Per John McClain, yet again today, the Texans have reached a contract agreement with DT Shaun Cody. Cody will receive $5.75 million over the next two seasons, with $1.5 million of it guaranteed. It’s not an outrageous salary, but $1.5 million is a lot of guaranteed dollars for a player who might not even start next season.

Cody came over from the Detroit Lions after the 2009 season and made his way into the starting lineup after the first few games of the season showed the run defense needed help. He’s mainly around to help stuff the run, but given the Texans poor showing against the run in 2010 and the switch to a 3-4 defense, it was considered somewhat of a longshot that he’d be back.

No matter, McClain says, because Wade Phillips likes him as a 3-4 nose tackle. I’m not so sure. Nose tackle has been a major weakness for this Texans defense since the beginning of their existence, and in moving to a 3-4, it was thought that maybe this would be the year that they started to take the position seriously. Instead, they will paper over the hole with second-year defensive tackle Earl Mitchell and Cody.