Portal:American football/Selected article/January, 2009

The 2002 NFL expansion draft was a National Football League (NFL) draft in which a new expansion team, named the Houston Texans, selected its first players. On October 6, 1999, in Atlanta, NFL owners had unanimously voted to award the 32nd NFL franchise and the Super Bowl XXXVIII to the city of Houston, Texas. So that the Texans could become competitive with existing teams, the league awarded the Texans the first pick in the 2002 NFL draft and gave them the opportunity to select current players from existing teams. That selection was provided by the expansion draft, held on February 18, 2002.

In this draft, held months before the regular draft, the existing franchises listed players from which the Texans could select to switch to the new team. This was the second expansion draft after the NFL had instituted the salary cap, which limited the total amount teams could spend on the their roster of players. Teams placed many quality players on the list who had large contracts, as the Texans were required to assume the contracts of those players if selected. The Texans selected three players with a total salary-cap value of $14.9 million from the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were $23 million over the cap; three players with a total salary-cap value of $14.1 million from the New York Jets, who were $16 million over the cap; and two players with a total salary-cap value of $7.1 million from the Baltimore Ravens, who were $23 million over the cap. The list included 155 NFL players, 25 of whom were Pro Bowl players. The draft took place live and aired on ESPN. The Texans drafted a total of nineteen players.

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