Houston Texans: Realistic options available for freeing up cap space

The Houston Texans have several avenues to open up cap space heading into next season.

The Houston Texans aren’t pressed to make any moves to open up cap space with $17,741,131 available according to Spotrac. The biggest misconception surrounding the Texans is that they sufficient cap room to bring in any of the big free agents remaining, the truth is those free agents won’t be as expensive compared to the players that were available at the beginning of free agency.

However, there exist several options that could open up cap room in case the front office decides to absorb another contract via trade or sign a free agent to a respectable multi-year deal.

For the sake of seeing how the Texans can free financial resources to add a player that could become available. Here are the following options that can be exercised to open cap space for the Texans.

Houston Texans first option: Angelo Blackson

Angelo Blackson signed a team-friendly three-year extension worth $12 million with the Houston Texans last season as he was slated to hit free agency. However, the caveat is that Blackson has no guaranteed money remaining in the next two years of his contract.

Blackson is expected to earn $3,968,750 this season, and $4,000,000 next season. It doesn’t bode well for Blackson that the defense regressed last season after J.J. Watt’s injury. Blackson didn’t particularly stand out in Watt’s absence and, his spot could be up for grabs with Houston drafting Ross Blacklock in the second round and agreeing to a deal with Timmy Jernigan.

Blackson is a good rotational player to have on the defensive line and special teams after blocking two field goals last season. However, his contract would be one of the easier ones to move on from if they aren’t able to restructure it.