This offseason, the Houston Texans have had a few interesting pieces of this past year's roster hitting the open market with the opportunity to join a new team for 2025 –– headlined by wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who still awaits a destiny for what team is willing to take a chance on him.
Yet, in an early look ahead to what next offseason has to offer for the Texans, they'll be primed to have a few more key names on the roster looking for decisions on their contracts, especially with a major player on the defensive side of the ball potentially being up for grabs: safety Jalen Pitre.
ESPN's Matt Bowen outlined a few of the best free agents hitting next year's offseason class, where the Texans' Pitre was ranked among the top four defensive backs set to be available.
"Pitre is an urgent alley runner with split-field range, and he can hover near the line of scrimmage to find the ball," Bowen wrote. "A torn pectoral limited Pitre to 12 games in 2024, but he has six interceptions, 12 pass breakups and 17 tackles for loss in three seasons with the Texans."
Pitre lines in next to other considerable pieces like Detroit Lions safety Kerby Joseph and Seattle Seahawks corner Riq Woolen as some of the best defensive backs on the board, which could lead to some increased interest in the Texans' own if the league is eager for secondary talent.
Pitre was a big factor of the Texans' success in the secondary from 2024 and before that, and looks expected to have another one in store with a reinforced unit next to C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Caden Bullock.
Yet, if Houston looks similarly cap-strapped this coming offseason as they were entering this year's free agency, it could mean trouble for a front office that could have interest in keeping him. Especially as C.J. Stroud's lucrative rookie extension looms in the distance, the Texans will soon have to cut corners around the roster to afford their star quarterback.
Could Pitre eventually become one of those cap casualties? Time will tell how that future pans out, but in the short term, the Baylor product is a proven, versatile playmaker in an already tough Houston defense having even more room to grow with the Texans for at least once more season.
