Texans' Free Agency Moves Present One Major Takeaway

The Houston Texans have made a collection of moves on both sides of the football this offseason, but the biggest adjustments within the team's roster simply come down to the offensive line.

Following eye-catching moves such as shipping out All-Pro-caliber tackle Laremy Tunsil and former first-round guard Kenyon Green, along with cutting veteran guard Shaq Mason, the Texans unit upfront is primed to look significantly different for the 2025 campaign.

However, with those changes have also come questions, and coming after a year where the Texans saw major steps back around their protection, it's fair to wonder whether the front office has made the right steps in ensuring this team will be sound in the trenches for 2025.

In the eyes of CBS Sports analyst Garrett Podell, Houston's big switches on the offensive line hint towards one key takeaway: the Texans' immense trust for new offensive coordinator Nick Caley to right the ship.

"One could argue the Texans downgraded their offensive line personnel a year after allowing the ninth-highest quarterback pressure rate (36.7%) in the league, which definitely played a key factor in quarterback C.J. Stroud's sophomore slide. Houston did fire offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and hired another disciple of the Shanhan-McVay tree to succeed him in Rams pass game coordinator Nick Caley.  The Texans better prioritize their offensive line in the draft. Otherwise, they're banking purely on going from Slowik to Caley at offensive coordinator being the primary driver for change in a positive direction along their offensive front."

The personnel holding down the fort will inevitably carry a large responsibility in furnishing the necessary improvements upfront, but a large chunk of finding those upgrades may have to come from the coaching side amid Caley's hiring.

A big reason to attribute to Houston's offensive struggles last season was the lackluster consistency on the offensive line, which led to a domino effect of once-promising coordinator Bobby Slowik being out of the coaching mix for the Texans after two seasons, turning into Caley becoming the man for the job from the Los Angeles Rams.

It'll be a difficult situation for Caley to endure in year one to immediately get things right for C.J. Stroud and his protection, especially now that three Week One starters from last season are out of the picture. Changes have since been made to counter those losses with the additions of names like Laken Tomlinson and Ed Ingram, but it remains to be seen if it'll be enough to point things in the right direction.

Yet, with a successful draft and perhaps more free agency acquisitions to come, there could be more improvements to face the roster before the 2025 campaign officially kicks off.