As I wrote in the first part of my 11-part series evaluating the Texans, the team’s top priority will be to re-sign outside linebacker Mario Williams.

They also want to sign running back Arian Foster, who’ll be a restricted free agent, to a long-term deal.

Remember, the Texans spent about $20 million more than the $120 million salary cap. Estimates are that it won’t increase to more than $124 million. That means the Texans will have to get under the cap by March 13, and then they won’t have a lot of room to operate.

Who would you rather keep? Arian Foster

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General manager Rick Smith and director of football administration Chris Olsen are going to have to become magicians to make cap space appear.

Magic maneuvering

Tough decisions will have to be made. Some players won’t be back. Others will have their contracts redone, including some taking pay cuts. Others will be asked to restructure, and they’ll gladly do it because they’ll receive up-front money.

Williams will be unrestricted if the Texans are unable to re-sign him. Williams’ original six-year, $54 million contract expires in March. The Texans aren’t likely to franchise him because he would cost them $22.9 million. He made $18 million this season.

The Texans can’t afford to carry Williams at $22.9 million for one year. They can’t trade him because you can’t trade a player who’s not under contract.

They could franchise him and hope he’d agree later to a long-term deal, but he’d be holding all the cards knowing they couldn’t keep him at $22.9 million.

Williams wants to stay, but once he’s on the open market, a team with a lot of cap space and an owner willing to spend millions might offer agent Ben Dogra $40 million to $50 million for him.

But before we count Williams as gone, remember that Smith, coach Gary Kubiak and owner Bob McNair have said they want to re-sign him. But they have only so much they can offer.

Now let’s look at Foster. He earned $525,000 last year and was voted to the Pro Bowl for the second consecutive season. The Texans want to sign him to a long-term deal.

Last week, I gave some inaccurate information. I said if they tender Foster at the maximum, they’d receive first- and third-round picks as compensation if they didn’t match another team’s offer sheet.

That was under the previous collective bargaining agreement. Under the new CBA, the maximum tender is a first-round pick.

Breaking the bank

The Texans are fortunate that Foster is happy here. A team with a lot of cap space could front-load a deal that would make it almost impossible for the Texans to match it because they just won’t have the room. And the compensation would be only a first-round pick.

The Texans also want to re-sign free agents like center Chris Myers, guard Mike Brisiel, tight end Joel Dreessen and kicker Neil Rackers, but they won’t break the bank.

Williams and Foster will, and it’s difficult to imagine the Texans being able to re-sign both without one giving what amounts to a hometown discount.

john.mcclain@chron.com

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