The Texans have their initial 53-player roster.
They announced a series of moves Sunday that included the termination of the contracts of CB Bryce Hall, linebacker Caleb Johnson, defensive tackle Naquan Jones, wide receiver Zay Jones, tight end Brevin Jordan, safety George Odum, defensive end Dominique Robinson, quarterback Brett Rypien, wide receiver Sterling Shepard and wide receiver Justin Watson.
The Texans waived defensive tackle Dominic Bailey, wide receiver Lewis Bone, cornerback Brandon Codrington, center Eli Cox, cornerback Stephen Hall, tight end Louis Hansen, linebacker Jamal Hill, cornerback Alijah Huzzie, running back Jawhar Jordan, wide receiver Josh Kelly, offensive tackle Jarrett Kingston, safety Kaevon Merriweather, offensive tackle James Neal III, defensive end Derek Parish, tight end Layen Pryor, wide receiver Treyvhon Saunders, wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz, running back Deuce Vaughn, running back Noah Whittington and running back Owen Wright.
Defensive end Solomon Byrd and defensive tackle Kyonte Hamilton were waived with injury designations.
Wide receiver Tank Dell and safety Ja’Marcus Ingram were placed on injured reserve with a designation to return.
Defensive end Ali Gaye went on season-ending IR.
Linebacker E.J. Speed and safety M.J. Stewart were placed on reserve/PUP.
Texans Clips
Texans wide receiver Tank Dell is still not ready to return from the knee injury he suffered in December of 2024.
Dell will star the season on injured reserve, designated for return, which means he will miss at least the first four games of this season.
The 26-year-old Dell was a 2023 third-round pick of the Texans and looked like one of the NFL’s most promising future stars. But he wasn’t quite as effective in 2024, and his devastating knee injury raised questions about whether he had an NFL future at all.
The Texans do think Dell will eventually return to the field. But 21 months after his injury, he’s still at least another month away.
Nate Thomas began training camp competing with Tyler Guyton for the starting left tackle job in Dallas. He ends it headed to Houston.
The Texans agreed to a trade for Thomas, a seventh-round pick of the Cowboys in 2024, in return for a 2027 seventh-round pick.
Thomas could not even win the Cowboys’ swing tackle job as Dallas traded with the Steelers for offensive tackle Broderick Jones on Saturday. Jones’ arrival made Thomas expendable.
Thomas played all 17 games last season, starting four.
The Texans, meanwhile, continue to tinker with their offensive line, which has been one of the league’s worst in recent seasons.
The 49ers are making a trade to add to their offensive line depth.
According to multiple reports, they have agreed to a trade with the Texans for Jarrett Patterson. There’s no word on compensation for the Texans, who also agreed to a separate trade with the Cowboys for offensive lineman Nathan Thomas.
Patterson was a 2023 sixth-round pick in Houston. He played in 39 games and made 21 starts over the last three seasons, but was listed as the third-string right guard on the team’s preseason depth chart.
Patterson also has experience at center and will hope to land a more secure spot on the depth chart with the 49ers.
The Patriots recently traded receiver Kayshon Boutte to the Texans. After New England’s preseason finale against the Browns, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel was asked about the decision to move on from the 2023 sixth-round pick.
“That was one place where we do have some depth,” Vrabel told reporters. “I think for all parties involved, that was probably the best thing without injuries, you know? OK, sure, he probably would have been inactive, unfortunately, because it’s kind of the way it was. It’s just him not playing special teams.”
It really does become a numbers game. The deeper a receiver slides on the depth chart, the less he’ll play offense. And the more of a role he’ll have on special teams.
As Vrabel said, Boutte wouldn’t have been playing special teams. So they needed to move on.
“I tried to thank Kayshon as many times as I could,” Vrabel said. “Just his maturity, his growth. His ability to put into words last year and share his own personal struggle, but also the growth that he made from that, that is positively going to affect a lot of people. I know that that wasn’t easy for him to do, and I tell him all the time about how much I respect him.”
Vrabel was referring to Boutte’s willingness to go public with his gambling addiction from his time at LSU. And Vrabel is right; Boutte’s candor will indeed help others who are dealing with the same issue.
The good news is that Texans offensive tackle Braden Smith avoided a season-ending foot injury when he needed to be carted off the field during Wednesday’s practice.
The bad news for Smith is that he is set to miss some time. According to multiple reports, Smith suffered a plantar fascia injury that isn’t considered major but is expected to keep him off of the field for a while.
Smith had already seemed to be losing ground to Trent Brown in the competition for the starting right tackle job in Houston and the injury likely positions Brown to be in the starting lineup against the Bills in Week 1 of the regular season.
Smith signed a two-year deal with the Texans this offseason. He spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Colts and started 105 games over that span.
Texans offensive tackle Braden Smith had to be carted off the field during Wednesday’s joint practice with the Panthers and head coach DeMeco Ryans did not have an update on his condition when he spoke to reporters after the workout.
Per a report from Adam Schefter of ESPN, Smith is dealing with a foot injury. There was no word about the severity of the injury.
Smith has been competing with Trent Brown for the starting right tackle job this summer. Both players are listed as part of the first team on the Texans’ depth chart, but Brown has seen more of the first team reps in recent days.
Texans defensive lineman Ali Gaye was also carted off during practice. There’s been no word on his condition.
The Buccaneers signed wide receiver Jha’Quan Jackson on Wednesday, the team announced.
In a corresponding move, the Bucs waived wide receiver Dennis Houston with an injury designation.
Jackson originally entered the NFL as a sixth-round selection by the Titans in the 2024 draft. He appeared in 12 games as a rookie, catching one pass for 8 yards while contributing primarily as a return specialist. He totaled 412 yards on 16 kickoff returns (25.8 avg.) and 215 yards on 28 punt returns (7.7 avg.).
In addition to the Titans, Jackson has also briefly spent time with the Saints in 2025 and the Texans in 2026.
He played collegiately at Tulane University (2019-23), appearing in 56 career games and made 109 catches for 1,743 yards and 17 touchdowns.
The Panthers offense got a chance to test itself against the Texans defense in a joint practice on Wednesday and the results were not good for the NFC South club.
Houston’s pass rushers Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter would have registered multiple sacks of Bryce Young had quarterbacks not been off limits during the workout and the pressure also led the quarterback to throw a couple of interceptions. The lack of protection put a spotlight on tackles Rasheed Walker and Monroe Freeling as they prepare to step into the shoes of the injured Ikem Ekwonu and Taylor Moton to start the season, but head coach Dave Canales said he wasn’t unhappy to see how things played out for his club.
“That’s exactly what we need to see,” Canales said, via the team’s website. “Monroe needs it. Rasheed needs it. When we dropped back today, we did little beyond Bryce extending and getting a couple of plays going. The rush was phenomenal. And that’s exactly the information we need to be able to regroup.”
Young admitted that it “sucks in the moment,” but also tried to share Canales’s push to put a positive spin on the rough performance by saying “we’re only going to be better from a day like this.” History says that’s not quite true as it could also turn out to be a sign of things to come, but the Panthers have time to work on cleaning things up before they aren’t able to blow the whistle ahead of their quarterback getting planted in the turf.
The Texans had to make multiple calls for carts to help transport injured players during Wednesday’s joint practice with the Panthers.
Offensive tackle Braden Smith and defensive lineman Ali Gaye both needed vehicular assistance to make their way off the field. The two injuries occurred in close enough succession that the two players shared one cart inside.
Smith signed with the Texans as a free agent this offseason and is listed as a possible starter at right tackle along with Trent Brown. He started 105 games for the Colts over the last eight seasons.
Gaye was claimed off of waivers from the Titans in May. He is vying for a reserve role on the Texans’ defensive front.
