Justin Houston goes full betrayal (not really) by signing with Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins are currently trying to do two things at once: 1.) prepare to face the Kansas City Chiefs in the opening round of the NFL postseason, and 2.) deal with the significant number of injuries to the team's pass rush. To fix things in the interim, they've called upon a familiar face to Chiefs fans in Justin Houston.

Houston was recently released by the Carolina Panthers and was searching for a home for the rest of the season, hopefully with a contender. He's now found a home with Miami as they deal with numerous losses up front in Vic Fangio's defense.

The Dolphins shouldn't expect too much from Houston at this point, given that he's only played in 180 snaps on the year and hasn't played in a game since October with the Panthers. In that short span of time, Houston came away with a mere five pressures and a single half-sack to his name.

If there's a bright side to adding Houston, however, it can be found in his impressive sack totals even as recently as last season when he had 9.5 sacks for the Baltimore Ravens to go with 25 pressures. In fact, Houston has remained remarkably productive into his mid-thirties with 33.5 sacks coming after his release from the Chiefs at the age of 30 (back in 2019).

The Chiefs first selected Houston in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft by then-general manager Scott Pioli. Houston not only set a team record with 22 sacks in a single season but he left with 78.5 total sacks in 8 seasons with the Chiefs, making him one of the franchise's most fearsome pass rushers ever.

For some fans, Houston's willingness to sign with the Dolphins on the very week they face the Chiefs will be some sort of betrayal, but the truth is that he's a veteran player looking for meaningful work and we're just happy he found some.

The Chiefs host the Dolphins on Saturday, January 13 at 7:00 p.m. C.T. in the Wild Card round of the NFL postseason.