WES2006AG said:

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CharleyKerfeld said:

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IrishAg said:

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ESPN sources: Bears Pro Bowl center Drew Dalman has informed the team that he is retiring from the NFL at age 27. Dalman left Stanford in 2021, and after four seasons in Atlanta and one in Chicago, he has made the sudden and surprising decision to retire. pic.twitter.com/SKJcXa1res

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 3, 2026

Damn, the center FA market just got worse

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Quite a few parallels to Andrew Luck retiring early, although I don't know of Dalman having any significant injuries.

Nonetheless:

Both he and Luck graduated Stanford
Both of their fathers were NFL vets. Dalman's dad Chris played 8 years with the Niners and won a Super Bowl. Oliver Luck played 5 years with the Oilers.
Both played the same position as their dads. Chris Dalman alternated between G and C in his career, but spent the last 3 years starting at C.

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Sounds like both are smart enough to try and outrun the impending CTE that football can bring.

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That was my first thought as well. I also would hypothesize that his dad probably is a physical wreck after playing center for so long, even though his dad appears to be quite active working at a school.

Trent Brown extended one year.

Texan_Aggie said:

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Trent Brown extended one year.

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I hope this is to be our swing tackle and not our starting tackle. If they intend for him to be the starter, then we must draft a right tackle in the first two days for depth/competition.

https://www.click2houston.com/sports/2026/03/05/sources-texans-plan-to-restructure-all-pro-corner-derek-stingley-jrs-113-million-deal/

We're also going to go ahead and restructure Singley's contract to get more room this year

Snake Jazz said:

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Texan_Aggie said:

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Trent Brown extended one year.

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I hope this is to be our swing tackle and not our starting tackle. If they intend for him to be the starter, then we must draft a right tackle in the first two days for depth/competition.

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i think the team is planning on blake fisher as swing tackle. he improved a lot last season, i think to demote him at this point would signify they've given up on him. i don't think they prioritize tackle in the draft when the interior is the real disaster but id expect trent brown to be the one out of a job if they take one and someone has to go

dixie whiskey said:

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Snake Jazz said:

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Texan_Aggie said:

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Trent Brown extended one year.

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I hope this is to be our swing tackle and not our starting tackle. If they intend for him to be the starter, then we must draft a right tackle in the first two days for depth/competition.

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i think the team is planning on blake fisher as swing tackle. he improved a lot last season, i think to demote him at this point would signify they've given up on him. i don't think they prioritize tackle in the draft when the interior is the real disaster but id expect trent brown to be the one out of a job if they take one and someone has to go

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I hope not. Fisher isn't good.

we gave hunter a 1 year 41 million dollar extension?!

Fully guaranteed too

#Texans converted $20.38 million of Derek Stingley Jr. $21.59 million salary into a signing bonus with standard restructure, cap savings of nearly $16 million from $27.095 million original cap figure, per a league source @KPRC2 https://t.co/zEVOWt3Kr6

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 5, 2026

the Texans will attempt to draw to an inside straight again in 2026

great defense...great kicker...

and, um, some form of offense

CharleyKerfeld said:

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MelvinUdall said:

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W said:

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the Texans will attempt to draw to an inside straight again in 2026

great defense...great kicker...

and, um, some form of offense

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Not necessarily, these deals with Stingley and Hunter are freeing up cap space in order to make deals in FA for the line. The Texans are in a great spot going into 2027 and 2028 with the cap.

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Just what you want to hear 6 months before the 2026 season

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I said that because it gives them flexibility to be aggressive in 2026, but you knew that…

MelvinUdall said:

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CharleyKerfeld said:

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MelvinUdall said:

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W said:

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the Texans will attempt to draw to an inside straight again in 2026

great defense...great kicker...

and, um, some form of offense

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Not necessarily, these deals with Stingley and Hunter are freeing up cap space in order to make deals in FA for the line. The Texans are in a great spot going into 2027 and 2028 with the cap.

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Just what you want to hear 6 months before the 2026 season

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I said that because it gives them flexibility to be aggressive in 2026, but you knew that…

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I definitely didn't. I have no idea what all that stuff means.

just saw this on espn

Quote:

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Biggest need: Offensive line. The Texans traded away their best offensive lineman, Tytus Howard, to the Cleveland Browns. They also might get outbid for right guard Ed Ingram and want to upgrade at center. So, this free agency period is about adding quality linemen on affordable deals who fit what the Texans desire offensively, which is being physical in the run game.

FA most likely on the move: LB Christian Harris had a roller-coaster run with the Texans. The 2022 third-round pick went from promising starter who had a pick-six in a playoff game to break the score open in 2023 to afterthought who was relegated to a special teams role in 2025. He suffered a calf injury that derailed his 2024 season, but whoever signs him will get a young player who could make an impact with his physical gifts.

What do you expect to happen: Sign a bunch of linemen, potentially replacing offensive linemen at center, left guard, right guard and right tackle. Expect them to go after players who will command lucrative and team-friendly deals, and hope some can turn into Ingram, who broke out in his lone season with Houston. -- DJ Bien-Aime

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Basically, DJ Bien-Aime's expectation is "sign some dudes" and "hope" .

According to this link we now have 22 million in cap space to trick out the line.

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/houston-texans#google_vignette

That's enough for a cheap tackle like Cam (12 million lit on fire) and some cheap interior lineman like LaKeith.

Gulp.

Last season we were 26th in offensive line spending and we traded away our most expensive piece in the offseason.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/position/offensive-line/_/year/2025/table/active/sort/cash_total

As it sits now we're second to last at 13 million (under 500k ahead of Pittsburgh). We need to spend 17 million just to get back to last season's bottom fifth level of support.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/position/offensive-line/_/year/2026/table/active/sort/cash_total

I shudder to think how that % will look once CJ and WAJ are off their cheap rookie deals.

Fair enough IA.

Also I know we can't spend everywhere. Some group is going to be underfunded if we spend elsewhere. Just the usual offseason grumbling but overall the team does well enough in the regular season and makes a little noise in the playoffs. It's easy to support the current iteration of the Texans.

Faustus said:

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Last season we were 26th in offensive line spending and we traded away our most expensive piece in the offseason.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/position/offensive-line/_/year/2025/table/active/sort/cash_total

As it sits now we're second to last at 13 million (under 500k ahead of Pittsburgh). We need to spend 17 million just to get back to last season's bottom fifth level of support.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/position/offensive-line/_/year/2026/table/active/sort/cash_total

I shudder to think how that % will look once CJ and WAJ are off their cheap rookie deals.

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Probably won't look that worse. We have a ton of flexibility set up after this year to make sure we have both of them signed to extensions that won't start for 2 years (don't forget this year is only the 4th year on the rookie contract). I look at Tunsil and Howard in the same light. You were paying guys premium money (both in the league and on the team) to play in a position group that was the worst on the team. That just can't happen, no matter their ratings, if they couldn't make the line better (and neither of them really did), then they should be gone. Add that to both of them wanting extensions, you had to cut bait on them. Timing sucked hard, but we couldn't kick the can down the road with so many top rookies having contracts come due.

Everything comes down to who we can replace them with. For all the gnashing of teeth with the Tunsil trade, the line was actually better overall this year. Look at sacks per game, two years ago we were the 4th highest at 54 sacks, and then we gave up 31 this year which was tied for the 8th best in the league. All of it will come down to who they can get, which shockingly we have a good chance of upgrading each position even Howards in FA, let alone the draft.

Faustus said:

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Fair enough IA.

Also I know we can't spend everywhere. Some group is going to be underfunded if we spend elsewhere. Just the usual offseason grumbling but overall the team does well enough in the regular season and makes a little noise in the playoffs. It's easy to support the current iteration of the Texans.

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True, and I think they will spend more on the o-line in FA mixed in with 1 or 2 rookies. I could see them replace the 3 interior spots in FA then draft another Tackle and use Trent Brown/Blake Fisher as a stop gap this year until the rookie is ready. If they can solidify that inside enough than that will work very well now and in the future, with tackle being the highest priced player on the line.

When Mixon is on he's prude Alvin Kamara when he's on.

But…

Southlake said:

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When Mixon is on he's prude Alvin Kamara when he's on.

But…

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He doesn't even wear tear away jerseys.

Shultz one year extension for 13mill

Texans about to make some big moves starting next week…

Crosby to Ravens for two firsts.

Jackal99 said:

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Crosby to Ravens for two firsts.

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jesus

Jackal99 said:

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Crosby to Ravens for two firsts.

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Crazy but they're in win now mode or tear it all down and start over without Lamar

Next Year is the Year said:

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Jackal99 said:

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Crosby to Ravens for two firsts.

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Crazy but they're in win now mode or tear it all down and start over without Lamar

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They should think about trading Lamar for a younger QB who can't throw the ball far and is a terrible runner. If only we had such a thing ...

Why would they trade for something like that when Geno Smith is available for free?