3 free agents over 30 the Patriots should sign
By Rhys Knott
Justin Houston
Houston is 35 now, but there’s life in the old dog yet. The Patriots need to add some pass rush to their defense. Last year, they seemed happy to let 31-year-old Matt Judon do it all, but his biceps tendon foiled that plan.
Deacon Jones Award winner and four-time Pro-Bowler Houston is third in the list of active NFL players with 112 sacks. He is just 11.5 behind Von Miller, who leads the way.
Houston only played seven games last season as he fell into David Tepper’s Venus flytrap of an organization in Carolina. But the former Georgia Bulldog still has ten sacks, 30 pressures, and 20 QB hits in the last two seasons.
A former third-round pick for the Chiefs, Houston has been named a team captain not just in KC but also in Indianapolis and Baltimore during his 13-year career. The Panthers granted him an early release in December after he decided he needed a change of scenery.
The Patriots are either oblivious to their pass rush issues or, like the left tackle issue, just happy to ignore them completely. At 6-foot-3 and 270 pounds, Houston is a mirror image of Judon and would be an interesting bookend opposite him. If he sticks around, he would also help develop youngsters like Marte Mapu, Keion White, or even John Morgan.
Justin Houston (@JHouston50) does a great job attacking the blocker’s wrist on the counter & pins it inside. Houston clears the hand, affects the OL’s balance & gets the sack. 9.5 sacks last season & 111.5 career sacks as of this post! #passrush pic.twitter.com/yEW6jdyOcm
— DLineVids (@dlinevids1) March 15, 2023
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