The Houston Texans are taking their shot at winning a Super Bowl sooner than later.

After unexpectedly winning the AFC South division in 2023 and advancing to the second round of the playoffs in head coach DeMeco Ryans’ first year, the Texans are going hard in the free-agency and trade market ahead of April’s NFL draft. It’s been said that the best thing for an NFL team to have these days is a good quarterback on a rookie contract, and because the Texans have that (relatively) low-paid QB in C.J. Stroud (the 2023 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year), they can use the salary-cap space that would typically be swallowed up by a franchise QB to put better pieces around their QB.

Since the start of the offseason, the Texans have signed Pro Bowl pass rusher Danielle Hunter, traded for Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon, re-signed tight end Dalton Schultz, and brought in a few other starters like cornerback Jeff Okudah and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair.

Al-Shaair is a practicing Muslim who is entering his sixth NFL season. Playing inside linebacker for the Tennessee Titans last season, his 163 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, and two sacks all either tied his career-highs, or set new career-highs. Eight times he registered double-digit tackles in a game, including back-to-back games against the Colts and Ravens in which he tallied 15 tackles each. In his first season as a full-time starter, Al-Shaair ranked fifth in the league in total tackles.

Hitting the free agent market again following his breakout campaign, Al-Shaair agreed to a three-year, $34 million deal with Houston. He is projected to be the Texans’ starting middle linebacker in 2024; and he goes from a Titans team that finished 6-11 and in last place in the AFC South, to a Houston squad that is expected to be a serious contender in the conference for the foreseeable future.

Al-Shaair is originally from Tampa, Fla., and was a First Team All-Conference USA standout at Florida Atlantic University. He joined the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2019, made the roster and hung around for four years as a part-time starter. He was on the Niners’ Super Bowl team as a rookie but didn’t play in the big game, but he did get significant time during San Francisco’s two runs to the NFC championship games in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Following the first week of free agency, The Sporting News graded Houston’s offseason as the best in the league so far. On Al-Shaair specifically, Pro Football Focus‘ analysis read: “Al-Shaair adds a tenacity in run defense that benefits any team, and he still played every down at full speed despite bumping his play time way up to over 1,100 snaps in 2023.”