How the Texans created $6.4 million in Shaq Mason's restructured contract

(Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports)

The Houston Texans added $6.4 million to their salary cap for the 2024 season after offensive guard Shaq Mason agreed to a contract restructure.

The Texans converted around $8 million from his original $9.25 million for 2024 into a signing bonus, per KPRC 2’s Aaron Wilson. This lowered Mason’s cap hit for this season from $12.3 million to $5.688 million.

Shaq Mason restructure of $36M deal : $8.04M of original $9.25M salary converts to signing bonus, created $6.4M in cap space. Cap figure $5.868M from original $12.3M. New salary $1.21M (fully gtd), still has $500K in per game active roster bonuses, $29,411 per game,, $250K Pro… https://t.co/dmxAEv1RMV

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 27, 2024

The restructure altered the three-year, $36 million extension Mason signed before the 2023 season following his trade from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Houston. The Texans now have around $21.6 million in salary cap space, according to Over The Cap.

Mason, 31, started all 17 games for the Texans in 2023 and led the entire team with 1,131 snaps.

What the Texans do with this extra cap space remains to be seen. They were reportedly interested in a trade for wide receiver Keenan Allen before the Los Angeles Chargers sent him to the Chicago Bears, but it’s unclear if a veteran trade is still on the table for general manager Nick Caserio. Houston and wide receiver Nico Collins also have mutual interest in a contract extension as the 21-year-old enters the final year of his rookie contract.

This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: How the Texans created $6.4 million in Shaq Mason’s restructured contract