By cutting their veteran depth, Houston signals total confidence in their long-tenured backup to anchor the offense if C.J. Stroud sidelined, betting big on Mills’ proven reliability.
Davis Mills has cost the Houston Texans the No. 1 pick, saved a few Sundays and spent five years becoming exactly the quarterback they hope they never need.
Now Houston is trusting him enough to stop carrying insurance behind the insurance.
The Texans released Brett Rypien on Saturday, leaving C.J. Stroud and Mills as the only healthy quarterbacks on the roster as Houston works toward its initial 53-man group. Rypien could still return on the practice squad, and Houston could always add another quarterback somewhere else, but for now, the Texans appear comfortable carrying two.
It isn't particularly difficult to figure out why.
Mills has spent most of the Stroud era tucked away in one of the NFL's least glamorous jobs. The whole point of his job is that Houston would prefer never to need him.
But when those circumstances arrived last season, Mills did exactly what Houston needed. He started three games during Stroud's concussion absence, and the Texans won all three, finishing the season with 915 passing yards, five touchdowns and just one interception across six appearances.
That stretch probably matters more than anything he did before Stroud arrived, but it isn't the only reason Houston trusts him.
There was the rookie performance against New England in 2021, when Mills completed 21 of 29 passes for 312 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. His 141.7 passer rating was one of those occasional reminders that even during some pretty miserable Texans seasons, Mills could produce genuinely impressive football.
Then there was Indianapolis.
With Houston positioned to secure the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Mills threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns in the season finale. Facing fourth-and-20 in the final minutes, he found Jordan Akins for a 28-yard touchdown before connecting with him again on the game-winning two-point conversion.
Houston won 32-31, Chicago wound up with the No. 1 pick … and the Texans still landed Stroud at No. 2.
Maybe everything worked out.
More importantly for Houston now, Mills isn't that developmental quarterback anymore. He has spent five seasons in the NFL, throwing for 7,082 yards and 40 touchdowns while going from Houston's starter to Stroud's backup and, eventually, back into the lineup when Houston needed him.
The Texans have also put their money behind that confidence.
Houston gave Mills a one-year, $7 million fully guaranteed extension last September that keeps him under contract through 2026. During that same training camp, DeMeco Ryans said Mills had put together the best camp he'd seen from him and stressed how valuable it is to have someone behind the starter capable of keeping a season moving.
A few months later, Houston actually needed him to do it.
Mills went 3-0.
None of this makes carrying only two quarterbacks risk-free. Rypien could still wind up on the practice squad, and Houston has time to add another option before Week 1.
But releasing him says plenty about how secure the top of the quarterback depth chart has become.
Stroud is the quarterback Houston wants on the field. Mills has spent five years giving the Texans reasons to believe they can survive when he isn't.
For a backup quarterback, that's about as good as the job description gets.
