ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that the Chicago Bears have just signed defensive end Lamarr Houston to a 5-year $35M deal that will average right at $7 million a year. He will have signed a cheaper deal than all 3 of the previous “top tier” defense ends.
The deal is worth $15 guaranteed for Houston.
After “losing out” on defensive ends Michael Bennett and Michael Johnson, Phil Emery turned his focus to Lamarr Houston and wasted no time getting a deal done just two minutes after the official start of free agency.
With teams like the Packers and Vikings interested, they quickly fell out of the race after the rising market for the loan “top tier” lineman. Some may call it a panic acquisition and although his numbers on the surface aren’t impressive, this is.
According to Pro Football Focus, Houston had 41 QB hurries and 16 QB hits. While he only had 5 1/2 sacks, he was much more productive than his number showed in the pass rush. On top of all of that, Houston was graded out as the 5th best run defender in the league.
Overall this may not be the flashiest of signings and maybe not what fans were hoping for but the fact remains he is a sizable upgrade and brings the defense a nice building block.
Sources close to the team expect that a release of Julius Peppers is soon to come, to clear up more cap space.
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