Texans to sign veteran safety and special teamer Michael Thomas

The Houston Texans are signing veteran safety and special teamer Michael Thomas, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link). It’s a one-year deal, tweets Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com.

Thomas, 31, not to be confused with the Saints receiver of the same name, is widely considered one the best special teams players in the NFL. Throughout his career with the Dolphins and Giants, Thomas has regularly played more than 75 percent of his team’s special team snaps. 

In addition, he’s viewed as an excellent locker room presence and was New York’s nominee for the  Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2018, tweets Raanan.

A Pro Bowler as a special teamer in 2018, Thomas has seen significant action on defense as he played more than 45 percent of his team's defensive snaps in 2015, 2016 and 2018. However, Houston already  has Justin Reid and Tashaun Gipson lined up as starters at safety, and the Texans also signed defensive back Eric Murray to a three-year deal last month. Thus, Thomas will likely spend most of his time on special teams duty and as a backup DB.

The Texans have placed an emphasis on special teams in recent years, so the addition of Thomas shouldn’t come as a surprise. Houston ranked fifth in Football Outsiders‘ special teams metric in each of the past two seasons.