00:00Big time Houston Texans breaking news. We knew it had to happen eventually. Today was the day.
00:05This is per Ian Rappaport of NFL Media. The Texans and all pro edge Will Anderson Jr. have agreed on
00:11a blockbuster three-year $150 million extension
00:15with $134 million of that guaranteed to make him the NFL's highest paid non-quarterback ever.
00:23Ever. Ever. I'm guessing that the information came via Nicole Lynn of Clutch Sports because she is shouted out by
00:31Ian Rappaport in his reporting.
00:32But there you go. The Will Anderson Jr. extension that we were all looking forward to, that we were anticipating,
00:37that we knew had to happen, is done.
00:40Three years, $150 million. $50 million of average annual value that leaps Micah Parsons' $46.5, which we were all
00:48gawking at at that point.
00:50It's expected, but also not expected, if that makes sense.
00:53It's expected, but it just hits you. $50 million a year.
00:58Yeah, man.
00:59$50.
01:00That's quarterback money, man.
01:02Absolutely.
01:02Yeah.
01:03I mean, it's more than CJ Stroud would get.
01:07At least if a lot of people on our text line have their way.
01:10Yes.
01:12I'm glad that this came down, though, because it would have been really odd if they somehow made it through
01:16this offseason without getting that done.
01:18This is the time period where it's available, and there's literally no doubts.
01:21The way that they talk about Will Anderson Jr., rightfully so, is effusive praise.
01:26That's even still an understatement.
01:27He is the embodiment of everything that they are, everything they want to be, honestly, everything they will be if
01:32they continue to have him here, which they will for three years.
01:35Are you surprised at all that it's a three-year deal as opposed to a four-year deal?
01:38A little bit, but not surprised because of the money he got.
01:42I mean, I think that's where they're, not compromised, whatever the word might be, that they said, listen, we're going
01:47to make you the highest paid non-quarterback in the history of football, and we can do it for three
01:51years.
01:52And it's actually, it might have been something that he didn't have a big problem with.
01:58Oh, no.
01:58Why would he have a problem with it?
01:59Like, this is good agent work here where shorter-term deal, that means now not in three years because he
02:06has fourth year here, fifth year of the option, and then these three years will kick in, right?
02:12So maybe that's how, that's ultimately part of why you get the three-year deal because he is getting to
02:17the table sooner rather than if they did a four-year deal, but they still have two more years of
02:21control on him.
02:21And maybe that's also why this is more palatable.
02:24That 50 is not hitting you anytime soon.
02:25That'll show up in a couple of years, but you do have that three-year, $150 million extension on the
02:30backside.
02:31And it's also one of those things where, clearly, I mean, we knew this already, and we knew it had
02:37to be prioritized.
02:37We expected it.
02:39But, again, it just hits you in this sense as well.
02:41Will Anderson is the cornerstone for anything they might do in the near future, and nothing is going to change
02:48that.
02:48I mean, he's going to play this out, you know, barring anything crazy.
02:51In part because he has no trade clause.
02:53Yes, exactly.
02:54As part of this.
02:54Interested to see what the bonus, I haven't seen the bonus yet, but I think that's where the signing bonus
02:58might come in big time.
03:01This is actually very, very exciting if you're a Houston Texans fan, not just because you lock him up, but
03:07for him, for the team, leader, cornerstone, D'Amico's, you know, semi-son.
03:14This is what it's.
03:16D'Amico wishes.
03:17Yeah.
03:18Yeah, at this point he does.
03:19Now, this is fantastic.
03:20And clearly the next question would be, what about CJ?
03:23CJ, don't worry about CJ.
03:24Ain't going to happen.
03:25Yeah, I don't think so.
03:26I mean, but who knows, right?
03:28Maybe because, again, these things, they don't let us know how they're thinking about it, and they just kind of
03:34come like a ship in the night, which, of course, here you go.
03:36Boom.
03:37Out of nowhere.
03:38But the thing that I found interesting about seeing this, in addition to it being short-term, is that this
03:43still falls in line with that, or at least closer to what that Nick Casario MO has been, which is,
03:49you know, give the guys what they want.
03:51Don't quibble about that last 4% or what is it that they say.
03:56Give them that a little extra, which, of course, is very easily justifiable in the Will Anderson Jr. portion of
04:00this, but it also makes me wonder, like, at what point do you have to pay the piper on that,
04:06right?
04:06If you're just willing to give that little extra on everybody, eventually, in a zero-sum game like a salary
04:11-capped sport, you're going to lose out a little bit on the back end from the little here, little there
04:16that stacks up.
04:17Now, of course, I'm not worried about it, and Will Anderson Jr. is damn sure not the first place where
04:22I'll start doing this, but I was wondering, I think I talked to maybe Troy Chapman about this, Texas cap
04:27at one point, at one of these games.
04:29At some point, I think that their MO probably has to change, and so I thought that the way that
04:35the Texans went about their kind of cap ramifications and those things was, do short-term deals, you can pay
04:42a little bit bigger in the time period when you have, you know,
04:45your big-ticket players on rookie contracts, and then when you get to the other side of this, then maybe
04:50you might need to switch up to make all of the numbers line up.
04:53It does, I do wonder if this actually, if there will be a real change in the way they go
04:57about it.
04:58If they continue to do relatively short-term contracts where guys can come back to the table and they're willing
05:02to pay a little bit extra, I wonder what the casualties will be of that in the future.
05:06Now, of course, that's a future conversation, but that was something that got, that was interesting when I saw relatively
05:11shorter deal, three as opposed to the four that I think a lot of people would want.
05:15And it is comparable to the Aiden Hutchinson, Micah Parsons deals that were gotten done recently, and you also paid
05:20more average annual value as well.
05:22Well, the biggest thing to me is, you know, that whole rookie window stuff with C.J. Stroud, I mean,
05:29it's over, you know, it's kind of what you're talking about.
05:32These are all starting to add up, you know, Nico got paid, Daniil, of course, is getting paid, Stingley got
05:38paid, you know, and you still have more coming with Kamari Lassiter.
05:43Now, Will Anderson got paid.
05:45This is where Nick Casario and his guys start to earn their money because now you have to make those
05:50all fit with a quarterback that, by the way, also has a contract due.
05:55And you went not just a little bit over the last, right?
05:59The Aiden Hutchinson was $45 million average annual value, and then you end up with Micah Parsons with $46.5,
06:05and we were like, ooh, look at that, you know, step up.
06:09I think, yeah, he went up, no, he went up $46.5 from when, I think, when Max Cross or
06:14Miles Grant had $40.
06:15Was that the jump?
06:16Well, you're making not exactly the same jump, but you're making another $4 million on top of that, a pretty
06:20big jump.
06:21And that was just from last season.
06:22Right.
06:23Right.
06:23So, very, very interesting, but I'm glad, at the very least, that Will Anderson Jr. is done.
06:29It is guaranteed.
06:30He deserved it, too, man.
06:31Oh, big time.
06:32He is the reason why this defense, him and Daniil Hunter, the reason why this defense works, right?
06:36Like, they're the keys, they are the tip of the spear for what they do.
06:40It is value reflected and reflective of what they mean to the team.
06:47There's just some interesting things around the edges, and I wonder how people feel about the idea that, yes, it's
06:51Will Anderson Jr.,
06:52you're not going to complain about paying him his money, but that's another guy that you re-sign, and you
06:57gave him extra money,
06:58and you gave him everything, right?
06:58You gave him the no-trade clause, you gave him a shorter deal, and you gave him the big money,
07:02which typically, you would think in negotiation that there'd be some level of give and take.
07:05It was all give.
07:06No, this is, like I said, they're telling you this is our cornerstone.
07:09Are they saying anything to C.J. Stroud?
07:12Absolutely, yes.
07:13We take care of it.
07:15You mentioned it here.
07:16They take care of their guys that they believe in and fall in line with what they want to be.
07:21C.J. Stroud, in my opinion, will not get any contract this year,
07:25and he will not see the same or hear the same breaking news thing with C.J. Stroud.
07:30I think they're just going to wait it out.
07:31It's a message to him as well.
07:33Maybe so.
07:33If you're just tuning in, Will Anderson Jr., guaranteed for, I think, another, at this point,
07:39what, five years from now?
07:41Because he still has the fourth year of his rookie contract this season.
07:45The 2027 season will be his fifth-year option season, in which he makes, what, just under $25 million?
07:49Is that what it is?
07:50Yes.
07:50And then you have this three-year, $150 million extension, in which he gets a no-trade clause as well.
07:58And so, yeah, Will Anderson Jr., for the foreseeable future, is a Houston Texan buy-and-buy,
08:04and I'm excited about that, if nothing else.
08:07That is a really fun thing.
08:08Yeah, I'm looking at it now.
08:102026, cap hit of 11, 2027 club option, cap hit of 21, so it'll be 2028 when this hits.
08:18Okay.
08:18Yeah.
08:19Interesting stuff.
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