Earl Thomas' recruiting efforts may not coax free agent pass-rusher Justin Houston into signing with his new team after all.
According to The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec, the former Kansas City Chiefs star's asking price is likely to prove too expensive for the Baltimore Ravens.
“Former Kansas City Chief Justin Houston is currently the top prize and he’d be a good fit for the Ravens. However, some reports indicate that Houston could get a deal for north of $10 million per year, and that’s more than what the Ravens can afford to spend. His price would have to come down for a deal to work with the Ravens.”
Houston was released by the Chiefs last week, as the AFC runners-up continue overhauling a defense that finished second-to-last in points allowed a season ago.
By shedding his $15.25 million salary and $21.1 million cap hit for next season, Kansas City created $14 million of additional cap space, spending capital it subsequently used to sign star safety Tyrann Mathieu and solid defensive end Alex Okafor.
Thomas, who signed a four-year, $55 million deal with the Ravens last week, cajoled Houston into joining him in Baltimore over the weekend. Fellow Ravens safety Tony Jefferson followed his lead, urging the four-time Pro Bowler to sign with Baltimore on twitter.
@JHouston50 @ravensnation is waiting on you bro 🤞🏾 #sacksonstacks #RavensFlock
— Earl Thomas (@Earl_Thomas) March 15, 2019
https://twitter.com/_tonyjefferson/status/1106613332079837184
The Ravens need help getting after the passer after losing rising star edge defender Za'Darius Smith to the Green Bay Packers early last week. Houston, 29, is no longer among the league's several best defenders like he was several years ago, but remains an objectively productive, reliable player against both the run and pass.
He had 37 tackles and nine sacks for the Chiefs in 12 games last season.
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