David Montgomery’s arrival closes door on Joe Mixon, Nick Chubb in Houston

The Texans love older running backs. The latest addition of a player closing in on 30 closes the door on their existing stable of seasoned tailbacks.

The Texans traded for Joe Mixon in 2024. Last year, Houston added Nick Chubb as a free agent. The official arrival of Lions running back David Montgomery next Wednesday via trade necessarily means that neither Mixon nor Chubb will return in 2026.

Chubb rushed for 506 yards in 15 games (nine starts) for the Texans in 2025. Mixon spent all of last season on the non-football injury list; the nature and extent of his foot injury was one of the biggest mysteries of the year.

Chubb is a free agent. Mixon undoubtedly will be released. Both will be available to any other team.

There’s simply no room for either of them on the Houston depth chart, given that Montgomery and Woody Marks will be leading the way at the running back position. The third-string running back almost always plays special teams, too. That’s something very few older running backs ever do.

Chubb is 30. Mixon turns 30 in July. Their only path back to Houston would entail neither signing elsewhere and an injury opening the door to a reunion.

They’ll pay Montgomery $6 million this year. He’s due to make $9 million in 2027. He’ll be the older option for at least one year if not two, while Marks (who had 703 rushing yards as a rookie) continues to develop.

The decision to agree to a trade for Montgomery, on the first business day after the end of the Scouting Combine, suggests that the Texans explored the potential free-agent running back options and opted for a sure thing at a relatively low cost, in comparison to what the best available running backs will get.

Of course, the Texans also had to give up multiple assets (headlined by a fourth-round pick) to make the deal. And they had no qualms about doing so for a guy with seven years of experience and who turns 29 in June.

But that’s their approach. One older running back, one younger one. Along with significant annual overhaul of the offensive line, which is a curious strategy to say the least.