Texans sign new general manager Brian Gaine and Bill O'Brien to five-year deals
The Houston Texans have found their new general manager in Brian Gaine and are putting a lot of faith in pairing him with coach Bill O’Brien.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the two signed matching five-year contracts on Saturday that will allow them to work on the same timeline.
Early this morning, Texans handed out matching 5-year contracts to their new GM hire Brian Gaine and HC Bill O'Brien, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 13, 2018
New Texans' GM Brian Gaine leaves Buffalo and returns to Houston, where he and HC Bill O'Brien get to work together again. And the lengths of their contracts now matches up with five years for each.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 13, 2018
Gaine comes to Houston from Buffalo where he served as the Bills vice president of player personnel. He previously worked with the Texans from 2014-2016 as director of pro personnel and later director of player personnel, giving him familiarity with both O’Brien and Houston’s roster.
After compiling a 31-33 record in four years with Houston, there were questions about whether O’Brien would return for a fifth season. Now he’ll get a chance to lead it back to the playoffs in 2018 — though the Texans are without a first-round draft pick in 2018 after trading up to take quarterback Deshaun Watson in the first round last year.
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Still, the Texans remain loaded with talent despite coming off a 4-12 season that was derailed by injuries after back-to-back years atop the AFC South.
A team that once relied a little too much on the health of defensive end J.J. Watt has developed wideout DeAndre Hopkins, linebacker Jadaveon Clowney and Watson into stars over the past few years.
With Watson expected to lead Houston’s offense again next year in a division where the best quarterback is arguably Jacksonville’s Blake Bortles, there’s plenty of opportunity for O’Brien and Gaine to turn the Texans into contenders.
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Blake Schuster is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Schustee