The Houston Texans are looking to take that next step this upcoming season after losing in the AFC Divisional Round for the second-straight year.
The Texans reshuffled their offensive line, made some additions to the wide receiver room, and at running back, while acquiring a playmaking safety in the secondary. Given the talent Houston has at its disposal, there’s no reason why it cannot be in the class of the AFC.
However, before Texans fans can look ahead to the start of the regular season, the players must first get through training camp.
Houston is scheduled to open camp on July 22 at Houston Methodist Center, where veterans and rookies will be present. Several vets and rookies will try to win jobs on the 53-man roster over the next several weeks, while others, such as Denico Autry, will try to get off the chopping block.
Texans Veteran DE Denico Autry on Thin Ice Weeks Before Training Camp
The 34-year-old defensive lineman had a rather disappointing first season in Houston, which was marred by a six-game suspension due to violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.
Autry signed a two-year, $20 million contract last offseason with the Texans after coming off an 11.5-sack performance with the Tennessee Titans. The veteran defensive lineman didn’t live up to his contract after making his 2025 debut in Week 7.
Autry had 13 combined tackles, six quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, and three sacks in 10 games (two starts). According to Pro Football Focus, the veteran defensive end produced a 61.0 pass rush grade (95th among 211 qualified EDGEs) and a 53.8 run defense grade (159th).
Now, to his credit, the 34-year-old Autry showed up in the postseason, recording five QB hits and a sack across two games. However, it doesn’t diminish what he saw from him during the regular season in 2024.
Before free agency kicked off in March, Autry was viewed as a potential cut candidate because of a $10.29 million cap hit for 2025. However, Houston restructured the vet’s contract last year, bringing his cap hit down from $10.29 million to $6.588 million.
The 34-year-old defender also had automatic void years added to his contract for the 2026 and 2027 seasons, according to Aaron Wilson of KRPC-2. Even though his cap hit was lower, Autry will still need to perform at a somewhat higher level.
As things currently stand, several veteran free agent pass rushers are still sitting in the open market, who could be an upgrade over Autry. If you are the Texans, it wouldn’t hurt to check in on those options if Autry isn’t performing at a decent level in training camp.