The Texans plan to release veteran safety Jimmie Ward, ESPN reported Monday, saving the club $750,000 in salary-cap space before the NFL’s two-day negotiation period opens at noon on March 9.
Ward, 34, was placed on the NFL’s commissioner exempt list last August following multiple arrests in 2025 and later landed on physically unable to perform list due to a foot injury.
He did not appear in a game last season.
Ward, who has yet to address the news, shared a photo of a chess game to his Instagram Story on Monday.
The safety was arrested last June in Montgomery County in Texas on allegations of third-degree felony domestic violence after a woman claimed she was “violently assaulted multiple times, both sexually and physically” by Ward in front of their 3-year-old child.
Ward was arrested again in August for violating his previous release conditions by testing positive for alcohol, and spent a night in jail.
Last September, a Montgomery County grand jury declined to indict Ward on said charges.
Ward was placed on the NFL’s commissioner exempt list on Aug. 26, and removed in September after a grand jury found no probable cause to indict him.
“From the beginning, this was about the truth — and I am grateful the truth has prevailed,” Ward wrote in a letter — entitled “Justice Is Served” — on Instagram after the verdict was announced.
The former first-round pick by the San Fransisco 49ers spent three seasons with Houston.
He logged 10 starts in each of his first two seasons played — recording 98 tackles, seven pass breakups and three interceptions, with one returned for a touchdown in 20 games with the Texans.