On The Clock: 2023 Houston Texans

2/10/2023

From start to finish, the Houston Texans were what they were...bad. After the fallout of the Deshaun Watson situation, the Texans had to do some damage control, and with players leaving in recent years, Houston has been in the basement of the AFC South. With still a lot of holes to fill (especially with the coaching staff) how will the Texans climb back out of the basement of the AFC.

2022 Record: 3-13-1
GM: Nick Caserio
HC: DeMeco Ryans
OC: Vacant
DC: Vacant

Statistical Leaders:

Offense: 30th Scoring
Davis Mills 61.0%, 3118 17-15
Dameon Pierce 220-939-4
Brandon Cooks 57-699-3
Defense: 27th Scoring
Jalen Pitre 147 Tak, 5 TFL, 5 Int
Jerry Hughes 9 Sacks
Desmond King 10 TFL

Notable Free Agents:

Pos, Name, Age, Contract Status, 2022 Snap Count
C - Scott Quessenberry (28), UFA, 93.3%
Edge - Ogbonnia Okoronkwo (28), UFA, 44.2%
Edge - Rasheem Green (26), UFA, 48.5%

Draft Picks:

(12) Projected Cost of Rookie Picks in 2023: $20.2m
Round 1 #2
Round 1 #12
Round 2 #33
Round 3 #65
Round 3 #73
Round 4 #104
Round 5 #138
Round 6 #179
Round 6 #188
Round 6 #201
Round 6 #203
Round 7 #239

Salary Cap:

The Texans currently are 4th in cap space for the 2023 off-season as they have 37.5m as of right now (2/10). They currently have 50 players under contract with two of those contracts (Laremy Tunsil and Brandon Cooks) accounting for 61m of their 2023 cap hit. The Texans could save around 10m if they can find a suitor to trade the 30-year-old Cooks post-June 1st, but those trades would have to have an injury happen to other teams top WR in camp. Tunsil is entering the final year of his deal and at age 29 could rework an extension to give Houston some more room to sign a big fish. No pun intended.

Restructure/Re-sign:

Tunsil isn’t the only contract they can rework or extend to gain some cap relief. Other than having to sign center Scott Quessenberry, Titus Howard is currently playing on his 5th-year option which comes in at around 13m. If the Texans extend him before the free agency period, they could open up more room to sign players in free agency. With 37m under the cap to work with and their draft class (assuming they keep all the picks) just over 20m, they will have to extend some players this off-season if they want some big names in Houston.

Free Agency/Draft:

The general consensus is that the Texans (due to their Week 18 win that dropped them to the #2 pick) will have the option to take either CJ Stroud or Bryce Young with the second pick. Davis Mills was a nice project but inevitably didn’t pan out, and with the Texans starting from scratch with a new head coach in DeMeco Ryans, this is the formula that has happened in the NFL. Get Head Coach and then get Quarterback. With glaring needs across the board for the Texans and a first-year head coach, they can bring in a young quarterback and build around him in a very winnable AFC South.

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