The 2024 NFL season did not quite go according to plan for the Houston Texans. They saw multiple serious injuries to guys like Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell. And that was seemingly only part of the reason C.J. Stroud regressed a bit from his rookie year. All of that contributed to the firing of offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik.

They still won the division and made the playoffs. Plus, it's hard to blame any team for losing to the powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs. They’ll look to reload via free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft to get things back on track in Houston.

Let’s take a look at the contracts, the salary cap, and the free agent market to see what the options might be. We’ll give some brief fantasy football thoughts where applicable for those that might play in dynasty leagues or are doing early best ball drafts as well.

*The salary cap numbers referenced in this article come courtesy of our friends over at Spotrac.com*

 

 

 

Houston Texans Depth Chart 2025 (Fantasy Football Relevant)

QB

C.J. Stroud

Case Keenum

Davis Mills

 

RB

Joe Mixon

Dameon Pierce

Dare Ogunbawale

 

WR

Nico Collins

Xavier Hutchinson

  

WR

Stefon Diggs

Robert Woods

  

WR

Tank Dell

John Metchie

Jared Wayne

 

TE

Dalton Schultz

Brevin Jordan

Cade Stover

Teagan Quitoriano

FB

British Brooks

   
  • White = unrestricted free agent
  • Green = role is safe
  • Yellow = role in flux
  • Orange = likely a depth piece
  • Red = roster spot not guaranteed

Houston Texans Free Agency 2025

  • PROJECTED 2025 SALARIES: ~$288M
  • ESTIMATED 2025 CAP SPACE: ~-$8M

 

 

 

Texans Quarterback Depth Chart

C.J. Stroud: It was not the step forward this year many expected for C.J. Stroud. But his passing statistics in terms of yards and completion percentage were not materially different from guys like Josh Allen or Brock Purdy (and both he and Purdy threw 20 TD passes). 

That’s not bad for someone who lost two of three starting wide receivers. He’s obviously locked in as the Texans QB of the future and this could present a rare buying opportunity for folks in dynasty fantasy football if his current owner has doubts. 

Case Keenum: The Texans placed Case Keenum on season-ending IR before the season even began so they spent the entire year without him. With him being an unrestricted free agent and a number of teams with young QBs potentially looking at add a veteran presence, I could see Keenum landing with another team in free agency.

Davis Mills: The Texans like Mills enough that they signed him to an extra one year extension back in early September, ensuring he would be around for the 2025 season. They essentially solved their backup QB situation for the short term. 

TEXANS QB FREE AGENCY TAKE: The Texans have both C.J. Stroud and Davis Mills under contract. Barring a new offensive coordinator wanting to bring in a veteran QB as a “player coach” to help him implement the new offense, the Texans are all set at quarterback. 

  • POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: N/A

 

 

 

Texans Running Back Depth Chart

Joe Mixon: The Texans like Joe Mixon - so much so that, after trading for him, they signed him to an extension that locks him into 2025 and potentially keeps him through 2026. 

They’ll need to think about the future at some point but this is the exact kind of guy that you sell if you aren’t competing in your dynasty league but you buy if you are in a position to win now. He’s the primary back for an offense that should once again be competitive. 

Dameon Pierce: Pierce served as the primary run down backup while Dare Ogunbawale contributed on pass downs. Pierce also helped out on special teams returning kicks. He’s under contract for 2025 so the question is whether they keep him around moving forward or let him walk. But that’s a question for next year’s article.

Dare Ogunbawale: One of the main knocks on Pierce (and, at times, Joe Mixon) were issues in pass blocking. Ogunbawale is a vet who has been around awhile and has done a solid job on pass-downs in that capacity. He’s an unrestricted free agent and, if they don’t bring him back, they’ll likely need to have someone on the depth chart that can help out there.

British Brooks: Brooks was brought on as a fullback/special teamer but, given that Bobby Slowik was the fan of using the fullback and he’s been let go, his roster spot is very much up in the air. He can be released with only $10K in dead cap and nearly a million in savings so he basically needs to make the new OC’s roster from scratch. 

TEXANS RB FREE AGENCY TAKE: They have their starter, and they have their run-down backup so it’s really pass downs where they could use some depth. If Dare Ogunbawale is not back, they have some options. JJ Taylor has some experience with teams like New England and Jawhar Jordan is an interesting prospect. The draft is always on the table. Here are some free agent options if they want to go that way.

 

 

 

Texans Wide Receiver Depth Chart

Nico Collins: Nico Collins is a lesson to the dynasty fantasy football players to hold onto guys you believe in. He struggled for two seasons in the NFL with a combination of injuries and bad QB play. 

But there was a glimpse of hope. Now he’s a locked-in starting split end for a promising young NFL QB. And he’s a very rich man following an extension that keeps him with the team through 2026 at the very least.

Stefon Diggs: The Texans used a lot of fullback with two WR sets in 2023. In 2024 they opted to move away from the fullback and bring in a third WR in the form of a trade for Stefon Diggs. And things were working out decently until Diggs suffered a season ending ACL injury. This puts the Texans an interesting spot. 

Some reports suggest Diggs was happy in Houston and wants to be back. But the real curveball here was Tank Dell suffering an even more serious knee injury. If Diggs can recover fairly quickly from his torn ACL, it would make a lot of sense to bring him back but it will be complicated if he’s not looking like he’s ready to go to start the year. You can only have so many guys under contract that aren’t ready to play. 

Tank Dell: Tank Dell has had a bad string of luck. First he suffered a serious high ankle sprain in 2023 that required Tightrope surgery. Then he gets shot at a family party in the offseason. He started off slow in 2024 as many players coming off rehab from a similar injury have like Tony Pollard, Darnell Mooney, and Mark Andrews. 

And then he suffered a very serious knee injury that could potentially see him miss all of 2025 with possibly career altering implications. As much as I hate to say it, now might be the time to sell Dell in your dynasty league if he still offers name value, especially if you are competing now. That’s a long time to wait and the Texans will need to find productive players in the meantime so his role upon return becomes uncertain.

John Metchie: Metchie was a highly touted prospect out of Alabama and a second-round pick of the Texans before he had to take time away from football for cancer treatment. He was thrust into a bigger role with the injuries to Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell though he didn’t exactly pop. He’s on a cheap rookie deal for 2025 and they’ll need the depth so I expect him to be there. 

With the serious injuries to Dell and Diggs (and Diggs a free agent) that puts Metchie in a spot to pick up additional work if the Texans don’t make moves. I expect them to either bring Diggs back or bring in other options though, so, if you can move him based on that notion, I say go for it. He hasn’t done much in his short career so far.

 

 

 

Robert Woods: Robert Woods is a decent “next man up” at this stage but you don’t likely want him starting if you have serious plans to compete. 

He’s an unrestricted free agent so his return to the Texans will depend if he wants to take a friendly deal to be a depth piece again. I would not be surprised if they let him walk and, considering he turns 33 in April, I wouldn’t be surprised if he hung them up.

Xavier Hutchinson: At 6’3”, 210 Xavier Hutchinson is a pretty natural backup for the big split end Nico Collins. And that’s the capacity he primarily serves in as his three highest snap share games over his two year career have all come in games where Collins either was out or left with an injury. 

As a 6th round pick Huchinson is on a cheap deal through 2026 and, with the injury history for Collins, I expect him to be on the roster in 2025. 

Jared Wayne: The Texans expected to have Diontae Johnson but, when things didn’t go according to plan there, they signed Jared Wayne to the active roster for the playoff push. He’s been a practice squad guy for them for a couple of years. 

Since he was signed to the active roster he is not eligible for a reserves/futures contract but can be retained on an exclusive rights free agent deal fairly cheaply if they opt to go that route. I expect him to be back in camp again on the 90 man roster but most likely ends up a practice squad guy. 

TEXANS WR FREE AGENCY TAKE: The Texans are in an interesting predicament here. Nico Collins is locked in at split end. Tank Dell is under contract but there’s reason to believe he could miss the entire 2025 season without him. 

Stefon Diggs wants back in but he’s also coming off an ACL tear. Given this info, I expect the Texans to kick the tires on at least one starting caliber wide receiver - and possibly two.

They don’t need to worry as much about size with Nico already so guys like Tee Higgins or Amari Cooper are probably not on the table. They could use slot/flankers so maybe adding someone who can contribute right away and taking a stab in the draft is the way to go. 

Cooper Kupp just announced that the Rams are looking to trade him, for instance. Here are some names who can start and contribute right away. We’ll leave Diontae Johnson off the list.

 

 

 

Texans Tight End Depth Chart

Dalton Schultz: Dalton Schultz is a solid NFL tight end. You wouldn’t put him in the top tier as either a pass-catcher or as a blocker but it’s very rare to have a George Kittle or Rob Gronkowski that is truly elite at both. Schultz offers a good enough mix of the two that he can reliably play 80%+ of the snaps at even 95%+ at times.

In terms of his fantasy football value, he’s clearly been targeted more in the games when WRs were hurt than when they were out. For instance, in 2023 he saw 7 targets a game when at least one of Nico Collins or Tank Dell was out but closer to 4 a game when healthy.

Like Tank Dell, this could be a window to sell before this team signs/drafts pass-catchers. Even just Stefon Diggs returning would crush his upside. There’s no out in his contract this year but in 2026 he could be released for $11.5M in dead cap with only $2.5M in savings. 

Brevin Jordan: Jordan operated as the blocking tight end alongside Dalton Schultz before tearing his ACL in the second game. His recovery must be going well as the Texans offered him a one year contract extension in December that will bring him back for 2025.

Cade Stover: Cade Stover was able to crack the lineup a decent amount as a rookie tight end. But he was behind Brevin Jordan until Jordan tore his ACL. And he only really jumped into the 40-50% snap share range with the injuries to the wide receivers. Stover broke his collar-bone which requires surgery but he should make a full recovery.

The timeline for Stover for your fantasy football leagues essentially puts him at 2026 at the earliest. Which is pretty standard for tight ends. As we mentioned, Brevin Jordan is only on a one-year deal and Schultz will really need to prove he’s worth that $14 million cap hit (or a reworked contract) in 2026. For now, he’s a hold in deeper leagues but could be a buy during the season next year if it’s starting to feel like Schultz is a goner.

TEXANS TE FREE AGENCY TAKE: For 2025, there's really no need to make big changes. They have Schultz under contract and both Brevin Jordan and Cade Stover are expected to make full recoveries. New offensive coordinator Nick Caley was the Rams tight end coach so he could have specific plans for the future but that's a 2026 question. 

  • POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: N/A