What was the worst deal of the offseason for the Houston Texans?
According to ESPN, it was retaining a one-hit wonder in the trenches.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell recently revealed every team in the AFC’s best and worst moves of the offseason. This included the firing of coaches, the selection of prospects and overzealous contracts being handed out to players who rarely showed success prior to last season.
As for Houston, it falls in the final category when discussing the worst moves following a divisional round loss to the New England Patriots in January. Even though he excelled in Cole Popovich’s offensive line, Barnwell wasn’t sold on the idea of giving a massive payday to right guard Ed Ingram and would have rather seen Houston spend the money elsewhere.
“Among the various moves Caserio made up front a year ago, trading a sixth-round pick to the Vikings for Ingram might have been his biggest success,” Barnwell wrote. “Ingram had been a liability in Minnesota and was benched midway through the 2024 season, but he was able to start 14 games for the Texans in 2025. Ingram improved as a run blocker from what we saw in Minnesota — but he was still a serious liability in pass protection, where the former second-round pick struggled with his base and was too easy to shed at the line of scrimmage.”
One of the key reasons for the “considered overpay” of Ingram wasn’t just the one season of success, but rather the limitations in pass protection under a new offensive line coach. That was the factor as to why Minnesota benched him after one season.
Another factor in the pick for Barnwell was the names open on the market, including Los Angeles Chargers’ Zion Johnson and Las Vegas Raiders’ Dylan Parham.
“There’s a price for which bringing Ingram back would have made sense. But on this deal, Ingram is earning $15 million in 2026 and getting $5 million of the $9.25 million he’s owed in 2027 guaranteed at signing,” Barnwell wrote. “I’m aware that I’ve now been critical of three contracts for young guards between Ingram, Zion Johnson and Dylan Parham, and those organizations could just say that the market was bearing a meaningful price for young guards since there just weren’t many available. I’m just not sure any of these players will live up to their contracts, and would rather have tried to find an undervalued player on a rookie deal than pay a premium for guys who haven’t been starting-caliber linemen very long or at all.”
Ingram will have a chance to prove his value was more than a one-year wonder when camp breaks on Wednesday afternoon at NRG Stadium. A top 10 run-blocker, the former LSU star should be critical in the development of a renewed run game under second-year offensive coordinator Nick Caley.
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: ESPN names former breakout starter as Texans’ worst move of offseason
Reporting by Cole Thompson, Texans Wire / Texans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
