11:57am: The Texans have now released safety Rahim Moore in addition to Graham, tweets John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. As noted below, this move was expected, and creates more than $2MM in cap savings.
10:16am: After parting ways with longtime running back Arian Foster this morning, the Texans are continuing to make roster cuts. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), the club has now released tight end Garrett Graham.
[RELATED: Texans cut RB Arian Foster]
Graham, 29, has seen his role in Houston decrease since an impressive 2013 campaign in which he caught 49 passes for 545 yards and five touchdowns. In 2015, he was the Texans’ third tight end behind C.J. Fiedorowicz and Ryan Griffin, recording just four receptions for 30 yards and a TD in eight games.
With the Texans progressively phasing him out of the offense and his cap hit approaching $4MM, Graham looked like a logical release candidate. By cutting him, Houston will clear his $3MM base salary and his per-game roster bonuses from the team’s books, creating $3.125MM in cap savings and leaving $750K in dead money on the cap.
In the wake of the Foster move, several Texans beat writers, including Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link) suggested that Graham and safety Rahim Moore would be next to go. There’s nothing official on Moore yet, but if and when he’s released by the team, that would create another $2MM+ in cap room.
Moore signed a three-year, $12MM contract with the Texans just a year ago, but his first – and likely only – season in Houston was a disappointment, as he lost his starting job to Andre Hal halfway through the year.
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