Grissom now team president
The Texans have named Greg Grissom their new team president, promoting him from senior vice president of corporate development.
By elevating Grissom, the Texans maintain continuity through his relationships and experience interacting with corporate sponsors, community leaders and charities.
Grissom has operated as a key lieutenant for the organization since the Texans’ inaugural season in 2002. This marks Grissom’s fifth promotion since he started working for the Texans.
“Greg’s extensive industry knowledge is evident by the meaningful relationships he continues to develop with our partners, our community and Texans teammates,” Texans chairman and CEO Cal McNair said. “While going through the interview process, Greg’s intentional, forward-thinking approach showed an authenticity and commitment to championship-caliber excellence that made him the ideal choice to take on this role.”
Grissom has been handling the duties of team president since Jamey Rootes’ resignation in February.
“I am grateful to the McNair family for providing me the opportunity to lead this exceptional group of dedicated and talented professionals,” Grissom said. “We will build on our success by fostering innovative measures that provide world-class events and memorable experiences for our fans. We will be bold and forthright in our pursuit of excellence while doing great things for Houston in the process.”
Grissom was elevated following an interview process that included him, Texans chief marketing officer Jennifer Davenport and three external candidates, including Tony Wyllie. Wylie, a Texas Southern gradudate, is the regional president and managing director for Special Olympics North America. He is a former senior vice president of communications for the Washington Football Team who previously led the Texans, Rams and Titans’ public relations departments.
Grissom, who previously worked for the Astros as an account services manager and club promotions coordinator and is on the board of directors of the Houston Food Bank, originally joined the Texans as a corporate sales manager before being promoted to director of corporate development, senior director of corporate development and vice president of corporate development. In that role, he oversaw all sales and partnership of the Texans’ corporate partnerships.
Before joining the Texans, Grissom worked for Enron Corporation as a sports marketing specialist. A native of Austin and a married father of two, Grissom attended Baylor University.
Mercilus reworks his $54M contract
Linebacker Whitney Mercilus restructured his four-year, $54 million contract, creating $4 million in cap space by converting $6 million of his $10.5 million salary into a signing bonus, according to league sources not authorized to speak publicly.
Mercilus still makes the full $10.5 million he was scheduled to earn, and this helps the Texans pay for dozens of transactions executed by general manager Nick Caserio and the team’s personnel department.
Mercilus now has an $8 million salary-cap figure in 2021, down from $12 million, with $7 million in dead money in 2022.
He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent following the 2021 season with two voidable years in 2022 and 2023 added to his original contract.
The Texans previously restructured contracts for offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil ($10.106 million cap savings), wide receiver Brandin Cooks ($6.53 million cap savings) and running back David Johnson ($3.7 million in cap savings). Including the latest restructure for Mercilus, the Texans created a combined $24.3 million in salary-cap space.