Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Houston Texans are reportedly signing former Buffalo Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes, according to NFL analyst and insider Jordan Schultz.
The Texans have also signed former Bills defensive end Mario Addison, the team announced on Tuesday.
Hughes, who is originally from Sugar Land, Texas, just outside of Houston, leaves Buffalo with the fourth-most sacks in franchise history. His 53.0 sacks only sit behind Hall-of-Famer Bruce Smith, Aaron Schobel, and Phil Hansen.
The 2010 first-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts came to the Bills in a trade for linebacker Kelvin Sheppard prior to the 2013 season. He was the longest-tenured player on the roster, and along with long snapper Reid Ferguson. They were the only two players on the entire roster that pre-dated head coach Sean McDermott.
The 12-year pro, nine years with the Bills, was, arguably, the team’s most consistent end play-in and play-out in 2021, ranking in the top-15 among all NFL edge defenders in pass rush win rate by both ESPN and Pro Football Focus.
However, that didn’t translate into production on the stat sheet. Hughes finished the 2021 season with just 2.0 sacks and only 18 total tackles. He hasn’t topped 4.5 sacks in three seasons, and hasn’t registered more than 7.0 sacks in seven seasons.
Even at his age, Hughes still played the most snaps of any defensive end on the team last season, and, remarkably, has never missed a single game due to injury through his entire career.
While Hughes is 33 going on 34, Addison is 34 going on 35 in September.
The veteran pass rusher led the Bills with 7.0 sacks this past season. It was the second-straight season Addison led the team in that category, matching A.J. Klein’s five sacks in 2020.
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