Justin Houston Free Agency: Former Colts All-Pro Agrees to Terms with Ravens, Relative

Justin Houston has found a new home in the NFL. As free agency progressed – past the OTAs and minicamps and in the training camps that were going on around the league – Houston didn’t sign as it waited for the right situation and offered to show up. He found the two with the Baltimore Ravens, reportedly agreed to join the team on a one-year contract worth up to $ 4 million, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. And it appears to be more about the situation than the offer itself, Houston has reportedly turned down other teams a lot more money to play in Baltimore.

Houston wants a shot at a championship in 2021, and he believes the Ravens are giving him the best chance to do so. He visited the club in May but left without signing a deal. Two months later, he is about to dress for John Harbaugh.

The addition works well for the Ravens’ odds of success in 2021. A team that has been listed as having a 50.2% chance of winning the AFC North and an 81.3% chance of making the playoffs – according to CBS Sports statistics analyst Stephen Oh – now sees their odds of winning the division buoy to 65.3 percent and their playoff odds moving north to 83.2 percent. Their odds of winning the Super Bowl also jumped 1.5 points, from 9.1 to 10.6 percent.

In other words, yes, it’s a good signing.

Former Kansas City Chiefs third-round pick in 2011 – a team many thought had a chance to reunite with him 10 years later – Houston has emerged as one of the league’s top assistants en route to landing four nods. Head to the Pro Bowl and a First Team All-Pro Honor before joining the Indianapolis Colts in 2019. The former NFL sack leader (2014) spent two seasons with the Colts before entering the agency free this offseason and finally choose the third team of his impressive professional career.

The 32-year-old has 97.5 sacks, 17 forced fumbles and 15 fumble recoveries on his resume, and hasn’t had an uptime issue either. He played and started in all 32 Colts games during his two-year stint, and racked up 19 sacks in the process. There’s still a lot of tread on his tires, and now the Ravens will benefit from whatever he does next – filling a void created by the departure of Matthew Judon and Yannick Ngakoue in free agency.

Houston will likely contribute immediately and in a major way.