With the NFL offseason well on its way into the Summer season, many franchises have now positioned themselves to make legitimate Super Bowl bids in 2026. This being done via the hard work of a variety of team general managers and front offices, who's calculated risks in free agency and the draft have laid the foundations for the kind of excellent results their individual organizations are expecting to see in the near future.
Count Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio as one of the more prominent of that type, who's overhauling of his team's roster has garnered much praise and admiration throughout the course of the offseason period. Today was no different, as NBC Sports' Rotoworld put out a graphic that proved as such by ranking the 10 best general managers in the NFL. On it, NBC Sports' Patrick Dougherty actually tabbed Caserio as being the ninth best front officeman in the league. The full list being,
- Howie Roseman (Philadelphia Eagles)
- John Schneider (Seattle Seahawks)
- Les Snead (Los Angeles Rams)
- Eric Decosta (Baltimore Ravens)
- Brett Veach (Kansas City Chiefs)
- Brian Gutekunst (Green Bay Packers)
- Brad Holmes (Detroit Lions)
- John Lynch (San Francisco 49ers)
- Nick Caserio (Houston Texans)
- George Paton (Denver Broncos)
The fact that Caserio is considered among the top-third of the league is a high compliment. It's made all the better when you realize that the only ones in front of him are men who've either built Super Bowl champions (Roseman, Schneider, Snead, Veach) or at least a legitimate Super Bowl contender (Decosta, Gutekunst, Holmes, Lynch).
Even though Caserio's moves haven't even led to a Conference Championship game for Houston yet, his maneuvers have certainly elevated his franchise to being fringe contender status on a yearly basis now.
Texans' Nick Caserio has built his team into a legitimate AFC threat
Being hired in 2021, Caserio was tasked with cleaning up the mess left behind by former general manager and head coach Bill O'Brien and heir VP of football operations in Jack Easterby.
It wasn't the easiest job, as Caserio had to fix a butchered salary cap and anemic roster that was devoid of elite talent (no disrespect intended). As a result, he and the team had to endure a three-year stretch of 11-38-1 football, which included a massive initial roster overhaul and trade of one of the bets young quarterbacks in the NFL at the time in Deshaun Watson.
Funny enough, that trade with the Cleveland Browns helped spark the very turnaround that's helped Caserio gain so much respect from around the league. For, Caserio parlayed the picks into players like defensive end Will Anderson Jr., running back Dameon Pierce, wide receiver Tank Dell and even wide receiver Stefon Diggs in a roundabout way. Along with other key moves (like drafting quarterback C.J. Stroud second-overall in 2023), Caserio finally planted his flag and took more effective ownership of the direction of the club.
As a result, Houston then went on the best three-year stretch in franchise history, going 32-19 with back-to-back AFC South titles, three consecutive AFC playoff berths and three straight AFC Wildcard wins. Even though they haven't made the Super Bowl in his tenure, they've established themselves as a perennial AFC threat that the conference, and NFL as a whole, has to watch out for.
Which brings us to our ongoing offseason, which has involved Caserio taking a 12-5 roster and making additions that has the city and national NFL observers believing that now could be the chance for the Texans to make their first actual Super Bowl run in team history.
Nick Caserio has had a productive offseason
For those who might've been living in a hole for the last few months, Caserio and the Texans have had a busy and highly productive offseason so far. From acquiring at least five different offensive linemen, to trading for running back David Montgomery, to signing impact safeties and signing Anderson to the largest non-quarterback contract in NFL history, Caserio has virtually made this a "Super Bowl or bust" campaign for the team.
While the Rotoworld graphic is definitely notable, the reality is that football games aren't won on social media. The next step is for this Houston squad to put it all together and finally make the kind of championship run that has eluded the city since the club's inception back in 2002.
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