Cowboys FA Noah Brown Agrees to Texans Contract After 6 Seasons with Dallas

Wide receiver Noah Brown is set to join the Houston Texans after spending the first six years of his NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys.

The 27-year-old told NFL Network's Jane Slater on Tuesday that he has agreed to a deal with Houston, a move first reported by ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

Brown picked a good time to hit free agency. He's coming off a career year in which he had more targets (74), receptions (43), receiving yards (555) and touchdowns (three) than the previous five seasons combined.

The Cowboys originally drafted him in the seventh round in 2017. He played at Ohio State with Ezekiel Elliott, who advocated for the team to select him.

"I don't mind telling you that the No. 1 agent for Brown was Zeke Elliott," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News in May 2017. "Of course, he really had a lot of neat things about Brown, and he was of course there [Ohio State] with Brown two years ago. He has a high value on what Brown can potentially bring to the table."

Brown was a late bloomer in both college and the NFL. He only had one season as a starter for the Buckeyes in 2016. He was expected to be a big part of the offense in 2015, but a broken fibula and tibula suffered during fall camp kept him out for the entire season.

Coming into the NFL as a seventh-round draft pick, the New Jersey native struggled to get playing time early in his career. He had nine receptions in his first two seasons combined and missed all of 2019 recovering from knee surgery.

After trading Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns and losing Cedrick Wilson Jr. to the Miami Dolphins in free agency last year, Brown was elevated to the No. 2 wide receiver spot beside CeeDee Lamb.

Brown played well in his first extended opportunity as a starter. He's not a dynamic playmaker who is going to elevate the offense, but the Texans can plug him in as a physical wideout who can make contested catches to move the chains on third downs.