Although the Texans showed their 2023 rebound was far from a fluke, DeMeco Ryans‘ second season saw the team plateau. C.J. Stroud did not take the second-year step many anticipated, and Houston finished with an even point differential despite playing in one of the NFL’s worst divisions. After a second straight 10-7 season, the Texans made widespread offensive changes while fortifying Ryans’ defense for the long term.
As Houston attempts to infiltrate the AFC’s upper crust and reach the first conference championship game in franchise history, some points of emphasis emerged between free agency and the draft.
Trades:
The Texans made the interesting decision to both label their offensive line a problem, the correct determination, while also trading away the best piece from it. Tunsil is out after six Texans seasons, having commanded two monster contracts since the 2019 blockbuster trade brought him in from Miami.
ESPN’s pass block win rate metric slotted Tunsil just outside the top 10 in 2023 and ’24, and the nine-year veteran had stayed mostly healthy since his injury-plagued 2021. Tunsil represented a key component in the Texans’ Stroud developmental effort, and they will pivot from a five-time Pro bowler (all five nods coming in Houston) to an eight-year vet (Cam Robinson) without any honors on his resume. Though, the Texans addressed this position early in the draft as well.
Tunsil is also weeks from his 31st birthday and would have been a candidate for an even higher-priced extension, as two seasons remain on his three-year, $75MM accord. Even though the Texans are light in terms of salary along their O-line — beyond Tytus Howard‘s three-year, $54MM deal — Tunsil said the team was prioritizing younger players over his fourth contract. That could have become a disruption along an O-line that had become a problem in 2024.
That said, this is a gamble due to the potential downgrade Tunsil to Robinson could bring. Still, the Texans fetched a nice haul for a player acquired before Nick Caserio‘s GM tenure began.
One of Caserio’s failed O-line projects is now in Philadelphia, being dealt for a proven safety. As Green did not pan out, the Texans will bet against the Eagles resurrecting his career a la their Mekhi Becton effort. Green struggled during his two seasons on the field while missing all of 2023 due to an offseason injury. A midseason IR trip ended Green’s starter run last season, as the Texas A&M product returned as a seldom-used backup by year’s end. One year remains on Green’s rookie deal; the Eagles declined his fifth-year option.
Gardner-Johnson is an interesting bet, especially in giving up an underperforming guard. Two years also remain on the two-time Super Bowl starter/renowned trash talker’s three-year, $27MM contract. No guaranteed money remains on Gardner-Johnson’s deal post-2025, giving the Texans flexibility if this fit does not work out. The Eagles have now ended both CJGJ’s stints at one season, letting him walk (to the Lions) in 2023 and trading him for a Becton replacement option after the second season.
Philly did see Gardner-Johnson prove an important piece. He tied for the NFL INT lead, with six, in 2022 despite missing five games. Although the Eagles had changed their defensive scheme yet again by the time Gardner-Johnson re-signed, he matched that six-INT season for a No. 1-ranked defense in 2024. Pro Football Focus graded Gardner-Johnson 14th among safety regulars last season, ranking him sixth in terms of coverage.
The former Saints draftee is also still just 27, creating upside in Ryans’ defense. Gardner-Johnson’s arrival could be much more important after Jimmie Ward‘s recent arrest, but he adds to an equation featuring Ward and emerging talent Calen Bullock at safety.
Capitalizing on Stroud’s rookie contract, the Texans parted with low-end compensation to add Kirk. This flier carries considerable upside, as the veteran slot receiver had been the Jaguars’ top Trevor Lawrence-era target. The retooling Jags were prepared to cut Kirk; the Texans made sure they would obtain his rights, picking up the final season of the 1,000-yard weapon’s four-year, $72MM contract.
The Jags’ 2023 freefall came just after Kirk’s season-ending core muscle malady. They went 1-5 without Kirk available down the stretch. The former Cardinals second-round pick had notched his first 1,000-yard season (1,108) in 2022 to justify a contract most labeled outlandish earlier that year. Kirk then beat that per-game yardage number by averaging a career-best 57.6 in 2023.
While Kirk was not as productive to start 2024, he drew trade interest before suffering a broken collarbone. A year after trading for Stefon Diggs, the Texans made a lower-stakes move with a younger cog; Kirk will not turn 29 until November. Given Diggs’ departure and Tank Dell‘s uncertain future, Kirk is probably a low-cost bet worth making.
Ingram is a true flier, having been benched by the Vikings last season. A former second-round pick out of LSU, Ingram made 41 starts with Minnesota. He factors into a crowded Houston guard mix. PFF ranked Ingram 66th among guard regulars last season, and while the advanced metrics site did slot him inside the top 40 in 2023, the Texans are attempting to revive a depressed asset.
Extensions and restructures:
This offseason featured the first batch of highly drafted Caserio players become extension-eligible, marking a turning point for an organization that had bottomed out earlier this decade. Once deploying rosters chock full of average or subaverage veterans, Caserio restocked it with several extension-worthy performers. The fifth-year GM operated proactively, potentially establishing a blueprint for when Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. are up for new deals in 2026.
After an abbreviated rookie season, Stingley has become one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks. Caserio’s initial first-round pick as a GM hit big, intercepting five passes in back-to-back seasons and reaching the first-team All-Pro level. The Texans chose Stingley one spot over Sauce Gardner in 2022, and while the LSU product initially trailed the physical Jets cover man, a changing of the guard occurred — as the No. 1 contender for Patrick Surtain‘s belt, if you will — in 2024.
Pro Football Focus rated Stingley fifth among CB regulars last season, after placing him ninth in 2024, while Gardner struggled. Stingley, 24, already established himself by 2023, though, as his coverage metrics from last season closely resemble his second-year work. After allowing a 47.9% completion rate as the closest defender in 2023, Stingley posted a 47.1 number last year. His passer rating allowed only climbed from 41.3 to a still-elite 51.2, and the boundary defender’s yards-per-target number dropped significantly — from 12.5 to 9.6. A natural in Ryans’ defense, Stingley has become the Texans’ top player. Houston paid him as such.
Despite Surtain’s Defensive Player of the Year season, he now trails Stingley by $6MM in terms of AAV. Both players are signed through 2029, as the Texans still had two years of control on Stingley’s rookie deal (via a fifth-year option that would have been exercised), and the extension includes no full guarantees beyond 2026. Though, a rolling guarantee structure makes this a more player-friendly agreement. Stingley’s 2027 base salary locks in by March 2026; that pattern recurs a year later for his 2028 paragraph 5 number.
Although Stingley does not have a runaway lead in terms of two- and three-year cash flows like he does in CB AAV, it was still surprising to see the Texans agree to make him the NFL’s first $30MM-per-year DB on just a three-year contract. The corner market did not move between May 2022 and September 2024, needing Surtain to break through a $21MM-per-year ceiling — one that had fallen behind safeties by spring 2024. Seeing Surtain and Jalen Ramsey set the table, Stingley collected the final piece of leverage when Jaycee Horn scored a then-market-setting $25MM-per-year deal in early March.
Is Hunter quietly building a Hall of Fame resume? No first-team All-Pro accolades hurt that potential case, but the consistent sack artist’s prime has gone against those of Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt, Nick Bosa and Micah Parsons. The youngest player to reach 50 sacks also saw his prime interrupted by injury, as he missed 26 games between the 2020 and ’21 seasons. Despite this sizable chunk of missed time, Hunter ranks 11th in career sacks through an age-30 season (99.5) in NFL history. Houston could be ground zero for a back-door Canton ascent, and Caserio ensured the Hunter-Anderson duo would last longer.
The Texans gave the 2024 free agent signee a deal that narrowly eclipsed Maxx Crosby‘s $35.5MM AAV number, though this obviously differs from the Raiders’ three-year extension. After griping about his Vikings extension — a deal that was team-friendly at the time and only swung further in that direction — for years, Hunter has done well for himself in Houston. He scored a near-fully guaranteed first Texans contract (two years, $49MM; $48MM guaranteed), and the team effectively gave him a $6.1MM raise for 2025. More importantly, Hunter’s re-up secured a near-fully guaranteed 2026.
Hunter, 30, tacked a fifth Pro Bowl onto his resume with a 12.5-sack season. The Texans-Vikings’ Hunter-Jonathan Greenard free agency switch proved a win-win, as the latter earned Pro Bowl recognition as part of a top-five Minnesota defense. Since returning from a 2021 chest injury, Hunter has not missed a game and has displayed consistency by staying between 22 and 23 QB hits in each of those three seasons. Being paired with Anderson will allow a good chance at a seventh double-digit sack season, while his presence helped the younger rusher make strides forward.
Houston moved Pitre from safety to the slot last year, and the early extension reflects a belief that change worked. Shortly after making Stingley the NFL’s highest-paid perimeter corner, the Texans moved Pitre to the top of the slot salary list. This set the bar for Kyler Gordon‘s Bears extension to raise the ceiling to $13.3MM per year.
The slot market keeps growing, as teams are taking advantage of a bargain rate attached to this underrated position. As recently as March 2024, no pure slot had crossed the eight-figure-per-year barrier; after historic cap spikes in 2024 and ’25, six pure slot CBs are there now.
This came after Pitre’s season-ending pectoral injury, which required surgery. The contract certainly renders that a nonissue, as the Texans have the makings of a long-term CB trio. These two deals pair well with Kamari Lassiter‘s rookie pact. The 2024 second-rounder’s rookie deal runs through 2027.
Free agency additions:
- Cam Robinson, LT. One year, $12MM ($10.75MM guaranteed)
- Tremon Smith, CB. Two years, $6.5MM ($4.5MM guaranteed)
- Sheldon Rankins, DT. One year, $5.25MM ($4.5MM guaranteed)
- Nick Niemann, LB. Two years, $6MM ($4MM guaranteed)
- E.J. Speed, LB. One year, $3.5MM ($3.25MM guaranteed)
- Justin Watson, WR. Two years, $5MM ($3MM guaranteed)
- Laken Tomlinson, G. One year, $4.25MM ($2.5MM guaranteed)
- Darrell Taylor, DE. One year, $4.75MM ($2MM guaranteed)
- Nick Chubb, RB. One year, $2.5MM ($1.5MM guaranteed)
- Trent Brown, T. One year, $2.35MM ($550K guaranteed)
- Braxton Berrios, WR. One year, $1.8MM ($300K guaranteed)
- Zachary Thomas, T. One year, $1.4MM ($100K guaranteed)
- Casey Toohill, DE. One year, $1.34MM ($53K guaranteed)
- Damon Arnette, CB. One year, $1MM
Having a biannual look at Robinson through his AFC South past, the Texans decided to add one of this market’s top players days into free agency. While it appeared Robinson’s market — thanks to Ronnie Stanley and Alaric Jackson taking themselves off the table via pre-free agency agreements — would rival Dan Moore Jr.‘s, the longtime Jags LT-turned-Vikings stopgap took a one-year accord with an eye on 2026. Based on the Texans’ offseason, this looks set to be a one-year partnership.
The pure left tackle carrying 101 career starts divided some entering free agency, as no Pro Bowls are on his resume. Then again, Pro Bowl LTs entering age-30 seasons rarely hit the market barring noteworthy injury concerns. PFF slotted Robinson outside the top 50 among tackles last season, and his 88.2% pass block win rate did not wow. But the Texans will add the twice-franchise-tagged blocker as a stopgap while second-round pick Aireontae Ersery develops.
The Hall of Fame will need to adjust its criteria if modern running backs are to be enshrined, as workloads plummeted compared to prior eras. Chubb looked to be one of the players who could create a case, provided the goalposts are moved to accommodate some of this period’s best ballcarriers, but the injuries he sustained in 2023 and ’24 altered that path. The former Browns dynamo missed 15 games in 2023 due to a severe knee injury, one that kept him from debuting until late October of 2024. He then saw a broken foot shelve him after eight games last season. As a result, Chubb’s free agency predictably tanked.
Chubb, 29, had taken a steep Browns pay cut after his 2023 knee injuries — a partially torn ACL, a fully torn MCL along with medial capsule and meniscus damage — and is certainly at a make-or-break point. The former second-round pick had zoomed to four straight Pro Bowls, running behind a well-built Browns O-line. This included two 1,400-plus-yard rushing seasons (2019, 2022), the first of which coming before the team rebuilt its O-line.
One of the NFL’s top pure runners of the past several years, Chubb now joins Joe Mixon — who is nearly a year younger despite being drafted a year earlier — in Houston’s backfield. After not seeing Dameon Pierce pan out, the Texans have one of the more experienced backfields in recent NFL history.
Chubb did not look himself before going down with the foot injury last season. He averaged 3.3 yards per carry, after topping 5.0 in each of his first five seasons, and is likely done as a regular starter. Still, the Texans have a former top-tier RB on a low-cost contract; they will hope the eighth-year vet being nearly two years removed from the major knee injury can spark a resurgence.
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The Texans were in on Dre Greenlaw, a year after already reuniting Ryans with ex-49ers pupil Azeez Al-Shaair, but did not outbid the Broncos. Weeks later, the team circled back to a cheaper option in Speed. Replacing Shaquille Leonard as a three-down Colts linebacker, After a 102-tackle 2023 slate that included a career-high 12 tackles for loss, Speed posted a career-best 142 tackles (seven for loss) last year.
The six-year Colts contributor wanted to play for Ryans, but a full-time role will not be a lock. Al-Shaair returns, and Christian Harris missed most of last season. Henry To’oTo’o also started 15 games. Speed’s addition crowds Houston’s LB corps while supplying insurance at the very least.
Rankins did not fit with the Bengals, who edged the Texans for the interior pass rusher in 2024. The Bengals cut bait on Rankins’ two-year, $24.5MM deal, doing so after he missed 10 games with a hamstring injury and a bout with viral meningitis. Finishing last season on the reserve/NFI list, Rankins accepted a pay cut from his 2023 Texans terms (one year, $9.75MM). That year, he posted six sacks, nine TFLs and 10 QB hits to deliver his second-best pass-rushing season as a pro. Now 31, the former Saints first-rounder joins one of the most experienced D-lines in recent NFL history.
As the Texans ran wild reconfiguring their O-line, they took a flier on one of the Patriots’ Caserio-era pickups. With Caserio in the copilot seat, the Pats acquired Brown from the 49ers during the 2018 draft. He then started at left tackle for a Super Bowl-winning team. Brown could not justify his Raiders free agency payday but resembled his previous form during a second Pats stint.
Brown, 32, has been unreliable since that ’18 showing. The mammoth tackle has missed 44 games in that span. This included a strange ending to his Patriots 2.0 run, when internal concerns Brown was overplaying an injury to protect himself for a 2024 free agency bid emerged, and a patellar tendon tear three games into his Bengals year.
Brown joins Robinson, Ersery, Tytus Howard and Blake Fisher in the Texans’ tackle equation. Howard’s past at guard will likely come into play again, whereas Brown profiles as a depth piece — provided he makes the team. A 96-game starter, Brown has extensive experience at both left and right tackle. A Kelvin Beachum-like role as a veteran swing tackle could be in the cards, but this looks like the 11th-year veteran’s last chance.
Sporting a far steadier profile than Brown, Tomlinson’s reunion with Ryans brings more change to a front PFF ranked 29th last season. Stroud took 52 sacks last season — up from 38 in 2023 — as the unit contributed heavily to his somewhat disappointing follow-up effort.
None of the Texans’ newcomers match Tunsil’s pedigree, but the team has far more options at each position than it did in 2024. Tomlinson joins Howard, Ingram and the loser of the center competition (Jarrett Patterson–Juice Scruggs–Jake Andrews) as guard options. As it stands, Tomlinson looks like the Texans’ LG starter.
Tomlinson, 33, brings by far the most experience among any upfront option Houston has. The durable blocker has made 155 career starts, missing only one game in 10 seasons. Shaq Mason came to Houston with a similar profile, before missing time in 2024, but almost no one in the NFL matches Tomlinson’s durability. The 2024 Seahawks starter is on the downside of his career, but he did command a raise from his vet-minimum Seattle deal. The former San Francisco stalwart graded as a mid-pack (44th) option among guards, per PFF, last season. That represented an uptick from his two Jets years.
Re-signings:
- Mario Edwards, DL. Two years, $9.5MM ($4.5MM guaranteed)
- Derek Barnett, DE. One year, $4MM ($1.5MM guaranteed)
- Folorunso Fatukasi, DT. One year, $3MM ($1.5MM guaranteed)
- Jake Hansen, LB. One year, $1.7MM ($800K guaranteed)
- Dare Ogunbowale, RB. One year, $1.5MM ($750K guaranteed)
- M.J. Stewart, S. One year, $2.5MM ($500K guaranteed)
- Myles Bryant, CB. One year, $1.34MM ($500K guaranteed)
- Kurt Hinish, DT. One year, $1.8MM ($375K guaranteed)
- Irv Smith Jr., TE. One year, $1.23MM ($15K guaranteed)
Anderson has plenty of vets to learn from. Houston’s D-line rotation could consist of a 12th-year player (Autry), two 11th-year vets (Edwards, Hunter), a 10th-year player (Rankins), a ninth-year cog (Barnett) and two eighth-year performers (Fatukasi, Tim Settle). By comparison, Taylor (Year 6) and Hinish (Year 4) look raw.
Working strictly as an inside player under Ryans, Edwards joining Rankins will make for an interesting duo of inside rushers. Houston will have more firepower there, with Settle totaling five sacks as a part-time starter last season, while Fatukasi is back as a run defender. It will be interesting to see who starts alongside Anderson and Hunter.
Barnett, 29, enjoyed his most productive season in ages last year; he notched five sacks and two scoop-and-scores as a backup D-end. Forcing two fumbles as well, the ex-Eagle first-rounder has found a role after being marginalized by Philly’s D-line depth. Suddenly, the Texans’ D-line looks like one of the NFL’s deepest position groups.
Notable losses:
- Tucker Addington, LS (waived)
- Tremayne Anchrum, OL (released)
- Anthony Averett, CB (released)
- Kris Boyd, CB
- Ronald Darby, CB (retired)
- Stefon Diggs, WR
- Kendrick Green, G
- Neville Hewitt, LB
- Jerry Hughes, DE
- Case Keenum, QB
- Shaq Mason, G (post-June 1 cut)
- Eric Murray, S
- Jeff Okudah, CB
- Del’Shawn Phillips, LB
- Teagan Quitoriano, TE
- Jon Weeks, LS
- Devin White, LB
- Robert Woods, WR
The Texans’ decision to lop three years off Diggs’ Bills extension following the 2024 trade remains odd, but the veteran’s free agency value crumbled after his midseason ACL tear. Diggs’ injury, which came weeks before Tank Dell‘s more severe setback, resulted in his first notable stretch of absences as a pro. Diggs going down played a major role in Stroud’s struggles, but the Texans moved on. The 31-year-old wideout is now a Patriot and has not been cleared for full work yet.
The team had a Diggs re-signing on its radar, but the Pats came in with a three-year, $63.5MM ($16.6MM at signing) offer. Woods expressed interest in staying as well, but the formerly productive pass catcher was unable to make much of an impact even with Diggs shelved. Woods posted 203 receiving yards in his age-32 season; he is now a Steeler. These exits opened the door for Houston’s Iowa State-focused WR approach in April.
Houston’s trade for Gardner-Johnson came a day after Murray’s Jaguars defection. Murray spent five seasons in Houston, dating to Bill O’Brien‘s final year in charge, and started 43 games. Fourteen of those came last season. Murray is now 31 and had rarely been confused with an upper-echelon safety; he notched just two INTs as a Texan and graded outside the top 50 at the position in 2024. Gardner-Johnson is a significant upgrade, and Murray’s Jaguars deal (three years, $19.5MM) was among the most surprising this offseason offered. Murray played for $1.75MM last season.
Darby retired months after signing his Texans deal, wrapping a 10-year career. Weeks, 39, is nearing retirement. He holds the Texans’ games-played record, with 244 (plus 14 playoff contests); second place (Andre Johnson) checks in at 169. Weeks wanted to stay for a 16th Houston season; he is now San Francisco’s long snapper. The 2024 Diggs restructure brings a $16.64MM dead money penalty, while Mason’s release brings $5.2MM (2025) and $7.3MM (2026) charges.
Draft:
- Round 2, No. 34 (from Giants): Jayden Higgins (WR, Iowa State) (signed)
- Round 2, No. 48 (from Dolphins through Raiders): Aireontae Ersery (T, Minnesota)
- Round 3, No. 79 (from Dolphins through Eagles and Commanders): Jaylin Noel (WR, Iowa State) (signed)
- Round 3, No. 97 (from Vikings through Jaguars)*: Jaylin Smith (CB, USC) (signed)
- Round 4, No. 116 (from Dolphins): Woody Marks (RB, USC) (signed)
- Round 6, No. 187 (from 49ers through Vikings and Jaguars): Jaylen Reed (S, Penn State) (signed)
- Round 6, No. 197 (from Broncos): Graham Mertz (QB, Florida) (signed)
- Round 7, No. 224 (from Bears through Dolphins): Kyonte Hamilton (DT, Rutgers) (signed)
- Round 7, No. 255 (from Browns)*: Luke Lachey (TE, Iowa) (signed)
As pre-draft rumors tied the Texans to adding more O-line help in Round 1, Caserio called about trading up. Though, it is believed the team pursued one of Stroud’s former Ohio State targets. The Texans were connected to trading up for Emeka Egbuka, who overlapped with Stroud’s two QB1 years in Columbus. The Buccaneers, who did not enter the draft with a receiver need, took him at No. 19. This led to a Texans pivot, as they allowed the Giants to come up to No. 25 for Jaxson Dart.
The Texans collected two Day 2 picks — a third-rounder this year and next — to slide down nine spots. They then began importing the Iowa State receiving corps to Houston, starting with Higgins. Set to play on the first fully guaranteed contract for a second-round pick, Higgins broke through for 87 receptions, 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns last season. Standing 6-foot-4 and 214 pounds, Higgins will complement Noel’s slot skillset in Houston just as he did in Ames. Post-Diggs, Higgins profiles as the Texans’ Nico Collins outside sidekick — while Noel may wait behind Christian Kirk for a year.
Higgins is certainly on the radar to start, as Kirk gives the team an option to avoid starting two non-first-round rookies. Daniel Jeremiah’s NFL.com big board ranked the two Cyclones 48th and 50th, respectively, viewing the latter (Noel) as great value at No. 79. Standing 5-10, Noel brings some size (201 pounds) to the equation inside. He also has more experience at a high level, spending his full college tenure in Ames — while Higgins transferred from Division I-FCS Eastern Kentucky in 2023. Noel also led the 2024 Cyclones in receiving, finishing with 1,194 yards last year.
These rookies arrived after the team was connected to Deebo Samuel, but the Commanders landing him for a fifth-round pick — a borderline salary dump — revealed modest interest. To that point, no trade offer emerged. D.K. Metcalf‘s trade crusade also included interest in joining the Texans. It cost much more for the Seahawk Pro Bowler, as the Steelers obtained him for a second-round pick and authorized a top-five WR extension. The Texans were also listed as a potential landing spot for Cooper Kupp. After all this and the Egbuka effort, the team will rely on two Big 12 products — as Tank Dell‘s future is foggy.
Dell suffering one of the worst knee injuries in recent NFL annals — ACL, PCL, LCL tears to go with a dislocated kneecap and meniscus tear — will keep the talented wideout from starting the season on time. The former third-rounder is not a lock to play at all in 2025, and while a 2026 return would stand to complicate matters for the Iowa State alums, the Texans selecting both reveals uncertainty whether Dell will be a productive player for the team again. Dell, who suffered a broken leg in 2023 before being wounded in a shooting in early 2024, is signed through 2026.
Once the Texans traded down to 34, they were tied to moving back into Round 1 for Oregon tackle Josh Conerly Jr.. The Commanders took Conerly at 29, leaving the Texans to address their tackle interest on Day 2. That came via a trade-up with the Raiders, with Ersery the prize. The Texans packaged the 99th pick obtained in the Dart trade in this transaction.
The Robinson signing gives Ersery an onramp, as his Big Ten workload points to being a left tackle-in-training. Ersery spent the past three seasons as Minnesota’s LT starter, earning second-team All-Big Ten acclaim in 2023 and first-team honors — in a much bigger conference follow the Pac-12 scramble — last season. Also earning third-team All-American acclaim in 2024, the Kansas City native checked in as the No. 37 prospect on Dane Brugler’s The Athletic big board.
Houston has its 2024 second-round pick, Fisher, set to push for its starting RT job in training camp. Ersery’s lack of experience there points to the Texans planning an Ersery-Fisher future at tackle, though Ersery did receive RT reps during Houston’s offseason program. Two seasons remain on Howard’s contract, but his constantly changing workload has included 27 starts at guard.
Darby’s retirement removes a guardrail for Smith, but the Texans do not have a starting spot available at corner, anyway. The 5-10 CB profiles as a depth player behind Lassiter for now. The team traded up to add Marks, a one-year Smith USC teammate, as a hopeful longer-term RB option. Pierce’s rookie contract expires at season’s end, and Mixon’s guarantees pay out after 2025. This came after the Texans and Browns exchanged Day 3 capital, across the 2025 and ’27 drafts, hours before this year’s event.
Other:
In 2024, Slowik received a sizable raise on an extension after a run on the HC carousel. Going from PFF to 49ers assistant to Texans OC already represented considerable progress for the young staffer, the lead conductor of Stroud’s Offensive Rookie of the Year season. The Texans did not take a step back in the grand scheme last season, reaching the divisional round despite significant injury trouble on offense. The team dropping from 13th to 19th in scoring and 12th to 22nd in total offense, though, led to Slowik’s firing.
Now the Dolphins’ pass-game coordinator under ex-49ers coworker Mike McDaniel, Slowik put himself on the map in Houston. Caley will have a chance to do the same. While a fixture on PFR pages during coaching carousels, Caley secured his first coordinator opportunity after turning down two OC positions. The Rams tight ends coach both rejected the Patriots (in 2024) and Jets (in 2025); he was believed to be New York’s top choice this year.
Caley, 42, had the luxury of being a choosey candidate after being on Sean McVay‘s staff. More interest would have come. Caley will go from eight-season tight ends coach (with the Patriots and Rams) to play-calling OC. Though, he did serve as the L.A. pass-game coordinator last season. A Stroud rebound will undoubtedly garner him HC meetings, but the Texans will certainly hope for some continuity around their QB. Franchises with defense-based HCs, though, run into this problem regularly.
Top 10 cap charges for 2025:
- Danielle Hunter, DE: $20.2MM
- Dalton Schultz, TE: $14MM
- Derek Stingley Jr., CB: $12.03MM
- Tytus Howard, OL: $11.58MM
- C.J. Stroud, QB: $9.89MM
- Will Anderson Jr., DE: $9.6MM
- Joe Mixon, RB: $9.41MM
- C.J. Gardner-Johnson, S: $9MM
- Nico Collins, WR: $8.58MM
- Denico Autry, DL: $6.59MM
No one has won three straight AFC South titles since the Peyton Manning-led Colts did so from 2003-07; the Texans are a clear favorite to do so. Playing in what has been the AFC’s weakest division essentially since Manning’s 2012 Indianapolis exit helps Houston’s chances, but thus far, they have not been able to go the distance with the true AFC heavyweights in the playoffs. Houston has undoubtedly completed a turnaround, but back-to-back seven-loss seasons in the AFC South has chained the team to second-tier contender status.
A formidable defense will back Stroud, and the Texans devoted their offseason to protecting themselves against more WR and O-line injury trouble. Caley unlocking more from the franchise QB — against a schedule featuring 10 non-playoff teams from 2024 (though, one is the 49ers) — thanks in part to the offseason additions could give the Texans a slingshot to the AFC’s top level. How Stroud fares in this new scheme will be a key AFC variable to follow, as yet another powerhouse operation could be lurking in the conference.
