D.J. Swearinger told he's no longer a Texan

We covered before that the Houston Texans were reportedly shopping safety D.J. Swearinger. While not the greatest safety in the world, it does come as a bit of a shock that the Texans were actively looking to get rid of him.

Well now comes reports that the Houston Texans have officially told Swearinger that he is no longer a Texan. Either they will find a trade partner or release him. If you are a team in need for a safety, Swearinger could be your guy. Now the bigger question becomes, exactly what team will pay a price to the Texans when it is pretty clear that he'll be gone regardless?

DJ Swearinger informed he’ll no longer a member of #Texans. Team has tried to deal him, will keep at it. His goodbye: pic.twitter.com/EckSeWjcUv

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 11, 2015

We've seen something similar before with the Baltimore Ravens. Having dealt wide receiver Anquan Boldin and Haloti Ngata when both were likely salary cap casualties, it gave the 49ers and Lions the player they wanted without the headache of having to battle other teams for the rights to them.

Could the Baltimore Ravens be interested in Swearinger? He is slated to be a cap hit of only $952,173 from his original rookie deal that will run through the 2016 season and see him as a free agent in 2017. With the news that he is gone regardless, a 6th or 7th round pick could be all it takes to steal him away. And that is what makes this whole situation really odd.

Swearinger still has two years left on his rookie deal and has been decent overall. Teams typically don't shed cheap players unless their play has been abysmal or unless there are injury concerns. Swearinger has neither, which ultimately only leaves issue with relatively new head coach Bill O'Brien. O'Brien took over the Texans last season, after Swearinger had already been drafted. So there could be some mismatch in mindsets there that will cause Swearinger to be wearing a different colored uniform this season.

Regardless, the Ravens could benefit since there is currently opening at both safety spots. The Ravens have drafted two young players in recent years for their safety spots, but neither have been able to grab a foothold on the starting positions. Safeties Matt Elam and Terrence Brooks have both been relative disappointments to date and the Ravens could certainly use more depth in the secondary with so many injuries taking place last season there.