Stewart, 30, earned starting time as a safety for the Houston Texans in 2025 after C.J. Gardner-Johnson was released. Stewart started 4 games, appeared in 9 games total, and played heavily from week 4 onward until he tore his quadriceps tendon in week 10 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. This extension is evidence that Stewart must be recovering well from the injury. Before his injury, Stewart tallied:
In his run as a starter, M.J. Stewart was decent, yet unspectacular and occasionally prone to being caught in bad positions in coverage. Despite that, Stewart is plenty fast enough to keep up with the rest of the Texans’ defense, and a reliable tackler. He’s been with the Texans since 2022, now signing his fourth contract with Houston as primarily a reserve DB and special teams player. He’s appeared in a total of 49 games for the Texans in that span (5 starts), finding the most success as a run-defending safety that plays a handful of snaps each game. Re-signing him may not seem like the most thrilling decision on paper, but Stewart’s veteran presence on the defense is clearly something Nick Caserio and the Texans value enough to keep him around for another year.
What do you think, though? Are the Texans right to bring back M.J. Stewart, or should they have looked for depth at DB elsewhere? Personally, I’m happy to see some veteran presence return to the safety spot - where injuries at that position in particular nearly tore Houston’s vaunted defense apart down the stretch. I was happy overall with the interim performances of CB/S Myles Bryant, S Jalen Mills, and S K’Von Wallace, but I think Stewart will provide the most security at the position of all options. Either way, I still believe it’s a position they could target in the draft this April. Let us know how’d you like the Texans to tackle the safety spot this offseason in the comments below!