HOUSTON — The Texans have signed veteran defensive end Jerry Hughes, a source told ESPN, confirming multiple reports.
It marks a homecoming for Hughes, who is from Sugar Land, Texas and played at Stephen F. Austin High School.
Hughes is the latest in the group of veteran defensive ends general manager Nick Caserio has added to bolster the Texans’ defensive line. On Tuesday, the Texans announced they signed Hughes’ former teammate with the Buffalo Bills, defensive end Mario Addison. Last week, Houston also added defensive end Rasheem Green.
Hughes’ signing was first reported by NFL reporter Jordan Schultz.
One of the few players that was retained by the Bills from the previous regime when Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane took over, Hughes was the longest tenured Buffalo player last season. The 12-year veteran played in all 17 games but registered his lowest percentage of defensive snaps played (51.8%) since the beginning of his career.
Hughes, who turns 34 in August, was selected as the 31st-overall pick by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2010 draft, but he had a slow start to his career. After three seasons with the Colts, he was traded to the Bills for linebacker Kelvin Sheppard in 2013.
The following nine years of Hughes’ career were spent with the Bills, a team with which he found success. He had 10 sacks in each of his first two years in Buffalo and finished with at least four in all the following seasons, outside of 2021 (two). Last season, he led the team in pass rush win rate (20.9%).
Hughes is fourth all-time in Bills franchise history with 53 sacks and has 58 total in his career. He also has seven postseason sacks. Hughes has been a longtime leader of the team’s defense as the team has continued to invest in youth, especially on the defensive line.
ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg contributed to this report.