The Houston Texans spent part of Wednesday evaluating a prospect whose journey to the NFL looks nothing like the usual college-to-draft pipeline.
Offensive tackle Max Pircher, a 6-foot-7, 320-pound native of Italy, worked out for the club, according to reporting from KPRC 2’s Aaron Wilson.
The session immediately raised the possibility that Houston could use its extra international practice-squad exemption on a player who has already spent five years bouncing among NFL practice squads.
Pircher first reached the league in 2021 through the NFL’s International Player Pathway program. The Rams signed him after he played at the top level of American football in Austria and after a youth spent in soccer and handball. He has since appeared on the practice squads of the Lions, Seahawks, Commanders and Vikings.
He has yet to play a regular-season snap. That lack of game experience is offset by two practical advantages: his rare size and the league rule that lets teams carry one international player on the practice squad without using one of the standard 16 spots. Local observers quickly noted that the 17th slot is still open in Houston.
The timing of the workout is not accidental. Only days earlier the Texans acquired tackle Nathan Thomas from the Dallas Cowboys for a 2027 seventh-round pick. Thomas, a 2024 seventh-round selection himself, played every game last season and started four.
Dallas moved him after adding Broderick Jones, and Houston was ready to add a young lineman with actual starting experience. Pairing that acquisition with a look at Pircher shows how the front office is attacking the same problem from two directions: immediate depth and long-term developmental size.
Houston’s offensive line has been a recurring concern. General manager Nick Caserio and head coach DeMeco Ryans have spent recent offseasons trying to stabilize a group that has often ranked near the bottom of the league in pass protection and run blocking.
Bringing in a 320-pound tackle who can be coached daily without occupying a conventional roster or practice-squad spot is a low-cost way to keep that project going.
Whether Pircher ultimately signs is still unknown; workouts frequently end without a contract. Yet the interest itself is consistent with the organization’s willingness to look past conventional résumés when the physical traits and roster rules line up.
If the Texans do add him, Pircher would join a practice squad already taking shape after final cuts. He would spend the season learning the playbook and competing for elevation opportunities while the coaching staff evaluates whether the raw power and length that first attracted the Rams five years ago can finally translate on Sundays.
For a team still searching for consistency in the trenches, that kind of inexpensive, high-upside experiment is worth a closer look.
