The 2025 NFL season is about to become a lot more real for the Houston Texans as they're set to begin their preseason schedule this weekend. August's slate of games will begin on Saturday when the Texans visit the Minnesota Vikings at 4 p.m. ET, marking head coach DeMeco Ryans & Co.'s first game since they fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Division Round.
Training camp reports have hinted that the Texans' offense has left much to be desired, so it wouldn't be surprising if Ryans wanted to shake things up to get things rolling again. One way to light a fire beneath players is to add some outside help to provide competition, which is exactly what Houston did by reuniting with a familiar face on Tuesday.
Dalton Keene worked out for #Texans last week, now joins them after making full recovery from torn ACL last year @KPRC2 https://t.co/jGrsnwNPs6
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) August 5, 2025
Texans Reunite with TE Dalton Keene Before Preseason Opener
KPRC 2 Houston's Aaron Wilson is reporting that the Texans have signed veteran tight end Dalton Keene to an NFL contract.
Keene is a name familiar to Texans fans after the last few seasons. The ex-Virginia Tech TE spent time with the New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, and Denver Broncos before spending most of the 2023 campaign on Houston's practice squad. He was set to be a part of the franchise's depth rankings again in 2024; however, a torn ACL suffered last August knocked him out of the entire campaign.
Even though he missed all of last year, the Texans were impressed enough by Keene to award him a tryout last week. Obviously, the former 2020 third-round pick capitalized on the opportunity; otherwise, he wouldn't have put pen to paper on Tuesday.
Now, time will tell if Keene can parlay his momentum into a spot on the 53-man roster.
Although he hasn't produced much in the seven regular-season games he's suited up in since 2020, the St. Louis, MO native demonstrated plenty of potential when he tallied 59 catches for 748 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in 38 games with the Hokies. He also caught his only two targets last preseason for 12 yards and a first down before tearing his ACL.
Keene joins a TE room that's led by Dalton Schultz and Brevin Jordan as the top two targets. Veteran pass-catchers Irv Smith Jr. and Cade Stover are also in the mix, as is 2025 seventh-round pick Luke Lachey. Schultz and Jordan's jobs are safe, making it interesting to see if Keene has what it takes to land the TE3 role.
In other words, Texans fans will want to closely monitor Keene when he takes the field against the Vikings this weekend.