Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio addressed the team’s impending problems at the NFL combine last week. The team is the reigning AFC South champions.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Texans have the fourth-toughest schedule based on their 2023 opponent’s winning % for the next season, in addition to having a league-high 29 free agents. Due to their previous season’s success, the Texans were forced to face five of the other seven conference champions.
In order to maintain competitiveness, Caserio and second-year coach DeMeco Ryans plan to strengthen the roster through free agency and the draft. The new league year officially begins on March 13. Teams can verbally agree to terms with free agents prior to the formal start date two days later, starting at noon ET on Monday.
It’s a blank slate for me. In 2024, we begin over,” Ryans stated. “So, what will we represent now? This year, we have a ton of fantastic matches with tons of fantastic teams. I’m looking forward to it. You want to test yourself against the best opposition to see how you measure up, and I’m eager to watch our squad improve and mature over the course of the season to see where we finish.”
The Super Bowl winner Kansas City Chiefs, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Detroit Lions are the three opponents the Texans are scheduled to face among the final four teams standing from the previous season.
Given that the race came down to the last week with three teams playing, Ryans also anticipates intense competition inside the AFC South.
Ryans declared, “Our division is definitely really good.” “The young quarterbacks in our division—the Colts, Jaguars, Titans, and us—all have great careers ahead of them when you consider the quarterbacks in our division. There are four excellent teams in our league. Every week that we play against each other, it will be a war.
The Texans and starting tight end Dalton Schultz, who was third on the club in receiving yards (635) and touchdowns (five) in his rookie season last year, reached an agreement on a new deal Tuesday before the start of the new league season. Schultz would be with the team for three years.
The salary cap will increase from $224.8 million to $255.4 million in 2024, therefore the Texans had the sixth-highest cap space going into the week with $69.6 million, according to Roster Management System.
After dealing with tight end, the Texans still have unsigned free agents that include the top rushers, sacks, and tacklers from the previous year.
Defensive end Jonathan Greenard, who placed 10th in the NFL with 12.5 sacks, is their largest free agent. Following their playoff defeat to the Ravens, Greenard expressed his desire to rejoin the team.
