The Houston Texans will be looking to make some moves this offseason as they attempt to take the next step and truly become a Super Bowl contender.

Obviously, there are some clear needs on the offensive side of the football. Bringing in more weapons for C.J. Stroud should be a priority. However, the defense is already elite but could always use more depth.

On the defensive line, the Texans could consider adding another big body in the middle. If one was available for a cheap cost, Houston would likely have interest.

With that in mind, one potential option has been suggested as a possible trade target.

Ben Strauss of ClutchPoints has urged the Texans to consider pursuing a trade for Dallas Cowboys former first-round pick Mazi Smith. He even suggested one potential trade that could bring Smith onboard.

In his trade proposal, Houston would acquire Smith and would swap 2026 seventh-round pick in exchange for Kenyon Green and the pick swap.

Smith was originally the No. 26 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Cowboys. He was expected to become a key part of the Dallas defense.

Throughout his first two years, he has racked up 54 total tackles to go along with two sacks.

At 23 years old, there is plenty of time for Smith to turn things around. Being able to learn from an elite defensive head coach in DeMeco Ryans and play alongside an already elite defense would be a perfect situation for him.

Granted, this is just an idea with no reporting behind it. Smith may not be a target and he might not even be available for trade. But, he would make sense as an intriguing option for the Texans.

Expect to hear a lot of rumors surrounding Houston as the offseason gets underway. They have some work to do and making a move for a player like Smith could help their defense be even better.

DALLAS – The family of Anthony Egeonu, a security guard killed while confronting shoplifters at a Dallas CVS, is struggling with raw emotions and profound grief.

Anthony Egeonu’s daughters, Amari and Jayda, sat quietly in the center of the living room.

“I feel terrible. I feel frustrated,” said Amari, tearfully. “I will always be bruised from this situation. Because my dad is no longer here.”

“He’s not coming home,” added Jayda.

Their father worked as a security guard at a downtown Dallas CVS. He was shot and killed late Friday as he confronted shoplifters leaving the store. Neighbors expressed concern about safety in the area.

In less than 24 hours, two young suspects were in custody. Dallas police have not formally identified them because of their ages.

“To go to work, do what you’re supposed to be doing … another person that doesn’t value life to take another life, I can’t wrap my mind around it,” said Anthony Egeonu’s mother, Gwendolyn Pipkins.

“They made a choice to leave us hurting, grieving, and in pain, never ever to lay eyes on a person we love very much,” she added.

Octavia Egeonu said while the family was aware of the dangers of the job, her husband had always been passionate about law enforcement. The couple had been married for eight years.

“He stayed because he was getting ready to be promoted to where he wouldn’t even be in that store. He would have been supervising at a different location,” Octavia Egeonu said.

As she sat quietly surrounded by friends and family, Octavia Egeonu said they would lean heavily on their faith for closure.

“This family is wounded, but we are going to make it through because we serve a savior who’s already conquered,” she added.

Anthony Egeonu is the second son Pipkins has lost to violence.

“It tells me in the word of God that when I say that I’m weak, I can say that I’m strong because God carries me when I can’t carry myself. And right now, I’m not carrying myself. I know God is carrying me,” she said.

“I will see justice. I know that the Lord is not going to allow us not to have justice,” Gwendolyn added.

Anthony Egeonu is survived by his wife, Octavia; children, Jayda, Amari and Jace; his parents; and many loving aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. 

In a cemetery tucked away in Far North Dallas, surrounded on all sides by apartment buildings, a group of about 50 gathered in the chilly Saturday morning air.

They had come to see the unveiling of a State of Texas historical marker noting the significance of White Rock Cemetery Garden of Memories, a 173-year-old cemetery that serves as the final resting place for many of Dallas’ Black pioneers, some of whom were formerly enslaved. In addition to the historical marker, the site has recently received a Dallas landmark designation by the City Council, which ensures it will be preserved and protected far into the future.

Both the marker and the landmark designation are a long time coming, according to the local leaders who led the charge and the descendants of those buried in the cemetery. The designation will protect the site from any future real estate development, which has threatened it in the past.

As the sheet covering the marker was pulled away, one person in the crowd was especially emotional. Sheniqua Cummings, a Remembering Black Dallas and Preservation Dallas Board member, said she has been working on securing a historical marker and landmark designation since 2017, when she was assigned to the project by the late Dr. George Keaton Jr., founder of Remembering Black Dallas.

Cummings said she extensively researched the history of the families buried in the cemetery, which was accomplished through frequent trips to the library to read books on Dallas’ Black history, as well as conversing with Keaton, who had collected obituaries of those buried in the cemetery and contacts for their family members. She also drafted the language on the marker.

As she finally saw the fruits of all her labor, tears welled in her eyes as others in attendance embraced her with hugs. She said Keaton, who died in 2022, would’ve been thrilled to finally see the marker.

“I know he is looking down on us, and he is so filled and so happy that we finally got it done,” Cummings said.

Prior to the unveiling, several speakers, including local church leaders and public officials, spoke to the importance of preserving the cemetery, which they said is one of the oldest Black cemeteries in Texas and is possibly the first integrated cemetery in the state.

Dallas City Council member Jaynie Schultz, whose district includes the cemetery, said the space is the final resting place of many people with fascinating stories who had a huge hand in the initial development of North Dallas. She said the cemetery should be widely celebrated, and thanked the dedicated group of people who preserved the cemetery over the years.

“This was a place that needed to be protected and needed to be loved by more than just the few people at the time that were really pouring their hearts into it,” Schultz said. “It needs to be loved and acknowledged by our city, by our state, by everybody here in Dallas who gets the opportunity to come here.”

The landmark designation from the city will ease the worries of many with ties to the cemetery, as the site has previously been threatened by developments in the area. A 10-year court battle was launched after a large oil, cement and real estate conglomerate purchased adjacent land to the cemetery and padlocked the gate. The corporation said it was abandoned, despite family members making frequent visits to tend to their loved ones’ graves.

The cemetery is the final resting place for notable figures such as Anderson Bonner, who was born into slavery and later amassed over 2,000 acres of land. Other prominent names include George Coit and Henry Keller, who led the settling of a freedmen’s town in the Upper White Rock area by formerly enslaved people.

The site’s first burial was in 1852 and has since interred over 400 souls. As it was the only cemetery for Black people at the time, many early Black settlers were buried at the site.

Ancestors’ resting place

The ceremony was attended by many who have family members buried in the cemetery. Cummings herself has an ancestor, John Henry Peace, buried there.

Walter Anderson Bonner and his wife Audrey each have a large number of family members buried in the cemetery. Walter Bonner said he has roughly 30 to 40 family members buried there, including his sister and grandfather, while Audrey Bonner said she is descended from the Keller family, which also has a large number of family members buried there.

The Bonners live in Garland, but said they make the trip out to the cemetery a few times a year to visit the gravesites of their family members. They both expressed excitement over the marker and landmark designation, and said the next thing they hope can be added to the cemetery is a map to aid in finding the site, which is hidden in between several apartment complexes.

Nepha Love, 97, attended the ceremony along with several family members. She said all of her family is buried at the site, making it an important place to her and her family.

“I’m happy we finally got some nice recognition, because we’ve been waiting for this for a long, long time,” Love said.

Terrence Suber, a family member of Love’s, said he is glad the history will now be memorialized through the marker and protected thanks to the landmark designation.

“We’ve got to remember the history,” Suber said. “You can’t bury the history. History will live forever.”

Cummings said her work on securing the marker and landmark designation was supported by Schultz, the Dallas Parks and Recreation Board, the Dallas County and Texas Historical Commissions. Schultz said she grew up in North Dallas and never knew how important Black history was to the neighborhood.

After being elected to City Council, she was introduced to Cummings and learned about the cemetery and other important early contributions to North Dallas by Black people. She realized if she didn’t know about the history, then others wouldn’t either.

“We just knew we had to protect it,” Schultz said.