The Houston Texans are in a pretty enviable salary cap position this offseason. They have a ton of cap space, no really bad contracts to worry about and no need to make serious cuts to save money.
That doesn’t mean the Texans won’t release players, though. There are always ways to save a little bit of money with players who either don’t fit into a team’s long-term plans or simply aren’t performing up to expectations. Again, the Texans don’t have many of those options on their balance sheet, but general manager Nick Caserio would be wise to at least consider some of these cost-saving moves.
Here are four possible salary cap casualties this offseason.
S MJ Stewart
Stewart played in just eight games this year and only started one. He tallied 22 combined tackles in his 166 defensive snaps. Stewart was a solid special teams contributor, though. There aren’t a lot of players who can save the Texans this much money with an offseason release, so Stewart is certainly on the chopping block.
Cap Savings: $2.75M
Dead Money: $750K
WR Robert Woods
This move would be entirely dependent on what the Texans want their receiver room to look like in 2024. Woods is a solid veteran player but wasn’t really that productive this past season. Houston’s top wideouts are clearly Nico Collins and Tank Dell with John Metchie III as a still-developing role player. The team could bring back Noah Brown, too.
Woods would be become expendable if Houston adds more starting-caliber talent – either in free agency, the draft or on the trade block. The dead cap hit is tough, but the savings could be worth it.
Cap savings: $5M
Dead money: $4.75M
C Kendrick Green
Green is a fine backup center and started three games in 2023, but Juice Scruggs and Jarrett Patterson are the future at the center position for Houston. That leaves Green as an easy release, especially when he can save the team some solid coin and not have any dead cap hit.
Cap savings: $1.32M
Dead money: $0
QB Davis Mills
The writing was on the wall for Mills after the Texans started Case Keenum over him twice when C.J. Stroud sat with a concussion. Mills eventually took over for Keenum in the second game and played alright, but that doesn’t mean his roster spot is safe.
Either Mills or Keenum could be salary cap cuts, but Mills would be the more likely option given Keenum’s veteran capabilities. It would also give the young quarterback a change to catch on with another team looking for a cheap backup.
Cap savings: $2.99M
Dead Cap: $289,473
