Being a Houston Texans fan has been an absolute rollercoaster over the last few years. Going from 3-13-1 in 2022 to feeling unlimited optimism after C.J. Stroud's rookie season was outstanding. Then the 2024 season felt like a bit of a letdown.
Now the offseason has been dizzying. Reshaping the entire offensive line (which absolutely needed it) has shaken up the roster. Signing 15 new free agents (so far) has shaken up the roster. Losing 10 free agents to new teams has shaken up the roster.
But there are still plenty of former Texans who hit free agency in March that still can't find jobs.
Former Texans Free Agents Still Unemployed in April
The Texans still have nine players from their 2024 roster who became free agents when the new league year began in March but have still not found new homes for 2025:
- Shaq Mason
- Robert Woods
- Foley Fatukasi
- Jerry Hughes
- Neville Hewitt
- Irv Smith
- Ka'dar Hollman
- Myles Bryant
- Dalton Keene
Mason is obviously the big name on the list. He played over 900 snaps for the Texans in 2024, has 147 career starts to his name, and is only 32 years old. Not everyone agrees that he was as bad as Texans fans think, either. PFF gave him an overall grade of 62.3 on the year. That's not a great number, but it also ranked in the middle of the pack (65th out of 135) among guards.
The two other highest-profile names on the list (Woods and Hughes) are quickly approaching irrelevance at this stage of their careers. Hughes didn't even play 100 total snaps across his seven games, and Woods has now seen his receiving yardage total drop in six consecutive seasons since peaking back in 2018.
The rest of the list are pretty typical names to be unemployed at this time of year. They'll compete for roster spots in training camp, but teams will want to reinforce their depth with rookies and undrafted free agents from the 2025 NFL Draft before spending on any low-end free agents.
Seeing as we're also less than one month into the new league year, there's also still a decent chance that at least a few names on this list are even back with the Texans for training camp.