The Houston Texans are essentially done with their offseason roster construction.
Free agency was in mid-March. The NFL draft was held during the last weekend of April. Whatever moves the Texans make now are simply rounding out the 90-man offseason roster.
According to Cody Benjamin from CBS Sports, the entirety of the Texans’ offseason moves were good enough to warrant a B grade.
The strategy from GM Nick Caserio hasn’t been wholly different from recent years: Lots of rental deals for mid-tier veteran castoffs. This year’s crop for new coach DeMeco Ryans at least has some potential hidden gems to supplement an inevitable first-round QB: Case Keenum is a charismatic No. 2 under center, RB Devin Singletary makes for nice Dameon Pierce relief, ex-Cowboys WR Noah Brown and TE Dalton Schultz at least have the skills to keep growing and Ryans’ 49ers pupil Jimmie Ward should be a culture-builder as a utility man in the secondary. Their biggest gets, of course, came in the draft, where QB C.J. Stroud and DE Will Anderson Jr. have the potential to be franchise-changers.
The hiring of Ryans, the former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator and reigning AP NFL assistant coach of the year, set the tone that the Texans weren’t waiting for salary cap space to clear or better draft picks to accumulate. Houston is ready to win now.
The moves Houston made in free agency were somewhat tepid. If any statement was made, it was with the 2023 draft class where Houston picked Stroud and Anderson right off the top at Nos. 2-3 overall. Each side of the ball has a young cornerstone, a privilege very few teams have even among veteran leadership.
Ultimately, the offseason program and training camp will determine whether Houston’s B grade offseason was good enough for the Texans to start winning immediately.
