The Raiders announced the release of defensive lineman Antonio Smith on Tuesday afternoon, clearing $4 million from their salary cap and taking another step away from a 2014 free agent class that failed to bring better results to Oakland.
Smith may not have to wait long to find a new place of employment. He also might not have to familiarize himself with a new city.
John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Texans are interested in bringing Smith back to Houston. Smith played in 79-of-80 regular season games for the Texans while he was a member of the team between 2009 and 2013 and he was productive in a fair number of them as the Texans advanced to the playoffs twice with Smith in the fold.
Smith has played inside and outside during his career, which would allow him to provide the team with solid depth behind projected starters J.J. Watt, Vince Wilfork and Jared Crick. Smith had three sacks and 20 tackles while starting all 16 games in his one season with the Raiders.
McClain suggests that the Broncos may also have interest in Smith now that former Texans head coach Gary Kubiak, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and defensive line coach Bill Kollar are all in Denver.