Value of Things: Clean up on aisle six

Sometimes we have to laugh at ourselves. I did that this week as I watched our intrepid team of part-time journalists try to keep up with all of the news items coming across the pike. We hit the major ones, but obviously some flew under the radar. We do our best, but most of us have day jobs that actually pay the bills. So, sometimes it just comes too much and too fast. Sometimes, it just simply isn’t big enough news to warrant an entire article over.

To be clear, free agency has more or less begun

by the time you are reading this. These short commentaries are really about the activity that led up to free agency. In general, the Texans started about ten million dollars over the cap and wound up being more than 30 million under the cap. That was quite a bit of work for Nick Caserio and of course he may not be done clearing money. We will get to that towards the end.

The end of the Joe Mixon era (error?)

This saved a little more than eight million on the salary cap and marks the major subtraction from the 2025 team. Of course, subtraction might have to be put in air quotes. According to sources, Mixon requested the release, but that is sort of like the cheating spouse requesting out of the marriage when they have been caught with their pants down. I suppose we will never know the details of this saga. ESPN loves to do their 30 for 30 series. This one might be a 10 for 10 when it is all said and done.

As we know, the Texans substituted an injured Mixon for a productive David Montgomery. Montgomery has seven years in the league, so he is coming in around the same time as Mixon came into Houston. The shelf life of an NFL back may be more limited than other positions. The good news is that Montgomery has been in a time share for the last several seasons, so maybe that affords him an extra season or two of effectiveness. As it stands, he has two years on his contract and that seems like a perfect lease.

Offensve line taking shape

The news of the morning is that the Texans reupped Ed Ingram to a three year 37.5 million dollar contract. Technically, the deal gets in under the free agency wire. Couple that with the one year, seven million dollar contract for Trent Brown and you can see that the Texans technically have three starters returning from the line that finished the regular season.

NFL money is pretend money in many respects. Teams shift money into signing bonuses or add voidable years to massage the salary cap. Almost certainly, this will not cost them 12.5 million towards the cap. It might be closer to six or seven million. So, coming into free agency and the draft, the Texans really have two starting spots left to cover. That seems a lot more manageable than four.

Restructures and Extensions Oh my

Most of the restructures and extensions came on the defensive side of the ball, but the Texans did extend Dalton Schultz. Schultz quietly had the best season of his career last season. Nick Caley might be embattled, but at least he seems to get more out of that position than most. As it stands, he gets an extra year which means his Texans career will last five seasons if he makes it to the end of the contract. I don’t think his bust will wind up in Canton, but so far he has been perhaps the best tight end in Texans history.

On defense, the Texans extended and restructured both Daniele Hunter and Derek Stingley. They also brought back E.J. Speed, Naquan Jones, and M.J. Stewart on fairly modest contracts. None of them are technically starters, but they are all rotational pieces and quality depth on what was the best defense in the NFL. Clearly, the strategy there has been to run it back as much as humanly possible.

To do list

Outside of free agency, the Texans have two major opportunities that they need to address. Azeez-Al Shaair has been a revelation at middle linebacker and went to the Pro Bowl this past season. He is technically under contract for 2026, but both sides are interested in extending things. Beyond the cap savings that could come, keeping a key piece of the defense happy seems like a win-win for all involved. Depending on how aggressive they get, they could save between five and ten million dollars on the 2026 cap.

Nico Collins is less of a priority because he still has more time on his deal, but he represents the only other major opportunity to clear space. Extending his contract a year or two with a voidable year could spread out bonus money and clear another five or ten million on the 2026 cap. If the Texans made both moves they would conservatively add another 15 million dollars in spending money. 15 million might be the going rate for a starting quality center or guard.

Finally, the league year starts the clock on a Will Anderson extension. It seems inevitable that Anderson will sign and sign for at least 40 million a season. In terms of the cap, those numbers usually hit in 2027 and beyond. What will be interesting is seeing how Caserio plays this free agency period. The long-term approach would be to play things conservatively and not get into salary cap hell in 2027 and 2028. The aggressive approach would be to damn the torpedoes and load up this season. One would maximize the chances to win in 2026. The other would spread out that competitive window, but might lower your ceiling in 2026. Which way do you think he will go?