The Houston Texans were expected to have a few rebuilding seasons with a new head coach in DeMeco Ryans and rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud. The duo had other ideas and led Houston to not only a 10-7 season but an AFC South title and a win over the Cleveland Browns in the AFC Wild Card game.
Stroud won the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award and many think that Ryans was snubbed for Coach of the Year, which was won by Kevin Stefanski. Houston has 36 pending free agents, but many were depth pieces. Still, it makes you wonder if too much roster turnover heading into 2024 would be a good thing or a bad thing for the Texans. Another successful season would signal the avoidance of a lengthy rebuild, meaning that Houston could have its eye on going back to the playoffs for the first time in back-to-back years since 2018-2019.
The Texans have +2200 odds to win Super Bowl 59 at DraftKings Sportsbook. This is the 11th-best mark in the league as they were narrowly edged out by the Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, and Dallas Cowboys. Houston has the sixth-best odds to win the AFC (+1200) behind the Kansas City Chiefs (+330), Buffalo Bills (+500), Baltimore Ravens (+500), Cincinnati Bengals (+700) and the Miami Dolphins (+1000).
2024 NFL Free Agency
Texans free agents
CB Steven Nelson
TE Dalton Schultz
LT George Fant
LG Michael Deiter
LB Blake Cashman
RB Devin Singletary
EDGE Jonathan Greenard
DT Sheldon Rankins
S Kareem Jackson
LB Denzel Perryman
S Deandre Houston-Carson
WR Noah Brown
EDGE Jerry Hughes
DT Khalil Davis
S Adrian Amos
CB Tavierre Thomas
DT Teair Tart
EDGE Derek Barnett
CB Desmond King
P Cameron Johnston
RT Charlie Heck
K Ka’imi Fairbairn
LT Josh Jones
S Eric Murray
S Grayland Arnold
RB Dare Ogunbowale
TE Eric Saubert
DT Hassan Ridgeway
WR Steven Sims
CB D’Angelo Ross
C Dieter Eiselen
CB Kris Boyd
LB Neville Hewitt
WR Jared Wayne
RT D.J. Scaife Jr.
C Scott Quessenberry
The Houston front office is working some magic. Yes, they are a relatively young team, but they still have $57.744 million in cap space heading into the offseason. 36 free agents seems like a ton, but only eight of them played more than 50% of the team’s snaps. Nelson led the way with 89.8% of snaps on defense. He definitely played well enough to earn another short-term contract, and it wouldn’t be surprising for him to return to Houston.
The 32-year-old Fant likely won’t see a multi-year deal coming his way but would still be worth retaining for Houston for another year. He could not only provide valuable snaps but also mentor younger linemen to help them develop. Singletary looked good at times for the Texans, but not like he was deserving of a starting gig somewhere. He should return to Houston to continue backing up Dameon Pierce. Brown only got to play 10 games for the Texans, so hopefully he is re-signed. He looked to be on the same page with Stroud and had 567 yards with two touchdowns on the season, granted 325 yards came from two games.
Franchise tag options
TE Dalton Schultz
Schultz was already franchise-tagged once in his career when he was with the Dallas Cowboys. He signed a one-year prove-it deal with the Texans and proved it he did. Schultz played in 15 games last season and brought in 59 of his 88 targets for 635 yards and five touchdowns. The veteran tight end could see a long-term extension instead of the tag, but the tag also just provides Houston more time to work out the details with Schultz.