HOUSTON -- Ed Reed will visit the Houston Texans Thursday, according to the Baltimore Sun.
The 34-year-old Reed, one of the greatest safeties of all time, reached the end of his six-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens and was not re-signed as the Super Bowl champions undergo a restructuring. Linebacker Ray Lewis retired and Baltimore cut safety Bernard Pollard.
So maybe the Texans' decision to release safety Glover Quin wasn't such a big deal after all.
Houston has been quiet in free agency so far, allowing outside linebacker Connor Barwin, H-back James Casey and Quin to become free agents. None of those players were particularly effective in 2012, when Houston won the AFC South and lost to the New England Patriots in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs. Barwin had a breakout season in 2011, recording 11.5 sacks and seven passes defensed, but had just three sacks and five passes defensed in 2012. Casey, a versatile athlete who played his college ball at Rice University in Houston, converted to fullback in 2012 and rarely got to showcase his versatility. Quin had five interceptions in four seasons in Houston.
Signing Reed would be the Texans' first big veteran acquisition since it acquired cornerback Johnathan Joseph and safety Danieal Manning in 2011 and would re-unite Reed with his close friend Andre Johnson. The two were college teammates at Miami.
