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The Houston Texans are adding much-needed reinforcements to their defense. With safeties C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Jimmie Ward out of the lineup, the team signed nine-year veteran Jalen Mills.
Mills, 31, signed with Houston as a free agent on Sunday morning, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported. The LSU alum has spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots, but was most recently with the New York Jets in 2024. Mills was a key member of the Eagles' Super Bowl LII team in 2017.
Although Mills entered the league as a cornerback, he started eight of his nine games in 2024 at safety. He ended the year with 44 tackles, six pass breakups, one interception and one forced fumble.
By signing with the Texans, Mills reunites with defensive coordinator Matt Burke. The two have not directly worked together before, but they were both with the Eagles in 2019 and 2020, where Burke served as a defensive assistant under Doug Pederson and Jim Schwartz.
Should Mills make the final roster, he will continue an amusing trend in the Texans' locker room and become the sixth player with his name on the team. Mills will join a secondary that already includes Jalen Pitre, Jaylen Reed and Jaylin Smith, with Jaylin Noel and Jaylon Thomas on offense.
Texans' defense begins 2025 season on shaky ground
Adding safety depth was inevitable, given the Texans' current depleted secondary. Houston is hoping that C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who left practice with a serious-looking knee injury on Thursday, will be back by Week 1, but is not confident. Jimmie Ward currently remains booked at the Montgomery County Jail, with a court date looming, and is out indefinitely.
Rookie Jaylen Reed is also dealing with a minor injury after limping off the field on Aug. 1. The chaos left just three healthy safeties on the team before Mills' signing: Calen Bullock, M.J. Stewart and Russ Yeast.
Bullock, who started 13 of the 17 games in 2024, is locked into the starting lineup. Until Gardner-Johnson returns, the other starting job in Burke's two-high safety defense will likely fall to either Stewart or Mills. Stewart appeared in 15 games in 2024, but has started just one game for the Texans in the last three years.
