Youth is served as Shorts among roster cuts to 53-man limit
DeAndre Hopkins celebrated his 24th birthday in June, a life milestone that now makes him the secondoldest wide receiver on the Texans’ roster by one day.
The Pro Bowl wide receiver headlines the youth movement instituted at the position by the defending AFC South champions.
One day younger than reserve wide receiver Keith Mumphery, Hopkins is now the elder statesman in the locker room at his precocious position group by virtue of his experience and accomplishments.
As the Texans got down to the NFL roster limit of 53 players Saturday, they cut ties with veteran wide receiver Cecil Shorts. Despite the popular 28-year-old reducing his base salary from $2.75 million to $1.2 million and having a $2.45 million salary cap figure, Shorts became expendable with the emergence of the younger receivers.
The Texans kept five wide receivers, including Hopkins, rookie draft picks Will Fuller and Braxton Miller, and second-year receivers Jaelen Strong and Mumphery.
Shorts caught 42 passes for 484 yards and two touchdowns last season while dealing with hamstring issues and a dislocated shoulder that limited him to 11 games and four starts.
Wide receiver wasn’t the only position where the Texans went young.
They kept three undrafted rookies on the roster: de- fensive end Joel Heath, tight end Stephen Anderson and outside linebacker Brennan Scarlett.
Besides cutting Shorts, the Texans’ most noteworthy roster move Saturday was releasing speedy reserve running back Akeem Hunt.
Hunt made it interesting as he scored two touchdowns against the Cowboys, flashing his moves and 4.37 speed in the 40yard dash. However, he was part of a crowded backfield that includes starter Lamar Miller, backup Alfred Blue, third-down back Jonathan Grimes and primary return specialist Tyler Ervin.
The Texans officially cut Hunt on Saturday as well as former LSU running back Kenny Hilliard, who was informed of his pending release Friday, one day after he rushed for 89 yards on 11 carries and lost a fumble against the Cowboys.
Besides Shorts, Hunt and Hilliard being released, the Texans cut offensive tackle Jeff Adams, guard Karim Barton, wide receiver Quenton Bundrage, inside linebacker Reshard Cliett, tight end Anthony Denham. defensive tackle Brandon Dunn, defensive end Ufomba Kamalu, outside linebacker Eric Lee, offensive tackle Andrew McDonald, cornerbacks Terrance Mitchell and Robert Nelson, defensive end Dan Pettinato, inside linebacker Shakeel Rashad, guard Chad Slade, tight end Eric Tomlinson (Klein), safety Antonio Allen and wide receiver Wendall Williams. The Texans waived-injured center Dalton Freeman and outside linebacker Tony Washington.