In the past few preseasons, the NFL had altered the way it has teams handle roster cuts, where instead of a gradual shedding of camp bodies, teams would go from roughly 90 players down to 53 in one fell swoop. It turned the waiver wire into a land rush, and probably drove many players’ agents to drink (more than they already were, at least).
Thankfully, for players, agents, and radio hosts, the NFL has reverted back to the gradual trimming of the rosters. Thus, it was Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m. when NFL teams had to have their rosters cut down to 85 players. As a result, the Texans released or waived the following players:
NAME POS HT WT AGE EXP COLLEGE CUT
Chad Beebe WR 5-10 187 28 5 Northern Illinois Released
Jordan Jenkins DL 6-3 260 28 7 Georgia Released
Harrison Elliott LS 6-3 240 29 1 Air Force Waived
B.J. Emmons RB 6-0 220 25 1 Florida Atlantic Waived
Damion Daniels DL 6-3 325 22 R Nebraska Waived
The difference between being released and being waived is “released” players become free agents and can choose where they go, while “waived” players can get picked up by any NFL team through the waiver pickup order (reverse order of 2021 record). If they make it through the waiver wire, “waived” players THEN become free agents.
Here is the thumbnail sketch on each of these former Texans:
CHAD BEEBE
Beebe, the son of noted Oiler killer Don Beebe, spent the first four seasons of his career as a Minnesota Viking, and signed with the Texans this offseason. He flashed, at times, somewhat prominently in camp, enough for me to think he had more than an outside shot at the 53-man roster as a slot receiver. However, it was evident in Saturday’s win over the Saints where Beebe was in the wide receiver pecking order, as he was one of the last ones to see the field.
JORDAN JENKINS
Jenkins was heading into his second year with the Texans, but was dealing with a calf injury for the entire preseason, thus far. In his first season with the team, in 2021, he tallied 2.5 sacks. The former third round pick for the Jets will now look to find a new home for a team that needs some veteran help in the outside pass rush. The only problem is that the Texans are a team that could use some veteran help in their outside pass rush, and they just said “no thanks.”
HARRISON ELLIOTT
Elliott was brought into camp to long snap after 13-year veteran Jon Weeks tested positive for COVID. One of the more futile endeavors over the last few years has been coming to Texans camp as a backup long snapper. This is Jon Weeks’ world, baby. We are just living in it.
B.J. EMMONS
In just one calendar year, Emmons has already been in camp or on the practice squad for four different NFL teams, and one USFL team. He was a Houston Texan for all of five days. We will miss you, B.J.
DAMION DANIELS
Daniels was an undrafted rookie out of Nebraska, who was caught in a major numbers crunch along the defensive line, where the Texans made several offseason signings, drafted Thomas Booker, and have fellow undrafted rookie Kurt Hinish making a push for the 53-man roster.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
