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Free-agent linebacker Cato June signs with Houston on Monday

By: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

6/04/2009 9:20 PM | Comments: 0

HOUSTON - Cato June is back in the AFC South, joining the Houston Texans, a team he used to plague while playing for the Indianapolis Colts.

Houston agreed to a one-year, US$1.5 million contract with the Texans after playing the last two seasons in Tampa Bay. June left the Colts as a free agent after helping them win the 2006 NFL title. He made the Pro Bowl in 2006 when he had a career-high 142 tackles.

June started 14 games last year for the Buccaneers and finished with 67 tackles and one interception. June was released by Tampa Bay in a late-February purge of veterans that included long-time Buccaneers star Derrick Brooks.

A sixth-round draft pick out of Michigan in 2003, June is a quick outside linebacker with good hands, as his 12 career interceptions attest.

He joins a group led by middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans, who has 395 tackles in three seasons and was the 2006 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Xavier Adibi had a strong second half last year as a rookie after overcoming an illness.

Also on the roster is Zac Diles, who had 66 tackles in the first eight games before breaking his leg in practice in November. Houston's other linebackers are Kevin Bentley and Chaun Thompson, but the team needed an experienced player after releasing veteran Morlon Greenwood this off-season.

The Texans have signed four free agents this year: quarterback Dan Orlovsky, defensive end Antonio Smith and defensive tackle Shaun Cody.

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