The Houston Texans have restructured quarterback Davis Mills' contract to create $2.707 million in salary-cap space, according to Aaron Wilson. Houston converted $3.721 million of his salary into a signing bonus, lowering his 2026 cap hit from $8.134 million to $5.427 million. The agreement also adds void years from 2027 through 2030 for accounting purposes, but Mills is still scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after this season. His new base salary of $1.2 million is fully guaranteed. The 27-year-old remains C.J. Stroud's backup and hasn't attempted a pass through Houston's first four games. Mills made three starts last season while appearing in six contests overall, finishing with 915 passing yards, five touchdowns and one interception. The restructure doesn't change his role or immediate fantasy outlook
The Texans added a quarterback to the active roster on Wednesday. Mark Gronowski was signed off of the team’s practice squad. They had an open roster spot, so there was no other move needed to get him on the roster. Gronowski signed to the team’s practice squad in September, but was waived later in the month. He initially signed with the Dolphins after going undrafted out of Iowa earlier this year. Gronowski began his college career at South Dakota State and led them to a pair of FCS national titles. He was also given the Walter Payton Award as the FCS player of the year in 2023. C.J. Stroud and Davis Mills are the other quarterbacks on the roster in Houston
Sunday started with five 0-3 teams in the NFL. It will end with five 0-4 teams in the NFL. Each of the winless teams lost again on Sunday — the Dolphins, the Titans, the Texans, the Chargers, and the Buccaneers. Only one team has ever recovered from 0-4 to make the playoffs. The Charges did it in 1992. The good news is that one of the 0-4 teams is destined to not fall to 0-5. The Titans host the Texans next weekend, in the Something’s Gotta Give Bowl. It’s a deep hole, for all five winless teams. It helps to have a 17th game and seven playoff spots per conference. For the Chargers and Texans, it’s a stunning slide. Both made the playoffs last year, and both were expected to do it again. They still could. Getting that first win would be nice
The Buffalo Bills are no stranger to the Lone Star State. For the third consecutive year, the Bills hit the road to square off against the Houston Texans , but history is not on their side in this Week 1 clash between reigning postseason teams. Each of their last four trips to Houston ended in defeat. Can the Texans keep their home dominance against the Bills rolling? There is plenty of reason to believe that DeMeco Ryans ' crew can open their 2026 campaign with yet another win over the perennial AFC title contenders. Their overwhelming defense has been a problem for Buffalo ever since Ryans took the job, and a few personnel changes on offense suggest the offense can keep pace with the unit on the other side of the ball. The side that comes away victorious from this marquee opener will start the year with one of the NFL's most impressive early-season wins. To defeat a fellow Super Bowl hopeful right out of the gate is exactly how these teams can assert themselves as top-flight candidates to run the conference. Not only did the Texans extend their reign of dominance over the Bills the last time these teams met in Houston, but they also did so with a backup quarterback at the helm. If Stroud can be at least as effective as Davis Mills was in the 23-19 victory last November, then the blueprint exists for this to turn into a season-opening win. Buffalo surrendered eight sacks and three turnovers in that contest, and nearly the exact same offense rolls into town in 2026. New wide receiver DJ Moore cannot right that many wrongs. Pick: Texans 24, Bills 20
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud did play. He didn’t play long. In his first game action since his meltdown in the postseason in New England, Stroud played 10 plays in the first possession and led the Texans to a touchdown. He took a seat after Woody Marks’ 20-yard touchdown run. Stroud went 4-for-6 for 27 yards, and Marks had four carries for 37 yards and one catch for 6 yards. The Texans took a 17-0 lead in the first quarter. Rookie linebacker Wade Woodaz returned an interception of Fernando Mendoza 80 yards for a touchdown, and Ka’imi Fairbairn added a 51-yard field goal on an eight-play, 33-yard drive directed by backup quarterback Davis Mills. Stroud had seven turnovers in two playoff games, including four interceptions against the Patriots in the divisional round
Texans quarterback Graham Mertz is believed to have suffered a season-ending torn ACL during Thursday night's game. He was 4-of-7 for 23 yards before exiting. Davis Mills started the game and returned after Mertz's injury. The team may need to add a third quarterback if the diagnosis is confirmed
Backup quarterback Davis Mills was expected to play only one series in Thursday night’s preseason opener for the Texans. Indeed, he left after throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jared Wayne, capping an 11-play, 75-yard drive on the Texans’ first drive. Third-stringer Graham Mertz replaced Mills when the Texans got the ball back with 52 seconds left in the first quarter. The plan was for Mertz to finish the game, but on the final play from scrimmage in the first half, Mertz left with an injury. He grabbed his knee after a 9-yard scramble. Mills returned to the game to start the second half and likely will have to finish the game as the Texans do not have a fourth quarterback. The Texans recently worked out quarterbacks Seth Henigan and Jake Haener. The Chargers lead 13-7
A quality NFL backup quarterback doesn't exactly garner the headlines of an All-Pro-caliber starter. It shouldn't. That said, the value cannot be overlooked. If a franchise's starter goes down for a game, or two, or six, the season could go in the toilet in an instant if they don't have someone who can come in and keep things afloat momentarily. So, while the last thing anyone wants to think about is the established starter missing time, it's good to have a quality insurance plan. Take last season, for example. A number of backup quarterbacks rose to the occasion, and their successes drove the playoff picture. A key reason why the Houston Texans overcame C.J. Stroud's absence after a concussion in Week 9 was due to backup Davis Mills thriving when his number was called. Mills went 3-0 over his stretch as the starter, which helped Houston mount a playoff berth. In the NFC, Mac Jones led the San Francisco 49ers to a 5-3 record as the starter while Brock Purdy was sidelined, and that helped them stay in the hunt for the No. 1 seed in the conference until Week 18. Of course, maybe the greatest recent example of having a top backup is Nick Foles in 2017, as he stepped in for an injured Carson Wentz and led the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl LII title. With all that in mind, we're going to look at a slew of contenders and size up what their backup quarterback situation looks like and rank them. To draw a line in the sand for what "contender" actually means, we're looking at clubs that have odds to win Super Bowl LXI of +2500 or shorter at DraftKings Sportsbook, which gives us 16 teams in total. Starter : Josh Allen Backups : Kyle Allen , Shane Buechele Kyle Allen inked a two-year, $4.1 million deal to be the primary backup to Josh Allen, while 2021 undrafted free agent Shane Buechele is the third-stringer. Allen, who has been in the NFL since 2018, has starting experience (19 total starts), but hasn't started a game since Week 13 of the 2022 season while a member of the Houston Texans. In that game, he completed just 51.3% of his passes, tossed two interceptions, and recorded two fumbles (one lost). For his career, the 30-year-old is 7-12 as a starter, while completing 62.5% of his passes with an 82.1 passer rating. While maybe no quarterback can compare to Josh Allen, it would be a Grand Canyon-sized difference in the event they need to hand the keys over to Kyle Allen. Starter : Jared Goff Backups : Teddy Bridgewater , Luke Altmyer (UDFA) Not that long ago, Teddy Bridgewater was coaching high school football. After resigning from his post at Miami Northwestern Senior High School in August of last year, he signed on to be a backup for the Buccaneers and did see some action in Week 12 last season against the Rams . There, Bridgewater completed 53.3% of his throws for just 62 yards. The last time he started a game came back in Week 17 of the 2022 season as a member of the Dolphins . Now, Bridgewater is back in Detroit (where he served as a backup from 2023 to 2024) with the Lions and will likely serve as the top option behind Jared Goff, with undrafted rookie Luke Altmyer also in the fold. While Bridgewater has 65 regular-season starts under his belt and is above .500 (33-32) over that run, it's fair to wonder how much he truly has in the tank as he'll turn 34 during the 2026 season. Starter : Justin Herbert Backups : Trey Lance , DJ Uiagalelei Justin Herbert has been remarkably durable over the course of his career, considering the volume of hits he takes. Since entering the NFL in 2020, Herbert has taken the most hits (615) and the most sacks (225) in the league. That includes 129 quarterback hits last season, which was tied for the second-most in the last 20 years. While L.A. has invested in the offensive line and was simply dealt a bad hand with injuries to Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt last season, you'd think they'd pursue a better backup than they currently have in Trey Lance. Lance does have the pedigree of being a
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Mills is expected to reprise his role as the Texans' backup quarterback behind C.J. Stroud and ahead of Graham Mertz for the 2026 season, Jared Koch of SI.com reports. Mills has served as the Texans' QB2 for each of the past two seasons, but he started in three games during the 2025 season while Stroud was sidelined due to a concussion. Mills led the Texans to wins in all three of his starts, completing 59.5 percent of his passes for 719 yards, five touchdowns and one interception while turning seven carries into 38 yards and a score in that span. Stroud hasn't had the same kind of production over the past two years as he did in his rookie campaign in 2023, and he committed seven turnovers across Houston's two playoff games. If Stroud has a slow start to the 2026 season, then that could be enough for head coach DeMeco Ryans to turn the keys to the offense over the Mills
