The Texans have signed 29-year old fullback Justin Griffith.  Griffith played in 13 games for the Seahawks last season in which he carried the ball 4 times for 6 yards (1.5 ypc) and he also caught 19 passes for 118 yards (6.2 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Griffith has now played in 96 games in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 94 times for 413 yards (4.4 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 141 passes for 989 yards (7.0 avg) with 12 TD grabs.  Griffith is a solid blocker and he can contribute offensively with the ball in his hands which a lot of fullbacks in the NFL can’t say.  I like this signing for the Texans.

UPDATE:  (8/5/2010) - The Texans have placed Griffith on the Injured Reserve List ending his season due to a spinal chord concussion.

The Texans have signed 26-year old TE Derek Fine.  Fine played in 8 games for the Bills last season in which he caught 9 passes for 64 yards (7.1 avg).  He has now played two years in the NFL appearing in 18 games in which he has caught 19 passes for 158 yards (8.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  This was a good signing for the Texans as Fine would likely benefit from playing with better QBs than he did his first two years in the NFL.

The Texans have signed 33-year old OLB Danny Clark.  Clark played in all 16 games for the Giants last season and he had 53 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 tackles for a loss and he defensed 2 passes.  Clark has now played in 154 games in his NFL career in which he has made 609 tackles, he has defensed 18 passes, has 7 sacks, he has forced 8 fumbles and he has 2 interceptions.  Clark might he a stopgap until Cushing returns from his suspension but it would be a huge dropoff for the Texans.

The Texans have signed 30-year old TE Michael Gaines to a 1-year deal.  Gaines is a good run blocker at 6′2″, 267 pounds but he won’t help much in the passing game.  He played in 9 games for the Browns last season  in which he caught 5 passes for 59 yards (11.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Gaines has now played in 82 games in his NFL career and he has caught 84 passes for 869 yards (10.3 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  This was a good signing for the Texans as Gaines could help them with his blocking in 2010.

UPDATE:  (6/17/2010) - The Texans have released Michael Gaines.

The Texans have signed 33-year old kicker Neil Rackers to a 2-year deal worth up to $4.1 million bucks but only $350,000 is guaranteed.  Rackers will battle Kris Brown for the starting job in 2010.  Rackers played in 14 games for the Cardinals last season and he connected on 16 of 17 field goals (94.1%) and 37 of 38 extra points good for 85 points.  He has now played in 148 games in his NFL career and he has connected on 205 of 262 field goals (78.2%) and 290 of 295 extra points good for 905 points.  Rackers has been a pretty good kicker since getting out of Cincinnati so he will push Brown for his job and competition is always a good thing.