The transfer portal won’t officially open until January 2, but that technicality means nothing anymore. In college football’s new single-window era, the exodus starts months early—and Texas is learning that lesson the hard way. Seven Longhorns have already declared their intent to transfer, and that number’s only going up as Steve Sarkisian reshapes his roster.

The names walking out the door tell a story far deeper than just roster management. It’s about where Texas is headed, what the 2025 season revealed about this program, and why the Longhorns’ approach to building a championship contender is about to change.

The portal window is shrinking, but the urgency is not

The NCAA compressed the winter transfer window to January 2-16, a two-week frenzy that lands right in the middle of the College Football Playoff calendar. Programs have been preparing for months. Texas has kept active transfer boards, run evaluations through staff turnover, and tracked every available option across the Power Four. But the real negotiating? That’s happening right now.

Coaches won’t admit it publicly, but everyone knows how this works. Quiet conversations are already underway. NIL frameworks are already drafted. Fit, depth, and opportunity have already been pitched to targets nationwide. Announcing early is how a player gets ahead of the crowd and controls his options. Seven Texas players have already done exactly that.

RB CJ Baxter: The headline departure

CJ Baxter’s exit stings more for the optics than the on-field production, but let’s be honest—this was always coming. After winning Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year in 2023, his trajectory flattened completely. The preseason LCL/PCL tear in 2024 wiped out his junior year, then a hamstring issue derailed him again early in Week 3 this season. He entered 2025 expecting to reclaim the RB1 role. Instead, Tre Wisner won the job outright, showing the kind of consistency and burst that Baxter couldn’t match. The numbers tell the story: 196 yards on 54 carries with zero touchdowns. The explosiveness that made him a star as a freshman never came back.

Texas is already building around incoming standout Derrek Cooper, hybrid weapon Jermaine Bishop Jr., and late-riser Jett Walker. Baxter saw the writing on the wall. So did Texas. This is the cleanest mutual separation of the bunch—no drama, no hard feelings, just business. Both sides move on.

Why he’s leaving

Baxter’s time at Texas is a textbook case of a promising career derailed by injury. After winning Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year in 2023, he never looked the same—first the 2024 knee injury, then the 2025 hamstring setback. The explosiveness that made him a star as a freshman just never came back.

What went wrong in 2025

Wisner took the job and never gave it back. Baxter finished with 196 yards on 54 carries and zero touchdowns—a brutal drop-off for a guy who was supposed to be anchoring the offense alongside Arch Manning.

What it means for Texas

Texas is already pivoting to Derrek Cooper, Jermaine Bishop Jr., and Jett Walker. Baxter saw the overcrowded room coming. So did Texas.

QB Trey Owens

Owens came to Texas as a developmental passer with enough arm talent to get Sarkisian’s attention. But the depth chart killed any real path forward. Arch Manning didn’t leave. The staff added veteran backup Matthew Caldwell. KJ Lacey saw the field before Owens ever got a shot. And then five-star Dia Bell committed, reshaping the entire quarterback room in one swoop.

Owens didn’t play a single snap in 2025 after redshirting in 2024. By November, Texas had already started mapping out a Manning-to-Bell succession plan. Owens had no runway left in Austin. The math didn’t work, and everyone knew it.

Why he’s leaving

He didn’t play a single snap in 2025, buried behind Arch Manning, veteran backup Matthew Caldwell, and even true freshman KJ Lacey.

The structural problem

Texas is building toward a Manning, Dia Bell succession plan. Owens was never going to see the field.

What it means for Texas

A clean break that tightens the QB competition without weakening the room.

DT Melvin Hills III

Hills was a depth signing in the 2024 class—a body Texas needed to fill out the defensive tackle rotation. But he never cracked into real playing time. Across two seasons, Hills logged just 28 snaps and finished 2025 buried behind a maturing interior unit and a coaching staff increasingly focused on length and twitch up front.

With Texas aggressively targeting transfer DTs, this was the most predictable exit of the bunch. He’ll draw interest elsewhere because true tackles always do, but the fit in Austin never materialized. Both sides move on without hard feelings.

Why he’s leaving

He played just 28 snaps in 2025. The staff has been transparent about pursuing portal DTs.

Long-term projection

Hills was a depth take in a thin 2024 DT class. He never cracked the rotation.

What it means for Texas

Expect Texas to be hyper-aggressive at DT in the portal — the room needs experience.

WR Aaron Butler

Butler’s exit is about usage, not ability. Texas believed in his speed when they signed him—one of the fastest players in the 2024 class—but he never carved out a role in Sarkisian’s rotation. He appeared in four games this season with one catch for 17 yards. That’s it.

Receivers coach Chris Jackson leaned heavily on experience, and the room only got more crowded as Sark’s offense evolved around Manning. Butler still has real upside, but Texas couldn’t wait around for a player who wasn’t moving up the depth chart. He’ll find a better fit somewhere else.

Why he’s leaving

Butler appeared in four games, recording one catch for 17 yards. He never carved out a consistent role in Sark’s evolving WR rotation.

Why the fit broke

Texas leaned on veterans, and the room is only getting more competitive with 2026 signees incoming.

What it means for Texas

Butler still has high upside, but Texas could not wait for a long developmental runway.

CB Santana Wilson

Wilson arrived with legitimate potential—ranked No. 278 nationally and top-100 by On3. But Texas’ secondary was deep, experienced, and scheme-intensive. Wilson appeared in just one game, and the gap between him and the two-deep never closed. He couldn’t crack the rotation, and that gap only widened as the season went on.

A scheme change, incoming transfers in the defensive backfield, and a loaded 2026 class made this move inevitable. Wilson will start somewhere else—corners with his profile always do—but his path in Austin narrowed too quickly. He’s better off finding a program where he can play immediately.

Why he’s leaving

Despite strong recruiting pedigree, Wilson saw the field just once in 2025.

The bigger issue

Texas’ DB room is old, deep, and system-based. Wilson never climbed high enough to see meaningful involvement.

What it means for Texas

He’ll start somewhere else, but Texas will retool DB through a mix of recruits and targeted portal additions.

RB Jerrick Gibson

Gibson’s talent was never in question. His ball security was. Three fumbles in 2024 put him in a hole he couldn’t climb out of, and another fumble in Week 2 of 2025 erased whatever trust remained. When he logged one carry for negative three yards against Oklahoma, the writing was already on the wall.

He rushed for 152 yards on 37 carries this season after showing real promise as a freshman, but losing RB coach Tashard Choice—his biggest advocate in the building—sealed his fate. Texas needed reliability. Gibson needed a fresh voice and a new system. This split benefits everyone.

Why he’s leaving

Ball security issues and an overcrowded running back room.

What went wrong

After a promising 2024 (377 yards), he fell to 152 yards on 37 carries in 2025 and lost his biggest advocate with Tashard Choice’s departure back in February.

What it means for Texas

This clears the runway for the next generation of backs. Gibson needed a fresh start.

K Will Stone

Stone, Texas’ kickoff specialist for three seasons, lost his job in October to Mason Shipley—and Shipley never gave it back. Specialists rarely hit the portal midseason unless the outcome is certain. Stone knew exactly where he stood.

Texas will rebuild its special-teams room again in 2026, but Stone’s departure is just the byproduct of performance and opportunity. No drama, just reality.

Why he’s leaving

Stone lost kickoff duties to Mason Shipley in October and never regained them.

Why it matters

Specialists portal early because timing determines opportunities.

What it means for Texas

Another spot likely filled by transfer or competition heading into spring.

What This Wave Really Means for Texas

This isn’t roster drain—it’s roster definition. Texas is building a younger, more explosive identity around Manning, Cooper, Bishop Jr., and a 2026 class loaded with elite upside. The seven departures reflect roles that no longer fit Texas’ trajectory. Simple as that.

Portal additions will replace the experience that’s walking out, but Texas’ core is now cleaner, more athletic, and more aligned with who Sarkisian wants to be heading into another SEC cycle. This isn’t a program scrambling to rebuild. It’s a program making calculated moves to stay ahead.

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