Houston Texans

Projected Cap Space: -$13.3 million

Draft Picks: 9

• 1st (No. 28)
• 2nd (No. 38, WAS)
• 2nd (No. 59)
• 3rd (No. 69, NYG)
• 4th (No. 106, WAS)
• 4th (No. 128)
• 5th (No. 165)
• 7th (No. 243, SF)
• 7th (No. 244)

Notable Free Agents: 

• WR Christian Kirk
• G Ed Ingram
• DT Sheldon Rankins
• DT Tim Settle
• DE Derek Barnett
• OT Trent Brown
• RB Nick Chubb
• LB E.J. Speed
• S M.J. Stewart
• DL Denico Autry
• P Tommy Townsend
• LB Christian Harris
• LB Damone Clark
• WR Braxton Berrios
• CB Myles Bryant
• RB Dare Ogunbowale

Top Three Needs

1 – Offensive Line

The Texans’ offensive line was better in 2025 than it had been in the previous season but there’s still a lot of work for Houston to do here in order to help take the next step as a contender that the franchise envisions. They want to be a team that can mash opponents on the ground and the current personnel doesn’t quite support that. 

Fortunately Houston isn’t that far off. Tackle is in an okay spot for now with some recent draft investments like Aireontae Ersery and Blake Fisher. Veteran OL Tytus Howard could kick back out to the right side and stabilize things if necessary, with Houston set to lose Brown as a pending free agent. They could use help here but the same could be said about most teams at tackle.

The interior is where the real gains can be made. Ingram was a pleasant surprise after arriving via trade from the Vikings and the Texans will try to keep him around on a long-term deal. Center is a place where the Texans could majorly upgrade, though. If the Texans land a quality center, Ersery takes a step forward, they retain Ingram and they land an above-average starter at either tackle or guard (wherever they don’t plan to play Howar), they could be in business. 

2 – Defensive Tackle

Had things broken a certain way, the Texans’ defense was capable of fueling a Super Bowl run for Houston last year. They were that good. The combination of an outstanding secondary plus a ferocious pass rush spearheaded by DEs Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter was tough for most opponents to handle. The Texans were a little softer up the middle but not enough for teams to seriously take advantage of most of the time. 

Houston has a few pending free agents here, however, and with a tight cap situation it’s up in the air whether they’ll be able to retain everyone. Tommy Togiai was a pleasant surprise as a late-season breakout, but the Texans could stand to beef up the middle of their defense to a closer level to the demons they have coming off the edge. That would help keep the Texans’ defense dominant as the rest of the team hopefully catches up. 

3 – Running Back

The Texans ranked 22nd in rushing offense last year and 29th in yards per carry, which about sums up how ineffective they were in that dimension. The running backs shared blame along with the offensive line. Without veteran RB Joe Mixon, who missed the whole season with a mysterious foot injury, the Texans relied on the duo of fourth-round RB Woody Marks and veteran RB Nick Chubb. Marks flashed at times, especially as a third-down back, but wore down over the course of the season. Ideally he’d be a No. 2 complement.

As for Chubb, it was impressive that he was playing at all given his gruesome dislocated knee injury in 2023, but the lack of juice he had compared to his prime was noticeable. The Texans are in a strong enough position with the rest of the roster that they can dictate prime resources to finding a running back to help take the offense over the top. 

One Big Question

What’s the deal with C.J. Stroud? 

As noted above, the Texans had a Super Bowl-caliber defense this past year. Houston was No. 1 in yards allowed and No. 2 in scoring. They allowed a success rate of just 27.6 percent on the season and forced 29 takeaways. Had the offense in the postseason just stayed out of its own way, the Texans could have made a much deeper run than they did. 

That is not how things played out. Stroud had a staggering five picks and five fumbles in two playoff games. Four of his interceptions came in the divisional round against the Patriots, giving the Texans no chance in a game they hung around. It was a sour note to end what was honestly a tough year overall for Stroud. He wasn’t bad, he was probably around average. Yet that’s a far cry from what the expectations were after his rookie year. 

Stroud’s been so uninspiring that it’s prompted some speculation about whether the Texans would consider trading him this offseason. While the team has shut that down pretty firmly, it remains an open question whether they’ll push to get a long-term deal done this offseason now that Stroud is eligible — something that seemed like a foregone conclusion before this past year. 

Teams often try to lock down a quarterback extension as soon as they can for guys they’re confident in, rationalizing that the price is only going to go up and it gives them more years to spread the money out over. However, a bunch of these deals have backfired and left teams with huge contract anchors to deal with. That could be giving the Texans pause as they look ahead. Stroud isn’t exactly forcing their hand with the season he’s coming off, which makes next season a big year for him to take that step forward.