Over the past two seasons, the Houston Texans have produced identical seasons, winning the AFC South division with a 10-7 record only to lose in the divisional round of the playoffs. This offseason could be a turning point for the franchise as they look to get to the next level and become a legitimate title contender.
The process already began with the firing of Bobby Slowik and the hiring of Nick Caley as offensive coordinator. The Texans also have needs along the offensive and defensive lines as well as receiver and free agency will play a key role in improving both areas.
The Texans enter the offseason with just $4.9 million according to Over The Cap and finding solutions will be difficult. But there may be an easy way for Houston to create cap space by focusing on four contracts that could be restructured in the coming weeks.
Texans Could Create at Least $42 Million in Cap Space By Restructuring Four Contracts
ESPN’s Dan Graziano ran through the salary cap situations for all 32 teams earlier this week and did his best to try and solve the Texans’ financial problems heading into the offseason. In his write up, Graziano created a scenario where Houston creates at least $42 million in cap space by restructuring the contracts of Danielle Hunter, Nico Collins, Tytus Howard and Laremy Tunsil.
“The Danielle Hunter and Nico Collins deals that were signed last offseason are built to be reworked, and simple restructures of those contracts could net the Texans nearly $22 million in cap space. And if they wanted to, they could get more than $10 million by restructuring Tytus Howard’s deal too, and nearly as much if they wanted to do a restructure of Laremy Tunsil’s contract” Graziano wrote. “Those players represent the four biggest 2025 cap numbers on the team, so they’re the easy targets for restructures that convert salary into signing bonus and buy Houston some cap room.”
As Graziano mentioned, Tunsil, Hunter, Howard and Collins combine for $94.39 million in cap hits for next season. By restructuring and kicking that money down the road, Houston can use some of the $98.8 million they currently have for 2026 and use the projected $48.3 million to go after some key free agents.
The biggest need for Houston is across the offensive line, where Trey Smith projects to get the biggest pay day as Pro Football Focus’s No. 2 free agent. The Texans could also throw money at one of the seven guards ranked in PFF’s top 100 free agent rankings including Will Fries (No. 24), Teven Jenkins (No. 25) and Kevin Zeitler (No. 27).
The money could also go toward fixing Houston’s lack of weapons on offense. Tee Higgins is the top overall target per PFF but Houston could also take a swing at Chris Godwin (No. 4) or Amari Cooper (No. 7) or convince Stefon Diggs (No. 11) to return for another season.
But wherever the money comes from, the Texans will have to find it first, which usually begins with a few conversations at next week’s NFL Scouting Combine.