Texans save $6.4M in salary cap space with Shaq Mason contract restructure

The Houston Texans have a little more salary cap space after restructuring offensive lineman Shaq Mason’s contract.

While news of the decision to rework Mason’s deal came days into the free agency, the numbers weren’t clear yet. Now, it’s being reported that the Texans will have $6.4 million more in salary cap space this season after the team converted Mason’s base salary into a signing bonus, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.

The Texans restructured the contract of G Shaq Mason by converting base salary into a signing bonus, creating $6.4M in 2024 cap space.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 26, 2024

This puts Houston’s salary cap estimate at around $21 million as of this writing, per TexansCap. It’s still unclear what Derek Barnett and Myles Bryant’s contracts are and how they will affect the cap.

The Mason restructure gives Houston a lot more financial flexibility this offseason. What could general manager Nick Caserio do with that extra money? That remains to be seen. The Texans almost traded for wide receiver Keenan Allen and were interested in defensive lineman Arik Armstead before he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Another big trade for a veteran could be on the table or the acquisition of key player in free agency. There a few big safeties on the open market like Justin Simmons and Quandre Diggs, as well as wideouts like Hunter Renfrow and and Odell Beckham Jr.

Houston could also do nothing right now and maintain their financial flexibility heading into the regular season when perhaps other players become available either on the trade block or via the waiver wire.