Justin Houston landing spots: Potential fits as veteran pass-rusher reportedly receiving significant interest

The initial waves of NFL roster-building have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any top talent to still be acquired. One example is veteran pass-rusher Justin Houston, who is receiving significant interest from multiple teams around the NFL, according to Matt Lombardo of Heavy Sports. 

Houston is said to be in no rush to make a decision on where he’ll play in 2023 as he plans to weigh all options. The 34-year-old was CBS Sports NFL analyst Pete Prisco’s No. 91 ranked free agent this offseason. 

Houston has 12 seasons of NFL experience under his belt and continues to be a solid pass-rushing presence. He’s spent the last two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens and led the team with 9.5 sacks in 2022. Houston also registered a team-high 17 quarterback hits last season. He entered the NFL as a third-round pick of the Chiefs and enjoyed the most prolific seasons of his career with Kansas City, earning a first-team All-Pro nod in 2014 and four consecutive Pro Bowl selections from 2012-2015. 

After eight years with the Chiefs, Houston played two seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, posting a combined 19 sacks and 30 quarterback hits. For his career, Houston has 111.5 sacks, which ranks 27th all-time since the stat was officially logged beginning in 1982.

Justin Houston landing spots

Buffalo Bills

Houston has played in nine playoff games in his career and has reached the postseason seven times. However, he’s never won a Super Bowl. Given that he’s at the latter stage of his career, one would imagine that he’d like to check that box off on his résumé, so the Bills would be a good fit in that regard. He’d pair with Von Miller to enhance a strong pass-rushing unit and help Buffalo try to slay a gauntlet of quarterbacks in the AFC.  

Chicago Bears

Houston has familiarity with the Bears, as he played for head coach Matt Eberflus when they were both in Indianapolis and the Eberflus was working as the defensive coordinator. From that standpoint, Houston could come in and easily acclimate to Chicago’s style of defense, and the Bears have the most amount of cap space in the NFL currently, so money would be no object.

New York Giants

Similar to Chicago, the Giants also present some familiarity to Houston. He played one season for current defensive coordinator Wink Martindale with the Ravens in 2021 before he accepted the same job with New York last offseason. The Giants blitzed a league-high 39.7% of the time under Martindale last season, which is a system Houston should be able to thrive in. 

Seattle Seahawks

This just feels like a Seahawks type of move, right? Houston would be a nice veteran addition to a Seattle team that is looking to make a legit run in the NFC West in 2023. He’d join a defense that registered 45 sacks but blitzed at the second-lowest rate in the NFL last year. He’d instantly help apply more pressure under defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt.