Paying for quality keeps talent at home
The contract the Texans negotiated with quarterback Deshaun Watson reinforces the message coach Bill O’Brien delivers to his players — working hard, being a good teammate and producing on game day can result in a financial windfall.
Outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus (four years/ $54 million), offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil (three years/ $66 million) and inside linebacker Zach Cunningham (four years/$58 million) preceded Watson (four years/$156 million) in getting new contracts or extensions.
The message from O’Brien, owner Cal McNair and executive vice president Jack Easterby is un
mistakable: They’re more willing to pay players who excel for the Texans rather than unrestricted free agents from other teams.
Making Watson, whose extension averages $39 million per year, the second highest paid player in NFL history behind Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes (10 years/$450 million) also makes a statement to fans that the McNairs aren’t going to allow money to interfere with football decisions they believe can help the Texans win. Even at a time when the salary cap is expected to go down in 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s been tremendous support, and we’ve only started this journey, really,” O’Brien said about the McNairs.
Everyone agrees now it’s time to win.
With Watson under contract through 2025, O’Brien and Easterby can focus on the new season that begins Thursday at Arrowhead Stadium, where last season ended with the 51-31 loss in the divisional round of the playoffs.
For O’Brien and Easterby, there’s a comforting feeling knowing they’ve got Watson under contract for six years, even knowing they’ll probably extend him again in four years.
“To have consistency at quarterback along with consistency in the offensive system is good because Deshaun feels so comfortable,” O’Brien said on a Zoom call Saturday night. “He’s a winner, and he’s a winner at the most important position in football.”
O’Brien, Easterby and director of football administration Kevin Krajcovic contributed to getting Watson’s deal done.
“I think we felt that it was important to get this done before the season,” O’Brien said. “Both sides worked very hard on it. I think it’s great that it’s done before the season. Now you have to quickly turn the page to the Chiefs.
“That’s an important part of the conversation that you have a quarterback in place. Since the day Deshaun walked in here, he’s been who we believed he would be when we first met him and then some.”
Easterby, the chief negotiator with agent David Mulugheta, knows the significance of, financially, taking care of players like Watson, Tunsil, Mercilus and Cunningham. Players who are hoping to get new contracts or extensions — receiver Will Fuller and safety Justin Reid, for example — know if they contribute on and off the field the way the coaches demand, that could be them next year.
“We’ve been blessed to invest in some great people,” Easterby said. “I think when you invest in great people, they produce. They’re loyal. They care not only for the people in the locker room, but they care for the coaching staff. They care for the community.
“I think what that does is create a domino effect. With other people in the locker room, it creates unity and excitement and a culture people want to be a part of. It’s important to get those pieces in place now.”
Watson’s extension kind of signaled the end of the offseason and the beginning of regular season.
If the Texans win the AFC South again, they’ll join Indianapolis (2003-07) as the only teams to win the division five times since it was created in 2002 to accommodate the Texans’ arrival. To reach that achievement, first and foremost, the players have to stay relatively healthy.
One of O’Brien’s goals during training camp was to go to Kansas City in the best shape possible. With the exception of outside linebacker Duke Ejiofor, out for the season with a torn ACL, the Texans didn’t suffer a major injury.
“You don’t know exactly where you are, but this time of year the goal is to have people that can execute what you’re doing, people you can count on and people that can, hopefully, produce in clutch moments,” Easterby said. “I feel really good about where we are, but it’s a construction project.
“We’ll continue to add people that fit the culture and can celebrate together what we’re doing.”
And the players hope that celebration includes hoisting a Lombardi Trophy and reaping the spoils of victory.