The Houston Texans and running back Joe Mixon are parting ways.
Houston released Mixon on March 6, one day after the running back requested his release, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The veteran running back is immediately free to sign with another team.
The Texans will save $8 million against the 2026 salary cap as a result of the transaction, Schefter reported.
Mixon, 29, missed the entirety of the 2025 season while dealing with what Texans general manager Nick Caserio in January called a ‘freak’ foot injury, which the running back suffered last offseason. Neither Mixon nor the Texans have specified the exact nature of the injury.
Caserio said in January that the ailment was less a result of reckless action by the running back – ‘He didn’t jump off a building. He wasn’t cliff diving or anything.’ – and more a ‘medical situation that … really didn’t improve maybe as much as everybody would have hoped.’
Mixon initially landed in Houston via a trade in 2024. The Cincinnati Bengals sent the running back to the Texans for a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and Mixon signed a three-year, $27 million extension with Houston shortly after the trade.
In 2024, his first year with the Texans, Mixon earned the second Pro Bowl nod of his career. He led Houston’s rushers with 1,016 yards and 11 touchdowns on 245 carries, and he led Texans running backs with 36 catches for 309 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.
Mixon was due to play out the final year of his contract extension in 2026, but he’ll hit free agency for the first time in his career instead.
The Texans traded for Lions running back David Montgomery on March 2. He’ll join second-year RB Woody Marks in the Texans’ backfield, while veterans Nick Chubb and Dare Ogunbowale are set to join Mixon in free agency when the new league year begins March 11.
In his latest NFL mock draft, USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis had Houston selecting Clemson offensive tackle Blake Miller with the No. 28 overall pick.