NFL Trade Rumors
In a somewhat surprising move, the Texans chose to part ways with starting guard Shaq Mason earlier this offseason. Houston’s offensive line struggled mightily last year, and the team wanted to reset with younger options after releasing Mason and trading LT Laremy Tunsil, their two best players on the line.
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Mason might not be the stalwart he once was during the height of his career in New England and Tampa Bay, but he’s still playing at the level of a quality starting guard. His 61.1 PFF grade ranked 47th among qualifying guards last year. Go back a year to 2023, his first in Houston, and he had a 68.3 grade.
At this point in the offseason, few starting jobs are up for grabs. Mason may choose to wait until injuries start to hit in training camp to see if a team might be more desperate. Otherwise, he’ll likely have to sign on for a depth role, one without a guaranteed starting spot.
Mason, 31, is a former fourth-round pick of the Patriots back in 2015. He was in the final year of his four-year, $2,723,524 contract when he agreed to a five-year extension worth up to $50 million with the team.
Mason’s contract with New England included $23.5 million guaranteed and close to $30 million paid out over the first three years of the contract. New England traded Mason to the Buccaneers for a fifth-round pick in 2022.
He was due to make base salaries of $6.5 million and $7.5 million over the final two years of his deal, but the Buccaneers wound up restructuring his deal back in September of 2022 to create $6 million in cap space. He was traded to the Texans after just one season in a late-round pick swap.
Houston signed Mason to a three-year, $36 million extension. However, he was released this past offseason.
In 2024, Mason appeared in and started in 15 games for the Texans at guard. Pro Football Focus had him graded as the No. 47 guard out of 77 qualifying players.
We have him included in our Top 100 Available NFL Free Agents list.
The Bengals have a lot of players in the mix for their starting guards spots, but few defined roles. Currently, four players are competing: Cordell Volson, Lucas Patrick, Cody Ford, and third-round rookie Dylan Fairchild. Volson started most of last season with mixed results, while Ford performed decently well in what was essentially a fill-in role. Cincinnati has been looking to upgrade from Volson for some time. Patrick has bounced around the league over the last couple of years, mostly in a backup capacity.
Fairchild is the most intriguing name on that list, but inserting him into the starting lineup right away might be asking too much of him. He played well at Georgia in college, with an athletic build and supreme movement skills that give him tantalizing upside in the league. Still, he has some technical aspects of...
