Denico Autry

Career StatsB

Year	Team	GP	Sacks	Tkl	TFL
Career		164	65.5	331	43.5
2025		12	3.5	8	0
2024		10	3.0	13	1
2023		17

Current Contract

Contract Value Index (CVI)

Denico Autry's Contract Value Index lands at A-, putting the deal in a defined slice of comparable signings. At $0.795 million annually, this is a textbook bargain contract for a 35-year-old established veteran entering what media consensus views as a final-chapter or walk-away situation. The Texans are paying basement-level salary for a depth pass rusher whose 2025 season yielded 8 tackles and 3.5 sacks across 12 games—modest production that, at minimum-salary rates, represents genuine value math: the team gets a 12-season, 65.5-sack career contributor for the cost of roster filler. The downside is obvious and baked into the grade: at this age and price point, durability concerns and mid-season absences limit the ceiling on output, and the team's recent defensive line signings signal they are building forward without Autry as a building block. However, the microscopic cap hit and the absence of long-term commitment insulate the organization from downside—if Autry produces even modest depth snaps, the Texans extract value; if he falls off the edge entirely, the salary-cap damage is negligible. The A- CVI reflects a perfectly calibrated low-risk, low-cost veteran deal: not a steal of historic proportions, but a fair-to-slight bargain arrangement for a club treating this as a short-term depth rotation rather than a cornerstone investment.

Contracts in the Same Value Band

Other same-position deals the Contract Value Index also places in the A band — a quick read on where Denico's contract sits relative to comparable money.

Performance Analysis

Denico Autry produces at a tier that grades a B performance mark for Houston. The 35-year-old veteran defensive end compiled 8 tackles and 3.5 sacks across 12 games in the 2025 season, a respectable floor for rotational depth but well below the impact-level production expected to extend his roster relevance in a youth-oriented cap environment. His sack total represents the statistical bright spot in an otherwise subdued campaign — a reminder of his 65.5-sack career foundation — but the tackle count underscores limited penetration and snap distribution in Houston's defensive scheme. Durability remains a persistent concern; despite appearing in all 12 games, multiple injury-related absences, including a mid-season PUP list stint, interrupted his availability and consistency at a position where veteran edge rushers typically command premium opportunities only when fully healthy. At 12 seasons into his career and at veteran-minimum salary ($0.8M), Autry enters the 2026 offseason as a borderline roster casualty — the Texans' recent additions of K.C. Ossai and continued investment in their defensive infrastructure signal an organization moving decidedly away from preserving aging depth on the edge. Unless he generates interest elsewhere as a low-cost developmental depth piece, the prevailing narrative frames him as a 12-year contributor whose best football is definitively behind him.

How Denico Compares at the Position

Denico Autry ranks 30th of 147 graded defensive ends by performance. That slots Denico between Dante Fowler Jr. (B) just ahead and Grady Jarrett (B) just behind.

Current Sentiment

Denico Autry's public perception scores a F sentiment grade as fan and media tone converge. The 35-year-old pass rusher has become defined by exit-framing coverage, with widespread reporting that the Houston Texans are expected to move on entirely — a stark contrast to the respect a 12-season, 65.5-sack career might otherwise command. His 2025 production of 8 tackles and 3.5 sacks across 12 games reads as respectable depth output on paper, yet the narrative dismisses it as insufficient given durability concerns stemming from mid-season absences and injury-related limitations. The Texans' recent offensive line investments (Derrick Graham, K.C. Ossai signings) and roster churn underscore that management is building forward without Autry as a cornerstone piece, which only reinforces the media consensus that he has been quietly phased out at a bargain-basement $0.8 million salary. Even a blocked field goal coverage angle added to the negative frame, cementing a broader perception that at 35 on a veteran-minimum deal, Autry's market value has eroded to near-irrelevance — respected career contributor or not, no one appears to be actively squinting to envision his 2026 role.