Joe Mixon’s Exit From Texans Seems Inevitable

While mystery has always surrounded the injury status of Houston Texans veteran running back Joe Mixon, we definitely won't need to speculate much to work out what happens moving forward.

As diplomatic as the Texans front office and coaching staff have been about Mixon's often murky future in H-Town, the soon-to-be 30-year-old is fated to be moving on. How NFL teams always strive to get progressively younger and cheaper certainly applies to the former Cincinnati Bengals star, especially when you throw in the entire year Mixon lost to a debilitating foot injury.

NFL.com agrees wholeheartedly that DeMeco Ryans and Co. will not be including the very productive Mixon in their future plans.

"The 2025 season was an extremely strange one for Mixon and the Texans, with a mysterious, non-football foot injury ultimately keeping the 29-year-old running back (who turns 30 in July) off the field all year," NFL.com's Matt Okada wrote.

"It was an unfortunate development considering Mixon’s recent dominance—only Derrick Henry had more yards and touchdowns than Mixon from 2021 through 2024—and Houston’s need for a functional run game...Cutting (or trading) Mixon in free agency would net $8 million in cap savings for a team currently in the red and perhaps allow it to invest in a largely lackluster offensive line instead."

Joe Mixon Trending Towards Exit From Texans

Cutting Mixon loose certainly won't come as any big surprise to Texans fans, even after you digest the statistical comparisons to Derrick Henry.

Of course, Woody Marks will embark on his sophomore season with 703 yards rushing already in the bag, but the 3.6 yards per carry average lacks the real pop required to really scare NFL defenses.

It stands to reason that Marks will be in a nice spot to make more strides in 2026, but the general consensus might emerge during the offseason that the Texans' top brass see him as more of a committee piece.