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.
Acquired prior to the Nick Caserio regime taking over, Blacklock will head to Minnesota with two years left on his rookie deal. Blacklock could not carve out a starting role in Houston and will likely be better remembered for being taken with the pick acquired in the 2020 DeAndre Hopkins trade.
This is a pick-swap trade. The Texans will land a sixth-round pick for Blacklock and a seventh, Pelissero adds (on Twitter). The TCU product did not play in the Texans’ final preseason game, having suffered a leg injury. Blacklock was on Houston’s roster bubble coming into Tuesday, but the team managed to land a late-round asset instead of sending him to the waiver wire.
Blacklock, 24, started just three games with the Texans. Sixth-rounder Roy Lopez had moved ahead of him last season. Blacklock did register two sacks, a forced fumble and six quarterback hits in 2021, indicating a glimmer of potential as he heads north.
This does put a bow on the Hopkins haul for Houston. The Texans stunned the football world by dealing their perennial Pro Bowl wideout to the Cardinals for David Johnson and a second-round pick. Houston also obtained a 2021 fourth in that deal, but the primary additions from the widely panned Bill O’Brien-era deal (Johnson and Blacklock) are no longer with the team.
The Vikings are shifting to a 3-4 scheme for the first time in decades, and they now have another piece — one that played in a 3-4 base in Houston — to go along with UFA addition Harrison Phillips and 2021 signing Dalvin Tomlinson, among others. While Tomlinson and Phillips will be Vikings starters, Blacklock will seemingly fill in as a rotational presence.
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