Texans attack free agency in attempt to replicate Broncos' success

The Houston Texans are not going to let J.J. Watt's prime pass without a major push to "win now."

Revamping the offensive side of the ball in a matter of hours on Wednesday, the Texans added quarterback Brock Osweiler, running back Lamar Miller, and guard Jeff Allen. And they weren't cheap about it.

All told, the Texans spent $126 million on those three players, and there's no indication they're finished spending.

Related - Report: Texans, Osweiler agree to 4-year, $72M deal

Gone is the apathetic approach to roster improvement of the last two years - and the six starting quarterbacks that came with it. The placeholder signings of Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett have been replaced by an all-or-nothing deal with Osweiler, making him the undisputed franchise quarterback. To make matters clearer, they gave him a workhorse running back and upgraded his protection along the offensive line.

Houston's urgency in making offensive improvements can be linked to its recent embarrassing combinations of borderline dominant defenses and offenses with little continuity and no depth. Over the last nine games of the 2015 season, the Texans' defense gave up exactly six points, six times. They went 7-2.

Despite an ugly playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, this defense has enough pieces to win now, and the Texans organization can look to the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos as a plausible template. With the Osweiler signing, the argument could be made that they're literally following the 2015 Broncos' road map.

The deeper context of the Texans' push, however, has to acknowledge an unwillingness to squander a generational defensive talent like Watt, and they've surrounded him with solid pieces like Johnathan Joseph, Kareem Jackson, Jadeveon Clowney, Whitney Mercilus, and Vince Wilfork.

In the 2015 draft, the Texans further invested in their defense - at the immediate expense of an offense with exactly one building block in DeAndre Hopkins - selecting cornerback Kevin Johnson and linebacker Benardrick McKinney with their first two picks.

But the plan is beginning to make sense now. If Clowney develops into the dominant pass-rusher he's expected to become, and Houston can just achieve offensive competency, the Texans could hoist the Lombardi Trophy in the near future - with Osweiler standing center stage this time.