Texans bracing for Watson deal
Texans’ handling of Tunsil is first clue on Watson’s impending negotiations
Star could command biggest contract in NFL history, once Mahomes signs.
Timing and leverage are key factors in most negotiations.
Thanks to the Texans’ poor handling of an otherwise smart trade, Laremy Tunsil had such leverage on the franchise that he was guaranteed to become the highest-paid offensive lineman in the NFL.
Whether he played like the best lineman last season hardly mattered. Very good was good enough, and he was pretty good.
Whether Tunsil had a highpowered agent shape the deal, or handled the particulars himself, he was going to reset the market for players at his position. He said he thought about as much entering discussions with the team, and that was important to him.
Without question, the Texans’ front office inexperience was a factor in Tunsil signing a deal that as of now will pay him $4 million per season more than any other offensive lineman in 2021.
No one in the building has ever been in charge of an NFL front office. None has even been the No. 2 or No. 3 man, for that matter.
That doesn’t mean they are incapable, just inexperienced.
Next up for the Texans is negotiating what will be the biggest contract in team history. Pending when Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs come to a deal, or how deftly Deshaun Watson and his agent David Mulugheta works it, the Texans-Watson agreement could be the biggest in NFL history.
Watson is by far the Texans’ most important player. His status led to Tunsil’s megadeal.
The Dolphins were willing to trade Tunsil, a 25-year-old former first-round draft pick, because they didn’t have a franchise quarterback on the roster.
Ignore the fantasy “what ifs” you have seen. Watson will quarterback the Texans for the next few years.
The only unknown is how much.
In a way, the Texans are negotiating with themselves in this, because Watson isn’t a free agent.
He can’t up and leave. Without a new contract, Watson will earn a measly $2.3 million this year.
Yeah, I know, considering that tax bracket, “measly” sounds ridiculous, but in football dollars, Watson is scheduled to make a little more than half what the Texans will pay his backup, A.J. McCarron, this year.
You want to see a telenovela season, let the Texans try to make Watson happy being paid less than 20 of his teammates, including the guy who will play only if Watson gets injured.
Incorporate the uncertainty of the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic and the potentially historic salary cap ramifications of such, and this contract might not be as automatic as one would think.
This is going to be interesting to watch.
Watson is the best NFL quarterback Houston has seen since Warren Moon. It has been an agonizing 35 years. (Steve McNair isn’t included in that evaluation, since he played in just a handful of games before the city lost custody of him in the Oilers’ divorce.)
Moon went from going undrafted to having significant leverage entering the NFL as an accomplished passer and fivetime Grey Cup winner in the Canadian Football League.
In a time when true free agency did not exist, NFL teams showed up with their checkbooks out for the unheard of opportunity to sign a top QB.
“What (agent Leigh Steinberg) did a great job of with me was he created a great bidding war for my services,” Moon said. “We had seven teams that were seriously trying to get my services. So, when you can have that type of leverage in that type of bargaining power, as far as picking and choosing where you want to play, I had a chance to have the money just keep accelerating.”
As the money grew, teams dropped out.
Houston and Seattle, which is where Moon was a conference player of the year and Rose Bowl MVP for the University of Washington and where he made his offseason home, were the last two standing.
The Oilers guaranteed 80 percent of their offer; the Seahawks 20 percent. So, welcome to Houston.
“That’s something that I was looking for at that stage of my career,” Moon said. “I had already played six years. I didn’t know how much longer I was gonna be able to play. I didn’t know if I was going to ever get another big contract opportunity.”
Turned out Moon did have other couple contract negotiations in his career. He signed a fully-guaranteed contract with the Oilers in 1989.
Of course, Bud Adams traded him and his $3.25 million to Minnesota in 1994, for two midround draft picks, to keep Cody Carlson and his $3-million per year deal.
Oops.
At 39, Moon set a slew of team passing records with the Vikings, including those for passing yards and touchdowns in a season. And a couple years later he put his name in the Seahawks record book for passing yards and completions in a season.
Watson, 24, has a long way to go to reach Moon’s Hall of Fame status on the field. Financially, though, it isn’t close.
The Texans exercised an option to Watson’s contract that will pay him an insulting $17.5 million in 2021, which is more than Moon made in 10 seasons with the Oilers.
Even accounting for inflation, Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn just signed for more than Moon received when he came into the NFL as its highest-paid player at its most difficult position.
“These guys are talking about having a hundred million dollar guarantees of their contracts,” Moon said. “I mean, that’s generational money.
“That’s money not only for their kids, but their grandkids and so on, if they take care of it. So, this is a great time for these young guys.”
And Moon is rooting for them. “I hope they get Deshaun taken care of,” he said. “I’m in some ways hoping that he will wait until Patrick signs. Patrick is gonna blow the roof off the thing and you want to be right there, right behind it. You don’t want to sign too quickly and let the market get away from you.”
“I love Deshaun’s game. I love the way he can be creative as a quarterback, but he can also throw the ball from the pocket. And the thing I like most about him is he plays his best football at the most important time of the game. At the end, when you need big plays or big drives to be made, that’s when he usually plays his best.”