Houston Texans offseason: Potential cap casualties

Arian Foster, Running Back, 29-years old

In 2015 the Texans said goodbye to their franchise leader in every receiving category as Andre Johnson was released. He subsequently signed with their divisional rival, the Indianapolis Colts, but his modest statistics on a pass happy team proved the Texans made the right call.

As hard as that decision was, this one could be just as tough, but the time may have come to say goodbye to their franchise leading rusher Arian Foster.

Foster will be 30-years old at the start of the 2016 season, which is an age that scares teams away when looking at running backs. The position is physically demanding and takes it toll, which has already started happening for Foster.

In 2013 Foster missed eight games due to injury, in 2014 he missed three while struggling to finish several others. The injuries were piling up, but the star running back was staying productive while he was healthy.

That was no longer the case in 2015 as Foster not only managed to play in just four games, but he also had a career low 2.6 yards per carry average during those games. Set to count nearly $9 million on the salary cap, Foster’s age, production and even position make that number seem unreasonably high.

By cutting the long-time star, the Texans would save more than $6 million while looking at a cap hit in the range of $2.5 million.

Next: Houston Texans: 2016 opponent breakdown

It would be hard for fans to say goodbye to a huge star for a second season in a row, but the NFL can be an ugly business. And such a move would make business sense.