Texans Trade OL Austin Deculus To Chargers
The Texans’ offensive line reshuffle continues; they are trading fourth-year blocker Austin Deculus. The 2022 Houston draftee will be dealt to the Chargers, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports.
In exchange, the Texans will add a conditional 2027 seventh-round pick. Deculus will join a Bolts team dealt a tough injury blow weeks ago upon losing left tackle Rashawn Slater for the season.
Houston has already made three trades involving O-linemen this offseason. They dealt Laremy Tunsil to the Commanders, sent Kenyon Green to the Eagles and acquired Ed Ingram from the Vikings. No. 4 involves a much lower-profile player in Deculus, who has played in 13 career games with one start.
For a team that lost a Pro Bowl left tackle, the Bolts are in fairly decent shape. They kicked Joe Alt over from right tackle and are set to plug Trey Pipkins — he of considerable starting experience — at RT, marking a return after an unsuccessful guard transition. The Chargers also roster ex-Slater LT fill-in Jamaree Salyer up front.
All but one of Deculus’ NFL snaps on offense have come at left tackle. The trade gives the Bolts a second backup option alongside Salyer, who has a year of guard starter experience under his belt as well.
Texans S Jimmie Ward Placed On Commissioner’s Exempt List
Jimmie Ward is already in position to miss the first four games of the season, but health is not the only factor which could impact his return to to action. The Texans safety was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list Tuesday, per a league announcement. 
Ward is therefore prohibited from practicing or playing for Houston until he is removed from the list. Since he will begin the season on the reserve/PUP list, those conditions are already in place for September. Still, this development is a sign Ward’s legal situation is unsettled in the NFL’s view.
The 34-year-old was arrested in June on an assault family violence charge. Following that third-degree felony case’s opening, Ward was prohibited from consuming alcohol as a condition of his bail. He was arrested earlier this month for violating it, and a grand jury will decide whether to indict Ward on the underlying felony charge on September 2, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC2. Ward is also the subject of a civil suit stemming from the matter.
NFL investigations often do not begin in earnest until after the legal process winds down. As a result, it comes as little surprise Ward has been moved to the league’s equivalent of paid leave with an indefinite period on tap before his case is concluded. League discipline does not require a criminal conviction, so a fine and/or suspension could be looming regardless of how the coming weeks unfold with respect to the case.
Houston will rely on trade acquisition C.J. Gardner-Johnson as a key figure at the safety spot in 2025. Calen Bullock is also on track for a starting spot, while rookie Jaylen Reed is set to handle a backup role. The Texans’ full list of Tuesday cuts has not yet emerged, but their roster decisions will need to take into account Ward’s absence for the next month and potentially beyond that point.
Texans To Release CB Arthur Maulet, LB Nick Niemann
Arthur Maulet joined the Texans in search of at least a depth role in the team’s secondary, but that has not panned out. The veteran slot corner is among Houston’s roster cuts, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson reports. 
Linebacker Nick Niemann is also being released, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports. The special teams ace took a two-year Houston pact this spring which included $4MM in total guarantees. Part of that figure will be offset once a new team adds him, but the Texans will absorb a $3.25MM dead money charge in 2025 as a result of this move.
Maulet spent the 2023 and ’24 campaigns in Baltimore. When healthy, he enjoyed a strong run as the team’s top slot corner. Injuries limited the 32-year-old to just three games last season, however, something which hurt his market. Maulet signed roughly one month ago in a bid to carve out a defensive gig in Houston.
The Texans are set along the perimeter with Derek Stingley Jr. and Kamari Lassiter, but the Maulet signing came about after Ronald Darby‘s retirement. That appeared to open the door to another veteran earning a spot, and Wilson notes Maulet fared well during training camp and the preseason. Barring a practice squad agreement being worked out in the next day or so, a fresh start will be needed in his case.
Niemann played out his rookie contract with the Chargers, totaling 64 games along the way. The 27-year-old only made three starts on defense, but he racked up nearly 1,300 snaps on special teams. That third phase track record should lead to interest from outside suitors as he reaches free agency late in the summer.
Texans To Release T Trent Brown
Amid a full-scale offensive line makeover, the Texans are set to move on from a player they took a flier on this offseason. They are releasing Trent Brown, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
The 10-year veteran spent the summer on Houston’s active/PUP list, having suffered a torn patellar tendon during what amounted to a brief cameo in Cincinnati. The Texans needed to either activate Brown or send him to the reserve/PUP list. Option C, however, will be used. This will be the first time a team has released Brown.
This release comes as Brown was moving toward a recovery from knee surgery, according to Wilson. But he will head back to free agency instead. The 380-plus-pound blocker having suffered a major knee injury during an age-31 season invited questions about his future, but a reunion with Nick Caserio — a Patriots exec when the team traded for Brown in 2018 — provided a lifeline. The Texans gave Brown a one-year, $2.35MM deal with $550K guaranteed. Houston will eat only the $550K in dead money. A return via the practice squad is likely in this case, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport notes.
Brown being nearly recovered is certainly notable, as it could lead to another chance given his history as a starter. Brown has made 96 starts, including three to open last season with the Bengals. Brown had spent the previous three years back in New England, after Las Vegas conducted an O-line makeover in 2021 that involved shedding a big-ticket Brown contract. Brown did not live up to the Raiders deal but became a regular again with the Patriots, starting at both LT and RT during his second stint.
Brown has been injury-prone throughout his career, and although the former 49ers seventh-round pick operated as the Pats’ full-time LT during their 2018 Super Bowl-winning season, he has played more than 11 games just once since. The Texans also added two more tackles — Cam Robinson, Aireontae Ersery — this offseason. Robinson has emerged as a trade candidate. With Brown out of the picture, Ersery is moving toward the starting LT job (opposite the versatile Tytus Howard) with 2024 second-rounder Blake Fisher then set to be a swing tackle.
Texans Considering LT Cam Robinson Trade
Cam Robinson signed with the Texans during free agency in a move which appeared to set him up for left tackle duties in Houston. The veteran blindside blocker could soon be on the move, however.
The Texans have discussed trading away Robinson, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The team’s new-look offensive line has been a key storyline through the summer, and second-round rookie Aireontae Ersery has enjoyed a strong camp. If Houston is comfortable with him starting at left tackle, Robinson could be deemed expendable.
Houston gave Robinson a one-year, $12MM deal in free agency. Despite checking in as one of this year’s top free agents, the eight-year left tackle starter (with Jacksonville and Minnesota), Robinson does not look to have beaten out Ersery — added a month after the veteran’s Texans commitment — for the LT job. Schefter points to Ersery being set to start in Week 1, with KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson also indicating that will be the case.
Wilson adds the Texans — who made a host of offseason moves along their O-line — are likely to roll out a starting quintet that includes Ersery, Laken Tomlinson, Jake Andrews, Ed Ingram and Tytus Howard up front. That would mean the Texans will have one returning starter (Howard) from last season. Howard has bounced around Houston’s O-line during his career, but after being pegged as more likely to stay at guard, a shift back to RT looks likely.
After struggling to protect C.J. Stroud during a disjointed offensive season, the Texans’ O-line received a makeover. The team traded Laremy Tunsil and Kenyon Green, releasing Shaq Mason as well. Ingram came over in a trade after being benched in his Vikings contract year, while Andrews — a 2023 Patriots fourth-rounder — did not play a snap last season.
Robinson, 29, has drawn trade interest, according to Wilson. Nothing is imminent, however. He would be an expensive swing tackle if Houston were to pass on a trade, and it would represent the first time the former second-round pick would have entered an NFL season as a backup. The Texans, though, also have 2024 second-round pick Blake Fisher as a swing option. Trent Brown has already been released.
Robinson has made 101 career starts, earning two Jaguars franchise tags before being signed to a three-year, $52.75MM extension. The Jags traded that contract to the Vikings last year, going with Walker Little — who signed an extension late in Trent Baalke‘s GM tenure — at LT. Robinson finished last season as the Vikes’ Christian Darrisaw replacement. He could be on the move again today.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Texans To Move Jimmie Ward To Reserve/PUP List
Two Texans will be shifted to reserve lists when the team sets its initial 53-man roster Tuesday. As Joe Mixon will be transferred to the reserve/NFI list, Jimmie Ward is heading to the reserve/PUP list.
Ward has not recovered from offseason foot surgery, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson reports. Spending training camp on the active/PUP list, Ward must either be activated or transferred to the reserve/PUP list by Tuesday’s 3pm CT deadline. Not healthy enough to practice, Ward will miss at least the Texans’ first four games.
Ward’s age, injury and off-field trouble may put his career in jeopardy. The longtime DeMeco Ryans pupil has been arrested twice this year — the first on an assault family violence impeding breath/circulation charge and the second for violating his bail by consuming alcohol — and is rehabbing from surgery stemming from a Week 16 injury.
Ward, who has missed seven games in each of his two Texans seasons, will join Tank Dell as players to go down in a regular-season loss to the Chiefs but not be ready for the upcoming season. Dell’s injuries were considerably more severe, and the third-year wide receiver is expected to miss the full season.
Houston deployed Ward as a safety and in the slot during his two-year tenure, and the team has him tied to a $2.75MM base salary for 2025. If the Texans release Ward, it will cost them $4.63MM. That could certainly be a possibility, as could an NFL suspension. Ward is not in the clear legally, either, with Wilson adding Ward’s case is heading to a grand jury in September. And this foot issue offers another complication for the former first-round pick.
The Texans traded for C.J. Gardner-Johnson this offseason and dodged a bullet when the nomadic defender avoided an ACL tear. The team also has returning starter Calen Bullock at safety, patrolling the back line of a secondary that features Kamari Lassiter and recently extended CBs Derek Stingley Jr. and Jalen Pitre. Ward’s place on a third Texans defense is foggy.
Texans’ Joe Mixon Headed To Reserve/NFI List
AUGUST 25: The Texans announced on Monday that Mixon will be moved to the reserve/NFI list. As a result, he will miss at least the first month of the season while continuing to recover from his injury. Houston could be in the market for a backfield addition over the coming days.
AUGUST 16 Texans running back Joe Mixon may not be ready for Week 1 as he rehabs from a “lingering foot-ankle injury,” according to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson.
Mixon missed three games in 2024 due to a similar issue and aggravated it while training this offseason. He has been on the non-football injury list since the start of training camp, missing crucial practice time as new offensive coordinator Nick Caley installs his scheme.
The Texans are taking a cautious approach with Mixon given the uncertain state of his injury. He has progressed out of a walking boot and into a brace as he tries to regain mobility, but getting back on the field still seems a ways away.
In the meantime, the Texans will likely take a committee approach to their backfield. Nick Chubb, Dameon Pierce, Dare Ogunbowale and Woody Marks are the top four running backs on the depth chart (in order); each offers a different skillset to the offense.
Chubb has been an extremely consistent ballcarrier throughout his career, but he’s entering his age-30 season and coming off two straight injury-marred seasons. Though he could certainly bounce back in Houston, it seems unlikely that he could shoulder a heavy load right away.
After a strong rookie year, Pierce took a step back in 2023 before turning in an efficient 2024 on a small sample size. He and Chubb will likely split early-down snaps, while Ogunbowale will be the Texans’ third-down back. Marks, a fourth-round rookie out of USC, could be a change-of-pace back with a small pass-catching role of his own.
The Texans will want Mixon to get back on the field sooner rather than later, but a lingering injury and a new offensive coordinator will likely force him to ramp up gradually as the season starts. Ideally, he reaches full-strength in time to contribute to Houston’s push for another AFC South crown.
NFL Injury Updates: Fisher, 49ers, Samuel
Texans right tackle Blake Fisher is dealing with a mild ankle sprain that will sideline him for an indeterminate amount of time, according to KRPC2’s Aaron Wilson.
Fisher suffered the injury in last Saturday’s preseason matchup against the Panthers and missed practice this week. His absence, if it extends into the regular season, will add another wrinkle to Houston’s plans at tackle.
The Texans already overhauled the position this offseason. They traded Laremy Tunsil to the Commanders and replaced him by aqcuiring Cam Robinson from the Vikings. Houston also signed veteran Trent Brown in free agency and drafted Aireontae Ersery in the second round of April’s draft. Along with Fisher and Tytus Howard, who combined to play every snap at right tackle in 2024, the Texans have a variety of options on either end of their offensive line.
Robinson returned to the field this week after missing a few practices with a minor leg injury. He has been splitting first-team LT reps with Ersery. The rookie has been cross-training at right tackle as well, but only lined up on the blind side during the preseason. With Brown still on the physically unable to perform list, Howard has been playing right tackle in camp and sat out both preseason games, suggesting he will start in Week 1. Fisher started both preseason games at right tackle; if his ankle has recovered by the start of the regular season, he’ll likely be the Texans’ swing tackle.
As teams prepare to finalize their initial 53-man rosters by the Tuesday deadline, here is the latest from the injury front:
- 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said (via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner) that defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos may start the season on the PUP list as he recovers from a knee injury. San Francisco has been hoping that the five-year veteran could get back on the field during training camp, but it now appears that his absence will extend into the regular season.
- Eagles backup quarterback Tanner McKee injured his finger on Monday and missed practice for the rest of the week. He won’t need surgery, per Jeff Neiburg of the Philadelphia Inquirer, but head coach Nick Sirianni could only offer a “we’ll see” when asked about McKee’s status for Week 1.
- Free agent cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. visited multiple teams this offseason with repeated links to the Dolphins given their lack of cornerback depth. However, one of Samuel’s agents “declined to say Sunday whether he has been cleared medically from a neck injury,” according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
- Steelers rookie defensive tackle Derrick Harmon had an injury scare on Thursday night, but the first-round pick will not go on IR and may only miss one game, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
NFL Roster Updates: Doubs, Lazard, Smith, Ward, Bush
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur emphatically shut down rumors that wide receiver Romeo Doubs wouldn’t make the team’s 53-man roster.
“I’d be very shocked if he was going anywhere,” LaFleur told Kay Adams during an Up & Adams appearance on Thursday.
When asked again if Doubs would be cut, LaFleur responded, “No. That will not happen.”
The uncertainty surrounding the fourth-year wideout stems from the Packers’ depth at the position after adding Matthew Golden and Savion Williams in April’s draft. However, LaFleur noted that the team was “missing a lot of guys,” namely returning starters Christian Watson and Jayden Reed. Watson, coming off an ACL tear in January, is expected to begin the year on the PUP list, while a sprained foot may sideline Reed for the beginning of the regular season. Williams (hamstring) and Dontayvion Wicks (calf) also missed practice on Tuesday, per ESPN.
As a result, Doubs’ roster spot is safe. Judging by LaFleur’s comments, he would’ve made the team even with a healthy receiver room.
“‘Rome’ is out there competing and doing everything that we need to see from him,” said LaFleur. “And obviously he’s played a lot of ball for us, and at a high level. He’s been a great teammate, he goes out there and you can count on him every day.”
Here are a few other updates on key roster situations around the league:
- Aaron Rodgers‘ departure from New York fueled offseason speculation regarding Allen Lazard, but the veteran wideout is set to remain with the Jets under Aaron Glenn, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini. Lazard told Glenn early in the offseason that he wanted to stay in New York and backed up his words by accepting a pay cut. The 29-year-old is currently dealing with a shoulder injury with the goal of being ready for Week 1.
- 2023 first-round pick Mazi Smith may not make the Cowboys‘ 53-man roster, per Jon Machota of The Athletic. The 24-year-old defensive tackle earned poor grades from Pro Football Focus (subscription required) in his first two seasons and played deep into Dallas’ second preseason game this past weekend. While owner and de facto general manager Jerry Jones won’t give up on a former first-rounder easily, Smith’s roster spot is by no means secure.
- Texans safety Jimmie Ward is facing a civil lawsuit in addition to third-degree felony charges in a domestic violence case, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. Ward is accused of sexually and physically assaulting his son’s mother. The 34-year-old was arrested on August 7 for violating the terms of his bail.
- Browns linebacker Devin Bush will have a jury trial in his simple assault/harrassment case on December 2, according to Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot. That will likely push any league discipline to the 2026 season.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/22/25
As teams begin to whittle their rosters down to the eventual 53 players, here are a few transactions aside from mass cuts:
Buffalo Bills
- Waived (with injury settlement): WR Jalen Virgil
Denver Broncos
- Waived (with injury settlement): CB Gregory Junior
Detroit Lions
- Released (with injury settlement): OL Keaton Sutherland
Houston Texans
- Released (with injury settlement): TE Dalton Keene
- Waived (with injury settlement): WR Xavier Johnson
New York Jets
- Reverted to IR: CB Ryan Cooper Jr.
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: DE Jereme Robinson
- Placed on IR: WR Johnny Wilson (story)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: CB Tre Avery
- Waived (with injury designation): WR Jaden Smith
An important note for cuts moving forward: different from the usual 24-hour waiver period, any players waived between now and the roster cut deadline will remain on the waiver wire, available to be claimed, until Wednesday.