00:00But the Texans are signing their Pro Bowl defensive end,
00:03and he didn't become a Pro Bowler immediately,
00:05but he was second-team All-Pro.
00:08Daniil Hunter to a one-year, $40 million extension,
00:13which means he is now on a multi-year deal, Clint,
00:16that that means that they can push some of this money back
00:20to create more salary space.
00:22That's the big news of it, and they secure him.
00:25And I'll give you my thoughts real quick before we get to you.
00:30Clint, it just, first of all, with this deal, makes total sense.
00:33Nick Casario doing things, we'll tell you a little bit later on
00:36about all the things he's doing to create more cap space
00:39that kind of gives us a sign that they're about to be heavily involved
00:42in things over the next couple of weeks.
00:44But this is truly, you talked about, or we've seen this in the NFL
00:49or sports or trades or anything like this,
00:52but this is truly one of the situations where both sides, I think, are winning.
00:56Right, obviously, in Daniil Hunter, he gets big, major cash,
01:02and he has gotten big, major cash since he arrived.
01:05You're damn near all of his contracts are guaranteed fully
01:08since he's been here with the Texans,
01:10and he's making big, big money every year.
01:12And he's producing big time,
01:14which is allowing him to make big, big money every year.
01:17And then from the Texans' perspective, Clint,
01:20they're getting a guy that is starting to age to reach that point.
01:24He'll be in his, you know, getting towards his mid-30s.
01:29And they get to basically get to a year-to-year type of situation with him
01:33and aren't locked in with something, you know, deep, long-term
01:37that could affect things down the line.
01:39And they continue to get this in two-year increments
01:42where they can create more space
01:45and push money around with his contracts.
01:47This is a winning situation for both sides.
01:51Absolutely, it's a win.
01:52Ain't no doubt about it.
01:53I mean, you're talking about a guy that's sixth among edge rushers
01:56with a PFF grade of 90.3, 30 sacks in the last two years.
02:01These are the last two years numbers here.
02:04156 pressures tied for second.
02:06How in the hell he was not a pro bowler, I have no idea.
02:10Or an all-pro, however you want to couch that.
02:13This is a huge win for the Texans.
02:17You know, I think when you – it's just ideal to be able to keep a guy around like this
02:24adding one year to his contract.
02:26He's here 26, he's here 27.
02:27He obviously loves being here.
02:29It's home.
02:30He loves being here from a D'Amico Ryan scheme perspective.
02:34He loves being here playing opposite Will Anderson.
02:37He loves being here playing, you know, inside when you've got guys like Kamari Lasseter
02:42and Derek Stingley outside.
02:43I got to believe in a sense of he could have went elsewhere and probably got more years.
02:48Could have went elsewhere and got more money.
02:51Now, he wouldn't have been able to do that until next year.
02:53But staying here keeps that duo of Will Anderson and Daniil Hunter together for at least two more years.
03:00And as Texans fans – forget about winning and losing.
03:02Just as a Texans fan, you know you're going to the stadium or turning the TV on
03:08and watching your team play, and you're going to get a steady dose for two years
03:10of Will Anderson and Daniil Hunter.
03:13Individually, two of the best edge players in this league in their own right.
03:17But when you put them together, it's the best duo in the league
03:20and has been, I think, even statistically over the last year or so.
03:23So, man, you've got that one-two punch off the edge,
03:26and then you've got Kamari and Derek Stingley Jr. outside.
03:28With those four pillars on this defense for the next two years,
03:33it's going to be hard to not be a top three or four defense in this league year in, year
03:37out.
03:37Before we ever get to what we know they already are
03:40and who we know D'Amico Ryans is, I mean, those are obviously huge pluses.
03:46But with those four guys in the boat for the next two years at least,
03:52you can build one hell of a defense around that right there.
03:56Did you have on your bingo card, fellas, that Daniil Hunter has made over $218 million in his career?
04:02He is pulling off the Kirk Cousins of defensive ends.
04:08Like, he is just the $40 to $50 million guarantee that he's been getting for the last several years.
04:15He has made some bread.
04:18And, I mean, obviously his play has warranted, right?
04:21Like, I mean, every year is a contract year, and he is a huge commodity.
04:25And like you said, he loves it.
04:26He loves it here.
04:28And I think the other big part of this is everything that it opens up
04:32and now it allows the Texans to do because before he was just on a one-year deal.
04:37And that one year, that money is essentially like a franchise tag, right?
04:40It doesn't move.
04:41They just have to pay that because that's all they have.
04:44But now, an additional year, you can move stuff around, make it in a signing bonus.
04:48And as Nick said when he was on with Payne and Pintergast,
04:53that salary cap number is much more manageable when you do that.
04:57Well, they can damn sure manipulate it, you know, more when you've got a guy like Daniil Hunter
05:01who you can play with that level of a contract, $30 to $40 million a year.
05:05And so, I mean, look, I just can't tell you enough.
05:09I can't stress enough, just again, as a fan, how fun it is to watch these guys play
05:13when you're talking about Will Anderson and Daniil Hunter.
05:15But stylistically, you know, schematically, when you've got the four pieces in place
05:22that you have in place, Ron, you can do anything you want.
05:25Your playbook is wide open.
05:27And I would argue that there may be four or five teams in the league that have that luxury.
05:34I mean, wide open.
05:36You want to play man?
05:37You want to shadow?
05:38You want to play zero?
05:39You want to play some kind of zone?
05:41I mean, whatever you want to do.
05:43You want to get after the quarterback with a four-man game?
05:45You want to get after it with bringing some pressure?
05:47You can feel comfortable doing it because you've got guys that can cover down.
05:50I mean, there is – this is big in Houston to keep this thing together.
05:54You know, we spend a lot of time talking about, well, Daniil's only got one more year.
05:58And, you know, what are you going to do with Kamari Lasseter if you have to pay Stingley
06:01and you already have to pay Will Anderson?
06:03You know, what are you going to do with Kamari Lasseter?
06:05Man, to know that we got them together for two more is promising.
06:10And like I said, you know, whatever you want to do, whatever you want to do on the inside,
06:15I mean, you can get eight rotational – or six rotational pieces in there for –
06:19with these two edge players over the next two years and you're fine.
06:23Now, I'd like to see a showstopper, a game stopper, a game wrecker from the inside,
06:27but you don't have to.
06:28Yeah.
06:28I mean, this is solid, man.
06:31Well done by Nick Casario.
06:32Listen, and when you start to look at this, this has been a busy, busy week for the Texans.
06:38And I wonder, when you look at what they've done this week, we can go over,
06:42do you – you feeling confident?
06:44Because what they're doing this week is starting off the offseason
06:47and setting things up for what they're going to do free agency draft-wise.
06:51And if you look at what they've done this week, do you feel like the Texans are on the right
06:56track
06:56to having the type of offseason you want them to have?
06:59We look at it, they released Jimmy Ward.
07:01That one really snuck through the cracks right there.
07:02That one, I don't even know if we even talked about that one.
07:05They snuck that one through.
07:07They trade Titus Howard.
07:08D'Amico did him a solid, didn't he?
07:09Didn't he?
07:10I ain't going to cut you when you had an all-time low, but I'm going to keep you around,
07:13pay you,
07:13and then I'm going to go ahead and let you loose in the offseason when it quiets down.
07:16Yeah.
07:16But that was the first thing Sunday, then they trade Titus Howard to the Browns,
07:22save that money, then they also make the move to trade for David Montgomery
07:26at a pretty good price for a running back, a little less than if they were going to go after
07:31one of the top ones.
07:32They re-sign Trent Brown for $7 million, restructure some deals with Stingley, Petrie,
07:37the word on the list later, or also today, M.J. Stewart is apparently going to sign a one-year
07:45deal
07:45to bring him back at safety.
07:48And overall, Texans general manager Nick Casario laid the groundwork for the one-year deal,
07:54as we just talked about, with Daniil Hunter, and they have created almost, what,
08:01$30 million, $30-plus million in salary cap space by the time this is all over with the restructures.
08:09They are setting themselves up in a good way.
08:12Clint, I think Texans fans should feel really excited about what they're doing to set themselves up.
08:20Now, the execution of what they bring in will be different,
08:22but it looks like, Clint, they're setting themselves up to have a big-time offseason.
08:27So, Eric, let's move first.
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