When it comes to the National Football League’s offseason, it’s hard to come up with a portion that is more fun than free agency. We all like to go shopping, and for all intents and purposes, that’s what free agency is. It’s football player shopping. Some aisles are more expensive than others, but in today’s NFL, teams generally spend time shopping at all levels of the list of hundreds of free agents each spring.
The Houston Texans have needs, and they have salary cap space, or at the very least they can create salary cap space. The draft in April will fill some of those needs, but shopping in early March will, too. Part of free agency is attempting to keep your own free agents. Here is the list of the Houston Texans that are hitting free agency, barring the Texans locking them up early, before the league year begins on March 11:
Christian Kirk, wide receiver
Denico Autry, defensive end
Sheldon Rankins, defensive tackle
Derek Barnett, defensive end
E.J. Speed, linebacker
Foley Fatukasi, defensive tackle
Tommy Townsend, punter
Tim Settle Jr., defensive tackle
Nick Chubb, running back
M.J. Stewart, safety
Braxton Berrios, wide receiver
Dare Ogunbowale, running back
Ed Ingram, guard
Naquan Jones, defensive tackle
Leki Fotu, defensive tackle
K’Von Wallace, safety
Christian Harris, linebacker
Damone Clark, defensive back
Ja’Marcus Ingram, cornerback
Trent Brown, tackle
Here are three of the above names I feel the Texans will make every effort to keep, and three that I feel pretty confident are gone:
THREE TO STAY
3. TOMMY TOWNSEND, punter
Between Cam Johnston from 2021 through 2023, and now Townsend the last couple of years, the Texans have been among the upper crust of teams in the punting game. It’s not the sexiest aspect of an NFL team, but hanging onto Townsend should be a priority this offseason. His last deal was two years, $6 million, so something in that neighborhood hopefully gets it done again. Townsend has said he wants to stay here.
2. DENICO AUTRY, defensive end
Autry is a favorite of Texans GM Nick Caserio. On my radio show, shortly after signing Autry, Caserio called the veteran defensive lineman a “junkyard dog and a bad MFer.” In other words, a perfect fit for a DeMeco Ryans defense. Autry is in his mid-30s now, and has missed multiple games due to injury and PED suspension over the last two years. When he’s been on the field, he’s been productive. The Texans are bound be looking to bring him back on a reasonable one year deal.
1. SHELDON RANKINS, defensive tackle
Speaking of reasonable one year deals, Rankins returned to Houston this past offseason for his second stint as a Texan, and he did it on a reasonable one year deal. The Texans got a great version of Rankins this past season, as he finished 28th out of 131 defensive tackles on Pro Football Focus. Rankins is also a leader in the locker room, which matters to Caserio and Ryans.
THREE TO GO
3. BRAXTON BERRIOS, wide receiver
Berrios was a fairly cheap, one year signing, and there was hope that he would at least have an impact as a kick returner, where he was All Pro just a few years ago. Instead, aside from a couple games where he was active, Berrios was a healthy game day scratch for most of the season. No real reason to revisit him again in 2026.
2. CHRISTIAN KIRK, wide receiver
Kirk came over in a trade with the Jaguars. The Jags were about to cut him, when Caserio offered them a 7th round pick to essentially take on Kirk’s $16 million contract. Aside from a huge game in the wild card round against the Steelers (8 catches, 144 yards), Kirk was pretty much a zero all season. With Tank Dell returning, and hopefully Jaylin Noel developing on a rookie deal, Kirk feels like an odd man out.
1. CHRISTIAN HARRIS, linebacker
It was almost two years ago to the week when Christian Harris was the Texans’ best defensive player on the field in a playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens. That was the last we saw of that version of Christian Harris. He spent almost all of 2024 either on injured reserve or on the bench. In 2025, he’s settled in as a borderline inactive each week who contributes some on special teams. Harris might just need a change of scenery.
This article appears in Private: Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026.