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Texans To Fire OC Bobby Slowik

January 24th, 2025 at 12:21pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Texans are set to be among the teams in the market for a new offensive coordinator. Bobby Slowik is out in Houston, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Slowik’s stock grew during the course of his six-year tenure with the 49ers. He held several titles during that span, including pass game coordinator in 2021-22. When DeMeco Ryans took the Texans’ head coaching gig, Slowik was among the staffers who followed him from San Francisco to Houston.

During his first year as a coordinator and play-caller, Slowik oversaw an offense which posted middling numbers in terms of both yards and points. The Texans’ ground game left plenty to be desired, but a superb rookie campaign from quarterback C.J. Stroud helped lead the team to the divisional round of the playoffs. Slowik was among the hottest head coaching candidates during last year’s cycle as a result.

The 37-year-old met once each with the Panthers, Titans and Seahawks last offseason. Slowik was also a finalist for the Falcons’ and Commanders’ openings, but in the end he remained in Houston for 2024. This past campaign saw a regression from his unit; Houston was marginally better on the ground with running back Joe Mixon leading the way, but a major drop-off in passing efficiency led to questions about the Texans’ postseason chances at the onset of the playoffs. While the team managed a home upset against the Chargers, it was again eliminated in the divisional round this time around.

Slowik was one of the names on the Jets’ initial round of head coaching interview requests, and he met with the team. With no other suitors emerging and New York electing to hire Aaron Glenn, it appeared he would be on track for a third campaign at the helm of Houston’s offense. Instead, Slowik is now a late entry into the coaching market for 2025.

Injuries along the offensive line were an issue during the year for Houston, and the losses of Stefon Diggs and, later, Tank Dell left the receiver room shorthanded to close out campaign. While increased health will be a goal for next season, Ryans is also obviously targeting a step forward in terms of production on offense. KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson lists Jerod Johnson, Bill Lazor and Ben McDaniels as names to watch regarding internal replacement candidates. Saints OC Klint Kubiak, meanwhile, could be an external option.

With Stroud under contract for at least three more seasons (presuming his 2027 fifth-year option is picked up), plenty of time still exists for the Texans’ offensive core to reach its potential. With Rapoport adding that offensive line coach Chris Strausser is also on the way out, though, new faces will be in place on the sidelines starting next year when the team looks to join the AFC’s elite.

Derek Stingley Aiming For Texans Extension

January 22nd, 2025 at 12:30pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Texans cornerback Derek Stingley is looking to capitalize on his 2024 All-Pro campaign as he enters this offseason eligible for a long-term extension.

The third overall pick in 2022 struggled to stay on the field across his first two seasons with just 20 appearances, but he was excellent when healthy. He put it all together over 17 starts this season with five interceptions and 18 passes defended as part of a Houston passing defense that allowed the sixth-fewest yards in the league. He will be eligible for a long-term extension this offseason and has one year remaining on his rookie contract, plus a 2026 fifth-year option that is projected to be $17.2MM, per OverTheCap.

Stingley recently said that he wants to be in Houston “forever,” according to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson, signaling his openness to extension negotiations this offseason. The Texans are similarly motivated to lock down their lockdown cornerback, especially as the cornerback market continues to rise. The team will start by picking up his fifth-year option, allowing extension talks to progress throughout the summer while signaling to Stingley that he is undoubtedly a part of their long-term plans.

As a reigning first-team All-Pro who could get a few Defensive Player of the Year votes, Stingley will be pushing to match or exceed $24M per-year figure recently earned by Patrick Surtain. The Texans may be hesitant to reach that number given Stingley’s injury history, so they may wait for him to put together another fully-healthy year before giving him a market-resetting contract.

The negotiations will also be impacted by the extension eligibility of Sauce Gardner, who was drafted by the Jets one pick after Stingley in 2022. Gardner has been healthy throughout his career, but Stingley has more ball production on a per-game basis. If the Jets quickly come to terms with Gardner, that could acclerate Stingley’s negotiations with the Texans by creating a clear framework for his deal.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/20/25

January 20th, 2025 at 10:13pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Here are the latest reserve/futures deals from around the league:

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Rams

Pittsburgh Steelers

Updated 2025 NFL Draft Order

January 19th, 2025 at 10:00pm CST by Ely Allen

Two weekends of playoff football have come and gone, providing us with 10 more draft slots cemented into position as NFL teams continue to be eliminated from the playoffs. The top 18 picks were already divvied up at the conclusion of the regular season to the teams who failed to make the playoffs, while picks 19-28 have been determined over the past two weeks.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order has been determined by the inverted 2024 standings plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. The playoff squads are being slotted by their postseason outcome and the reverse order of their regular-season record.

The league’s Super Wild Card weekend resulted in the elimination of Chargers, Steelers, Broncos, Packers, Buccaneers, and Vikings after their respective losses. Tampa Bay benefitted from the three-way tie in record with Denver and Pittsburgh, just as the Chargers did over the Packers.

The divisional round of the playoffs resulted in the elimination of the Texans, Rams, Ravens, and Lions. This time, Houston held the tiebreaker over Los Angeles, gifting it higher draft priority.

We are still at a place that, for the first time since the league expanded to 32 teams in 2002, there is a chance that every team drafts in the first round, as no first-round picks have yet been traded. It’s extremely unlikely that this will remain the case, as draft-day trades are a very common occurrence, but it’s still an interesting concept to note this close to the draft.

Here is how the draft order looks following two weeks of playoff football:

  1. Tennessee Titans (3-14)
  2. Cleveland Browns (3-14)
  3. New York Giants (3-14)
  4. New England Patriots (4-13)
  5. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-13)
  6. Las Vegas Raiders (4-13)
  7. New York Jets (5-12)
  8. Carolina Panthers (5-12)
  9. New Orleans Saints (5-12)
  10. Chicago Bears (5-12)
  11. San Francisco (6-11)
  12. Dallas Cowboys (7-10)
  13. Miami Dolphins (8-9)
  14. Indianapolis Colts (8-9)
  15. Atlanta Falcons (8-9)
  16. Arizona Cardinals (8-9)
  17. Cincinnati Bengals (9-8)
  18. Seattle Seahawks (10-7)
  19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7)
  20. Denver Broncos (10-7)
  21. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7)
  22. Los Angeles Chargers (11-6)
  23. Green Bay Packers (11-6)
  24. Minnesota Vikings (14-3)
  25. Houston Texans (10-7)
  26. Los Angeles Rams (10-7)
  27. Baltimore Ravens (12-5)
  28. Detroit Lions (15-2)
  29. Washington Commanders (12-5)
  30. Buffalo Bills (13-4)
  31. Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
  32. Kansas City Chiefs (15-2)

2025 NFL Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Search Tracker

January 17th, 2025 at 10:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

Last year, half the league changed up at offensive and defensive coordinator. We are still a bit away from the floodgates opening on the OC and DC markets, due to many HC jobs remaining open, but here is an early look at the coordinator openings and the candidates in the mix to fill them. When other teams make changes, they will be added to the list.

Updated 1-24-25 (4:41pm CT)

Offensive coordinators

Chicago Bears (Out: Chris Beatty)

Cleveland Browns (Out: Ken Dorsey)

Detroit Lions (Out: Ben Johnson)

Houston Texans (Out: Bobby Slowik)

New England Patriots (Out: Alex Van Pelt)

New York Jets (Out: Nathaniel Hackett)

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks (Out: Ryan Grubb)

Defensive coordinators

Atlanta Falcons (Out: Jimmy Lake)

Chicago Bears (Out: Eric Washington)

Cincinnati Bengals (Out: Lou Anarumo)

Detroit Lions (Out: Aaron Glenn)

Indianapolis Colts (Out: Gus Bradley)

New England Patriots (Out: DeMarcus Covington)

  • Ryan Crow, outside linebackers coach (Dolphins): Interviewed 1/21
  • Terrell Williams, defensive line coach (Lions): Hired

New York Jets (Out: Jeff Ulbrich)

San Francisco 49ers (Out: Nick Sorensen)

2025 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker

January 15th, 2025 at 11:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

With the Cowboys and Mike McCarthy splitting up, seven teams have made coaching changes so far during this year’s cycle. Here are the candidates connected to each of the now-HC-needy franchises. If more teams make changes, they will be added to the list.

Updated 1-24-25 (4:15pm CT)

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Texans Waive WR Diontae Johnson

January 14th, 2025 at 11:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

Diontae Johnson‘s latest NFL gig has proven to be short-lived. The Texans waived the veteran wideout today, per a team announcement. In another roster move, tight end Cade Stover has been placed on injured reserve.

This continues an astoundingly eventful year for Johnson, who entered the 2024 offseason as one of the NFL’s top route runners and as a player who could have commanded considerable value in free agency — once he reached that point. A year later, a receiver who had been attached to a two-year, $36.7MM contract has torpedoed his value by wearing out his welcome everywhere he has gone. And he has now traveled to many NFL cities.

A fourth team has now given up on him in a 10-month span. Traded from the Steelers and Panthers, Johnson has now seen the Ravens and Texans waive him. Two teams — the Texans and Chargers — claimed Johnson once Baltimore moved on last month. Johnson, 28, now appears headed to free agency. It is difficult to overstate the damage the sixth-year wideout has done to his NFL stock.

Following the Texans’ wild-card rout over the Chargers, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson reports Johnson was visibly upset and needed to be calmed down by teammates. Issues with his usage, the theme of his Baltimore tenure, resurfaced in Houston.

Johnson played 16 offensive snaps for the Texans, who used the former Steelers target commander on 22 plays against the Titans. Johnson caught one pass for 12 yards against the Bolts; he snared two passes for 12 yards against the Titans in Week 18. This usage reminded of the role the Ravens gave the depressed asset, and Johnson has voiced considerable displeasure about this participation downturn.

It should be expected Johnson will generate internal discussions from teams who need receiver help for 2025, but anything beyond a one-year “prove it” deal seems unrealistic at this point. Johnson’s regular production with the Steelers aside, it will be difficult for teams to divorce that from his tumultuous 2024 season. Johnson still resembled his Pittsburgh version in Carolina, averaging 51 yards per game (30 catches, 357 yards); that is in line with some of his lower-octane Steelers seasons. But he has either wanted to leave teams (Steelers, Panthers) or seen them move on from him (Ravens, Texans). That will be a tough sell for personnel departments moving forward.

Johnson had wanted the Texans to trade for him at the deadline, but the Ravens did so instead. The former Steelers third-round find griped about his playing time in Baltimore and eventually refused to enter a Ravens-Eagles game, leading to a suspension. After that one-game ban, the Ravens did not activate him for their Week 16 game against the Giants. Days later, Baltimore waived the sunk cost. While Johnson was connected to the Chargers and Chiefs, the Texans swooped in with a claim. DeMeco Ryans had praised Johnson as recently as last week. Ditto Joe Mixon, via Wilson. None of it ultimately mattered, and the former 1,100-yard Ben Roethlisberger target will seek a fifth NFL home soon.

The Texans have not seen C.J. Stroud take a step forward after his breakthrough rookie season, but in the 2023 No. 2 overall pick’s defense, he lost his No. 2 and No. 3 receivers — Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell — for the season. Dell’s injury, a severe knee setback that required ambulance transportation from Arrowhead Stadium in Week 16, prompted the Johnson claim. The Texans, however, used Robert Woods, John Metchie and Xavier Hutchinson in front of Johnson in the wild-card round. That trio will again complement Nico Collins as the Texans aim to derail the Chiefs’ threepeat bid Saturday.

Adam La Rose contributed to this post.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/14/25

January 14th, 2025 at 7:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Texans check in with the day’s only minor move among playoff teams:

Houston Texans

Wayne will take the roster spot of Diontae Johnson, who saw a fourth team since March cut ties with him. The Texans waived Johnson three weeks after claiming him. A 2023 UDFA out of Pitt, Wayne played in three Texans games in December.

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