Houston took a twin-track approach this offseason, trying to balance a championship window with maintaining future flexibility. After an unexpected playoff run, with the top two rookies in the league, oodles of cap space and no first-round pick, it would have been easy to toss money around like a nepo baby in Cabo.
But the Texans showed restraint. They didn’t splurge away their cap space by tying expensive veterans to long-term deals. Instead, they traded for wantaway stars, picked up a couple of ring-chasing veterans and took punts on fallen blue-chip prospects. They traded for Stefon Diggs to beef up their receiving corps, and made another deal for running back Joe Mixon. In free agency, they signed edge-rusher Danielle Hunter, defensive lineman Denico Autry, linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair and cornerback Jeff Okudah, a former first-round pick.
Houston recognize they’re in a win-now window. They have the most valuable asset in the league: a top-10 quarterback on a (cheap) rookie contract. But they are approaching that window with caution, protecting themselves should things sour: they reworked Diggs’s deal, turning it into a one-year trial; Hunter’s contract has a two-year opt-out if the injury bug bites again; Autry’s deal effectively functions as a one-year contract; Mixon and Al-Shaair were handed multi-year contracts that shrink each season.
Diggs is the headline grabber, but picking up Hunter, Autry and Al-Shaair may be what puts Houston over the top. No defense is as reliant on a true four-man rush as Houston’s. Adding Hunter and Autry alongside Will Anderson and Derek Barnett should spice up a group that finished third in pass-rush win rate last season.
