The Houston Texans finished the season with a record of 10-7. They won the AFC South and will play the Kansas City Chiefs for the right to go to the AFC Championship Game. Yet, they have some hard decisions to make in the offseason regarding re-signing their free agents.
Houston Texans’ Notable Free Agents
Houston constructed a roster that won the AFC South and played a great Wild Card game against the Los Angeles Chargers. However, the Texans will have some tough decisions and negotiations based on their talent and expiring contracts this offseason.
Every team needs improvements in the offseason, even the Texans, with 10 wins a season ago. Coordinators want veterans who know their system. Also, tackles and coverage players are always in demand throughout the offseason.
Expensive free agents and high draft picks are one way to fill holes on your roster. But remember, sometimes the best upgrade is replacing a below-average player with an average one through free agency.
Here’s a list of the Texans Free Agents ahead of the 2025 offseason:
- Wide Receiver Stefon Diggs
- Cornerback Jeff Okudah
- Wide Receiver Robert Woods
- Defensive End Foley Fatukasi
- Quarterback Case Keenum
- Strong Safety M.J. Stewart
- Linebacker Del’Shawn Phillips
- Inside Linebacker Neville Hewitt
- Free Safety Eric Murray
- Defensive End Jerry Hughes
- Defensive End Derek Barnett
- Cornerback Kris Boyd
- Defensive End Mario Edwards
- Running Back Dare Ogunbowale
- Long Snapper Jon Weeks
- Guard Kendrick Meeks
- Inside Linebacker Devin White
- Tight End Irv Smith Jr.
- Cornerback Myles Bryant
- Cornerback Ka’dar Hollman
- Guard Zach Thomas (RFA)
- Tight End Dalton Keene (RFA)
- Defensive Tackle Kurt Finish (RFA)
- Outside Linebacker Jake Hansen (RFA)
- Tight End Teagan Quitoriano (RFA)
Houston Texans 2025 Cap Space and Players To Cut
Heading into the offseason, the Texans’ salary cap is very low. Texans general manager Nick Caserio will have $6,081,045 in cap space and will be ranked No. 25 in the available cap. Caserio is heading into his fourth season as GM and will have some big decisions to make.
The Texans are top-heavy in salaries. Their top 10 players eat up most of their cap space. It would behoove them to renegotiate extensions for certain players and move money from salary to signing bonuses so they could stretch out the bonus over the life of the contract for cap purposes.
Laremy Tunsil, Danielle Hunter, Tytus Howard, and Nico Collins comprise almost 33% of the team’s overall cap space. They also equate to approximately $95,000,000 against the cap number.
The Texans could also save cap space by renegotiating the contracts of their specialists, who together count for approximately $11 million against the cap.
They could also release kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn and replace him with a rookie in the draft who would be a lot cheaper. They could draft a kicker like Lou Groza semifinalist Andres Borregales from the University of Miami. They would be able to pay him a rookie salary, which would be a far cry from what Fairbairn is scheduled to make in 2025 (nearly a $6.5 million cap hit in 2025 for a kicker who missed six kicks in 2024).
