Veteran center Justin Britt rebooted his NFL career last season with the Texans, providing a gritty presence and leadership for an overhauled roster.
Now, Britt is back with the Texans on a two-year deal with a maximum value of $10.5 million and a base value of $9 million, according to league sources not authorized to speak publicly.
Signed to a one-year, $5 million contract last year, Britt overcame a torn anterior cruciate ligament sustained in 2019 that prevented him from playing in 2020. He gave a technically sound and tough skill set for the Texans and was voted the winner of the annual Ed Block Courage award by his teammates.
“I had a blast this year,” Britt said at the end of the season. “This is kind of everything I would want other than wins. Coming to work every week with this group of guys and to see how we grew and the steps we took, would I come back here? Yeah, if everything was right and the way it needed to be, I would love to come back here and be around these men again.”
Britt battled through a lingering knee injury and was activated from injured reserve to regain his role as a starter. Besides Britt getting hurt and also missing time with COVID after testing positive, the Texans plugged in several different starting combinations.
“I just think they’ve pulled together the right character,” Britt said. “You always have some people that are bad apples on a team and you try to wean them out or help them, but up front there was none of that. Everyone could have and should have played in the NFL this year, somewhere. We had the talent. They had the talent, but it was group of men who were selfless and didn’t care who got to start.”Britt is already back to work training for next season. The passion for the game is still there, Britt emphasized.
“With how my knee went this year, I’m going to be going back and I’m going to start doing stuff next week,” Britt said. “I’m not going to be squatting 600 or running a mile, but I don’t know, I feel like my body responds better if I’m active or moving around rather than just laying around, letting it rest.
"Not bad, not bad at all. I definitely know that I have a lot more football left in me, and the drive is still there. I know I could have done better in situations this year, and I could have been better in the San Francisco game. Coming off COVID, I was way too aggressive and that’s a whole conversation. Yeah, I still love it, I’m still hungry to be great. I knew the bumps and bruises were going to come along with it, and I’m just ready to get the body back.”
The Texans signed former Jacksonville Jaguars offensive lineman A.J. Cann, according to a league source not authorized to speak publicly.
Cann is a former Jaguars third-round draft pick who played for new Texans offensive line coach George Warhop in Jacksonville.
He started 94 of 95 career games for the Jaguars and signed a three-year, $15 million contract extension with them in 2019.
He played in only four games last season after suffering a sprained medial collateral ligament. He played 78 percent of the offensive snaps for the Texans last season.
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