Whitney Mercilus named Texans most underpaid player

Whitney Mercilus deserves a raise.

One player on the Houston Texans’ roster that has outplayed his contract is outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus.

Danny Kelly of The Ringer has named Mercilus has the Texans’ most underpaid player heading into the upcoming season.

"Mercilus racked up 29.5 total quarterback pressures, just one fewer than teammate Jadeveon Clowney and 20th among all pass rushers league-wide. That put him above Calais Campbell, Jason Pierre-Paul, Chandler Jones, Fletcher Cox, and Malik Jackson in that category, all of whom are playing on deals in the $60 million–to–$100 million range."

Mercilus signed a new five-year deal in 2015, but is only scheduled to make $4.5 million in 2017. which is quite a bargain for the Texans.

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Mercilus should easily be making around $10 million a year.

With Mercilus’ current deal is not expected to run out until 2020, the Texans will have him around for the next few years at a bargain rate.

Mercilus is currently the 21st highest paid outside linebacker in the NFL. He’s behind players like Brandon Graham, K.J. Wright, Brian Orakpo, Bruce Irvin, Sean Less and many others.

It’s hard to argue that the players I just listed are more talented than Mercilus.

Of course you could argue that having teammates like Jadeveon Clowney and J.J. Watt, make things a lot easier for Mercilus.

Comment below and tell us whether you agree that Mercilus is underpaid.