Texans Praise Ed Ingram’s Breakout Season, Eyeing New Deal

INDIANAPOLIS, IN–– After putting together his best season since entering the NFL in 2025, right guard Ed Ingram might just be the Houston Texans' most important free agent to bring back onto next year's roster as he hits the open market later next month.

After being dealt to the Texans from the Minnesota Vikings to fill in for one season on Houston's starting offensive line, he jumped off the page as an extremely valuable addition to the mix for their five-man front, grading as a top-20 graded offensive guard via Pro Football Focus (71.5), top-10 in pass-block rating, and at only 27 years old, could be a key fixture upfront for years to come.

Now, though, he hits the free agent market later next month, and while there's a bit of uncertainty whether Houston will have the means to bring him back into the mix, Texans general manager Nick Caserio was clearly glad to have him in the mix, and notes that he and Ingram's camp are working through that negotiation process now.

"Ed [Ingram] had a great year. Honestly, he probably had the best year of his career," Caserio said during his combine media availability. "For the most part, he was out there. He missed a couple games there with injuries. But he's a good kid. He's strong. He's physical. He plays violent in the running game. You saw that on tape quite a bit. Pretty good in pass protection."

"We're working through that [negotiation] process right now. We'll have discussion with him and his representatives. We'll see how far he goes. But I'm glad he was here. He's a player that we feel benefited from our program. Honestly, sometimes a change in scenery is good. It probably worked out for him and worked out for us as well. I'm glad Ed was on the team here this year."

Texans Working Through Negotiation Process With Ed Ingram

Ideally, the Texans would love to have Ingram signed on for the foreseeable future, but there's a chance that the free agent guard not only gains a good bit of interest on the open market following a career year, but also could get a hefty contract offer to come his way outside of Houston in the process.

Considering the Texans are balancing their own cap situation— currently $5 million over the salary cap before the new league year— they'll need to free up the necessary space to offer Ingram a worthy deal to return, while also factoring in future deals to come for guys like C.J. Stroud, Will Anderson, and other major defensive pieces.

That means Houston won't be able to back up the Brinks truck, but they still have ample flexibility with a few cap maneuvers to work out a multi-year deal.