Texans Sign Veteran CB With Over 20 Career Starts

Hall fills one of the open roster spots the Texans had after making their bundle of transactions throughout the past three days. Those moves included waiving kicker Chris Freeman and placing quarterback Graham Mertz and running back Joshua Pitsenberger on injured reserve.

So the Texans decided to go out and bring in an experienced cornerback to their secondary that's already loaded with talent. And based on the resume that Hall brings to the table, there might be a good chance that he could find his way to a roster spot with less than two weeks to cutdown day.

What Bryce Hall Brings to the Texans

Hall, who turns 29 years old in November, was a fifth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to the New York Jets, where he would spend the first four years of his career from 2020 to 2023.

The 6-foot-1, 201-pound defensive back would quickly emerge as an impact player for the Jets' defense, with his best season coming in 2021, where he started in all 17 games of New York's regular season, posting 79 tackles, 16 passes defended, and four tackles for loss.

Hall would eventually end up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 2024 season, only playing in one game during that season, and would reside on the free agent market from January up until now.

The Texans, after hosting a successful workout for Hall, have brought him aboard the 90-man roster and will now compete within their current group of nine cornerbacks to try and stick as one of the select few names to make it to Week 1.

Where Bryce Hall Fits in Texans' CB Room

The Texans' cornerback room, as things currently stand, is a group with a ton of talent up top, and some underrated depth beneath their top two stars.

An All-Pro in Derek Stingley and Pro Bowler Kamari Lassiter fill out the top, with guys like second-year cornerback Jaylin Smith, veteran Tremon Smith, Alijah Huzzie and undrafted free agent standout Collin Wright rounding out the top names in the depth chart behind them.

But the Texans are also dealing with a couple of injuries in their secondary after their first preseason game against the LA Chargers.

According to KPRC2's Aaron Wilson, Texans cornerbacks Collin Wright (soft tissue strain) and Ja'Marcus Ingram (shoulder) are day-to-day with their respective injuries, and effectively left Houston to go to the free agent market to sign extra depth to the room.

Therefore, it's Hall being the one to get the opportunity his way, and may get to play some notable reps in Thursday's preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders because of it.

So if Hall shows out here in the next couple of weeks, his experience, combined with an ability to play on the outside at corner in the Texans' secondary, does tend to help his case to make his mark on the 53-man roster.

However, Hall hasn't started in an NFL game since the 2023 season. He didn't play all of last season and appeared in just one game the year prior.

So there's no telling if Hall really does have it as a reliable NFL corner who can play big snaps at age 28. But these next couple of weeks of both practice and preseason will be key to determine if that fit could be in Houston.