The Houston Texans made it to the Divisional Round for the second year in a row. How much cap space will they have in the 2025 NFL Offseason? Many thought the Texans would get beat in the Wild Card Round against the Los Angeles Chargers, but for the second year in a row, they took care of business in the first round.
In fact, their two seasons in the CJ Stroud-DeMeco Ryans era are pretty similar; both years ended with a 10-7 regular season record and an AFC South title. Both also ended with them securing the fourth seed in the AFC playoffs.
Furthermore, the Texans also blew out their opponents at home in the Wild Card Round in 2023 and 2024. Anyway, manay thought that they were going to make a huge leap in 2024, but all that really happened was the same season.
As we approach the 2025 NFL Offseason, Houston is really needing to add the right players to make that necessary jump. The AFC South is theirs to shut the door on for years to come, and one way they can do this is via free agency.
How much cap space do the Texans have?
According to Over The Cap, the Texans are actually in the hole about $238,000. It's an odd situation for them to be in given that they have CJ Stroud still on his rookie deal. They will have to create some cap space no matter what, but how can they do that?
They could restructure the contracts of players like Laremy Tunsil, Danielle Hunter, and Dalton Schultz, for example. These moves would save the team around $27 million in cap space. They could cut someone like Shaq Mason, their veteran guard. This could save the Texans a bit over $9 million.
Derek Stingley Jr is also due for an extension, so that move could save them just over $3 million as well. There are some moves for the Texans to make as you can see, but the cap situation isn't great overall. With the AFC South being pretty weak, Houston is still very much in line to win the division again in 2025, but that isn't their primary goal.
The team is very talented and has a great roster, but they'll have to approach this offseason carefully with their cap situation and with the 2025 NFL Draft, as they do have some needs to hit on.