With the preseason in the past, the Houston Texans look toward a bright future in 2024 as they intend to build off their AFC South division title.
There is one final hard decision to make before Week 1 officially arrives: roster cuts.
The Texans must trim their roster to 53 players by Tuesday at 3 p.m. CT. Unlike in previous years, there is just one cutdown date that comes once the preseason has ceased.
Following Sunday night’s finale, all 32 teams must narrow this roster from 90 to 53 players. After that, waiver claims begin for those who didn’t make the initial 53-man roster.
Teams will have until 11 a.m. CT to claim players placed on waivers during final cuts. Those will be announced shortly after the deadline, thus leading to another set of potential cuts to make room for the newcomers.
Houston is 23rd in waiver priority after finishing the 2024 season after securing a playoff win over the Cleveland Browns in the wild-card round. This likely means general manager Nick Caserio might not have a great chance to land some top targets, but he still could land a handful of players with upside.
Once players have cleared waivers, teams can begin assembling their 16-player practice squad starting at 11 a.m. CT on Wednesday.
Offensive tackle Killan Zierer will automatically make the practice squad and is the presumed 17th player given that he’s part of the NFL’s new International Player Pathway (IPP) rule, which was implemented this offseason to keep an extra player on the roster without it affecting one of the 16 spots.