The Houston Texans gave out a $6 million contract in March that won't even make it to Week 1.
That certainly could've aged better.
On Tuesday, the Texans chose to release linebacker Nick Niemann, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo.
Niemann's free agent contract had been for two years and $6 million, with $3 million guaranteed this season and $1 million in full guarantees for next season.
Garafolo writes that the Texans "will foot the bill on the $1.5 million signing bonus. Most of the rest of the guarantees will come off their books, provided Niemann is with another team this year and next. Depth at LB made it a tough call for Houston."
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Niemann is a special teams star, but the Texans apparently didn't feel they had the luxury to keep a specialist like that on the roster.
He spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Los Angeles Chargers, who drafted him in the sixth round in 2021 out of Iowa.
Niemann had 86 tackles across his four seasons with the Chargers.
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In 2024, he played on 80.3% of the Chargers' special teams snaps.
They only used him for 5.1% of the defensive snaps, though.
Houston liked what they saw enough to bring him aboard.
But in the roster crunch of the NFL's cutdown day, Niemann didn't quite make the cut.
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