The Houston Texans were the breakout team of the 2023 NFL season. They went from the second overall pick to a playoff win with plenty of young players emerging as breakout stars for the club. They entered the 2024 offseason with plenty of ammo to keep the positive momentum going. The Texans had an abundance of cap space at their disposal in NFL free agency.
As a result, they've been quite busy on both the trade and free agent front. Signing edge rusher Danielle Hunter was a great acquisition by the team. Trading for and paying Joe Mixon, however, was an unexpected surprise that warrants questioning. Those two decisions add up to the best and worst moves the Texans have made to start NFL free agency.
Best move: signing Danielle Hunter
The Texans were dealt a big blow to begin the 2024 offseason when Jonathan Greenard inked a four-year, $76 million with the Minnesota Vikings. Greenard is not a household name, but he is a good player. He finished last season with 12.5 sacks and was sixth in the NFL among edge rushers in individual pass rush win rate, courtesy of ESPN.com.
But Houston acted fast and replaced him with an elder statesman in Hunter, who has been as consistent as any pass rusher in the league. He has racked up at least 10.5 sacks in every season in the NFL since 2017 except for 2020 and 2021. Hunter did not play in 2020 and the LSU product appeared in just seven games in 2021.
With burgeoning star CJ Stroud on a rookie scale contract, the Texans were able to pay up for a premier player at one of the most valuable positions in the NFL. They did not dole out a contract as lengthy as the Vikings gave Greenard, but that's likely because the franchise is mindful of the extensions they will need to give their core young players in the future. Giving Hunter a two-year deal with $48 million guaranteed satisfies this prediction and gives the veteran pass rusher the payday he wants.
Greenard and Will Anderson Jr., the rookie edge rusher the Texans traded up for in the 2023 NFL Draft, made up one of the best rush duos in the league. Houston should be able to muster a similar ferocious pass rush now with Hunter in tow. Good on them to prioritize that in free agency before the well dried up.
Worst move: trading for Joe Mixon
With the number of great running backs that hit the market, it's surprising that Houston felt the need to trade for Joe Mixon. Mixon was not very good in 2023 and hasn't been that good for a while. His yards-per-carry average of four was pretty pedestrian for a running back of his stature. In fact, the Oklahoma product has exceeded a 4.1 yards per carry average in a season just once in seven tries. That was all the way back in 2018 (4.9).
Other stats don't paint Mixon with a pretty brush either. In 2023, he averaged just 4.6 yards per touch. For comparison, Devin Singletary, Houston's primary running back last season, averaged 4.2 yards per carry and 4.4 yards per touch. Singletary's numbers were roughly the same as Mixon's. That Houston felt the need to dish out a draft pick to make a marginal upgrade, at best, is strange.
That's before getting into the contract the Texans gave Mixon too. He agreed to a three-year $27 million deal with $13 million guaranteed. Singletary's contract with the New York Giants was also for three seasons, but only $19.5 million and $9.5 million guaranteed. Josh Jacobs got less guaranteed money from the Green Bay Packers ($12.5 million) and has been more productive than Mixon over the last three seasons.
Mixon is a fine player. He will help the Texans out next season and beyond. But they could've gotten similar production from that position at a cheaper price than what they paid him.
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