Houston’s best tight end since Owen Daniels is coming back for another year! According to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, the Texans are signing TE Dalton Schultz to a one-year, $12.6 million extension, tying him to Houston through the 2027 season:
Schutlz, 29, had his best season as a Texan in 2025, receiving a career-high 82 catches and his 2nd highest PFF grade of his career (1st: 78.2 w/ Dallas Cowboys in 2021). He may have never eclipsed 100 receiving yards in a single game, but Schultz tallied over 50 yards in 8 of the 17 regular season games. With teammate Brevin Jordan tearing his achilles during training camp and Cade Stover breaking his foot in week 1, the burden for Schultz to steady the ship for a rough-and-tumble offense became a tremendous one in a hurry. He had 30 catches on 37 targets in just the first six games, bailing QBs CJ Stroud out of dire straits time and time again. Then, when CJ Stroud went down with a concussion in week 9 and backup Davis Mills assumed the starting role against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Schultz showed the entire team that he is no stranger to game-changing conversions:
Schultz, despite flying under the radar for much of the football-viewing audience, is one of the AFC’s very best tight ends. He’s become such a reliable target that a sort of mental connection has been established between him and CJ Stroud, which will now remain intact for at least the next 2 seasons. In 2025, Dalton Schultz tallied:
- 19 Games (7 Starts)
- 82 Receptions (career high) on 106 Targets (career high) (77.3 Ctch%, career best) for 777 yards (9.5 Y/R)
- 3 TDs
- 1 Fumble
- 73.1 PFF Grade (76.5 REC, 56.2 PBLK, 63.6 RBLK)
Even Schultz’s weakness, run-blocking, moderately improved in 2025, In performances like the one he had against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wildcard round, he looked more like an asset to the rushing attack rather than a liability. His consistency as an easy 5-15 yard gain in receiving and growth as a run-blocker was essential to Houston’s nine-game win streak in the second half the season. Without his reliable hands, Houston probably would have lost in week 10 against the Jaguars and week 15 against the Arizona Cardinals, which could have been enough to keep them out of the playoffs. This makes for Schultz’s third contract in four years with the Houston Texans, and even though I’d still like to see general manager Nick Caserio aim for TEs like Isaiah Likely or David Njoku in free agency, the connection Schultz has with Stroud makes him a far more valuable player to the Texans than any other TE on the market.
What do you think, though? Was Houston right to offer Schultz an extension, or should they have moved on from him after the 2026 season? The Texans have cleared up some salary cap space with their recent moves of the last few days, but they’ll still likely need some more space if they want to keep RG Ed Ingram or bring in a similarly valuable interior lineman – should Houston have focused on that instead of Schultz? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Go Texans!!!
