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Head coach Demeco Ryans of the Houston Texans looks on during the second quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium.
The Houston Texans have several important decisions to make this offseason, but chief among them may be on their offensive line.
Guard Ed Ingram, whom Houston traded a 2026 sixth-round pick for last March, is set to become an unrestricted free agent after playing out his rookie contract.
The former Minnesota Viking had an incredible first year with the Texans, stabilizing an interior offensive line that was questionable at best before his arrival.
With Houston’s aging offensive line, retaining Ingram is a necessity, and his impact can be ignored considering how few times quarterback C.J. Stroud was sacked this season compared to his first two seasons in the NFL.
Ed Ingram’s Importance to the Texans
ESPN’s Houston Texans reporter, DJ Bien-Aime, stressed the importance of bringing back Ingram this offseason.
“The Texans’ trade in the 2025 offseason for the former 2022 second-round pick was met with skepticism, citing his benching during his final season with the Vikings. But he blossomed in Houston, allowing the 12th lowest pressure rate (6.4) among guards with at least 400 pass block snaps,” wrote Bien-Aime.
“He played a vital offensive line role for a group that allowed quarterback C.J. Stroud to be sacked only 23 times, a steep drop from the 2024 season in which he was sacked 52 times.”
As one of the league’s top young interior offensive linemen, Ingram could command a decent-sized contract that they may not have the cap space for.
Houston currently sits at roughly $14 million under the salary cap, according to Over the Cap. If they hope to re-sign Ingram, general manager Nick Caserio is going to have to get creative to free up the money to bring their offensive lineman back.
Caserio doesn’t seem worried about the prospect of losing Ingram, though, and expects productive contract conversations this offseason via NFL insider Aaron Wilson.
“‘I think Cole (Popovich) did a phenomenal job,’ #Texans GM Nick Caserio on offensive line, coach ‘That group definitely improved,’” wrote Wilson on X.
“Added that pass protection improved markedly. Noted that Ed Ingram, a free agent played very well and expects talks.”
With how well both the offensive line and Ingram performed in 2025, it makes sense why the Texans would want to maintain that continuity moving forward.
What Would an Ed Ingram Contract Look Like?
The guard market has become fairly expensive in recent years, and that doesn’t bode well for the cap space-strapped Houston Texans.
But thanks to Ingram’s shaky start with the Minnesota Vikings and one good season in Houston, he doesn’t figure to receive top-of-the-line money on his next deal.
Spotrac projects a three-year, $39 million deal for Ingram, paying him an average salary of around $13 million per year.
That would make him the 13th-highest-paid guard in the NFL, in between the Chicago Bears‘ Jonah Jackson and the Denver Broncos’ Ben Powers.
Certainly a palatable deal if Houston can get it done.
The Texans have several key contributors set to hit free agency, such as wide receiver Christian Kirk and defensive linemen Sheldon Rankins and Derek Barnett.
But if they want Stroud staying upright in 2026 and beyond, Ingram should be the priority.
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