The Houston Texans' offense will certainly look considerably different next September, as they parted ways with some key pieces and are injecting some new young talent on that side of the ball.
But perhaps the Texans aren't done making changes?
Houston's receiving corps is an area in which Houston may look to make another move. It acquired Christian Kirk via trade during the early stages of the offseason, signed Justin Watson in free agency and then selected both Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel in the NFL Draft.
Yes, the Texans did lose Stefon Diggs, and Tank Dell is set to miss all of 2025 while recovering from a knee injury, but Houston's receiver room—which is led by Nico Collins—is still becoming a bit crowded, and Bleacher Report's Matt Holder feels that could lead to a trade of John Metchie III.
"That’s a lot of mouths to feed and could make the Alabama product expendable over the coming months," Holder wrote. "Metchie is entering a contract year and likely won’t be brought back with the organization’s investments in the former Cyclones. But he was a top 50 draft pick who has plenty of talent to be more production with a bigger opportunity elsewhere. Also, the 24-year-old was reportedly receiving trade interest heading into last season."
The Texans had high hopes for Metchie when they drafted him back in 2022, but he was forced to miss his rookie campaign after being diagnosed with leukemia.
He miraculously made his way back to the field the following season, but over his last two campaigns, Metchie has totaled just 40 catches for 412 yards and a touchdown.
The Taiwan native was certainly impressive at Alabama, having hauled in 96 receptions for 1,142 yards and eight scores with the Crimson Tide in 2021, so perhaps he still holds some value to receiver-needy clubs.
Texans Make Intriguing Contract Move on Ka'imi Fairbairn
The Houston Texans made some changes around the edges of kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn's contract.
According to multiple reports, the Texans have restructured Fairbairn's contract in order to save $2.7 million on the books for next season.
Per KPRC2 insider Aaron Wilson, in Houston's restructuring, they converted his original $4.73 million base salary for 2025 into a $3.475M signing bonus, lowered his base salary to $1.25M, and added void years 2027-2029 for proration purposes.
As a result, Fairbairn's new cap figure comes in a $3.953M compared to his previous mark of $6. effectively saving a couple million dollars on the Texans' finances.
Fairbairn is an eight-year veteran as Houston's kicker, appearing in 123 total games where he's connected on 211 of his 243 field goal kicks (86.8%), while he's gone 240 for 259 on his extra point tries (92.7%).
This past season, Fairbain had a bit of a drop-off from his showing in 2024, dropping from a previous 96.4% field goal percentage to 85.7% as a part of his six misses from 42 total attempts, half of those coming from 50-plus.
Now with his restructured deal in place, Fairbairn is officially stamped in the fold for at least this season for his ninth in Houston, and will look for a step forward from the ups and downs he traversed across the 2025 campaign.
