Cade Stover rookie contract details with Houston Texans revealed after NFL Draft

Following Cade Stover‘s No. 123 overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans, his rookie contract numbers have been revealed.

According to Spotrac, the former Buckeyes star will sign a four-year rookie deal worth approximately $4.775 million. As a fourth-round draft pick, Stover’s rookie deal won’t come with a fifth-year option for the Texans, which means unless they extend or re-sign him, he’ll become a free agent after the 2027 season. With the Texans, he’ll reunite with former Ohio State QB CJ Stroud.

Texans select Stover in fourth round

Stover begins his professional career following a terrific college run at Ohio State, where he was the benefactor of quite a few loaded Buckeye lineups when it came to offensive weapons. With dudes like Marvin Harrison Jr., Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Emeka Egbunu and others drawing so much attention on the outside, a guy like Stover was able to feast as a TE.

He had 77 catches for 982 yards and 10 touchdowns across the last two seasons as the full-time starting tight end in Columbus. In 2023 specifically, Stover finished second behind Harrison on OSU in receiving yards with 576 of them.

Like so many athletic tight ends, Stover was actually as a star on the basketball court as well, starring at forward on his high school hoops team. Even as a football player, Stover didn’t come to tight end naturally and started his career on the defensive side of the ball.

Prior to Ohio State, Stover attended Lexington High School in Mansfield, Ohio, where he was a four-star prospect according to the On3 Industry Rankings. He was also rated the No. 114 overall recruit, the No. 14 linebacker and No. 4 player in the state of Ohio for the 2019 cycle.

What the NFL Draft analysts are saying about new Texans tight end

Lance Zierlein of NFL.com breaks him down as a solid future player.

“Catch first, block second tight end whose jump in play as a receiving threat is going to be hard to ignore. Stover is a tight end conversion from the defensive side of the ball. He’s a little clunky getting off the line but really picks up the pace as the route unfolds. He starred as a high school hooper and that same athleticism can be found in his route running, high-point timing and run after catch.

“Stover possesses the tools to move in a positive direction as a run blocker but needs to upgrade his grit at the point of attack and effort as a move blocker. He’s an upside prospect with the potential to play in-line or flexed out and should become a productive starter within a couple of years.”