We’re in a time of Houston Texans football where we’re discussing potentially large contracts for some of their star players. What kind of contracts CJ Stroud, Tank Dell, Derek Stingley Jr, Jalen Pitre, and Will Anderson will receive? That doesn’t include any of their current rookies either, who if they perform well to begin their careers, will get a lot of money as well.
Houston has already started handing out contracts to their draft picks, with Nico Collins just recently signing a new contract extension. And they’ve also given out big contracts in the past couple of years to players they didn’t draft, like Joe Mixon, Danielle Hunter, and Dalton Schultz.
How often do big contracts work out for the Texans in history? In their short 22 years of existence, the Texans have a pretty solid batting average when it comes to handing out big money. However, as with all 31 other teams, there are some huge misses too. With how well the Texans are playing now, it’s easier to forget about those failures and look at the success they’ve had with multi-year contracts.
This Texans' regime did something previous regimes couldn’t spend their money wisely. This off-season they used their cap space to bring in both quality depth players, and stars to fill out their roster. So, as we sit here without much Texans football happening until July when training camp opens, let’s take a look back in Texans history and look at the top three biggest contracts they’ve ever handed out.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson (4 years/$156M in 2020)
Deshaun Watson was the Texans' first-round pick in 2017, and their first quarterback selected since David Carr in 2002. Watson had an elite career in Houston. Totaling 14,539 yards, 104 touchdowns, 36 interceptions, and 17 rushing touchdowns in his short four seasons with the team. After the 2019 season where he totaled 3,852 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions, the Texans signed Watson to a mega four-year/$156M deal.
As it stands right now, the Texans fleeced the Cleveland Browns in that trade, and Houston set themselves up for not only long-term success but short-term as well by shipping off their franchise cornerstone.
Watson has had an up-and-down seven-year career so far, but Texans fans should rejoice knowing they got the best version of Deshaun Watson since he left Clemson, and were able to replace him with CJ Stroud. Watson led Houston to two division championships and two playoff appearances in his time in Houston, and it felt like he and Deandre Hopkins would be the league's next top duo.
Wherever Deshaun Watson’s career winds up from here, one thing is for certain. He was a bright light in Houston Texans football at a time when they were just a quarterback away from contending.
Defensive end JJ Watt (6 years/$100M in 2014)
JJ Watt was everything Texans fans would have hoped for, and then some. From the time he was a rookie in 2011, to his final season in Houston in 2020, Watt was someone you had to game plan against week after week. During his time with the Texans, he totaled 101 sacks, 531 tackles, 25 forced fumbles, and even caught three touchdowns. After totaling 36.5 sacks in his first three seasons, Houston rewarded Watt with his mega extension that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback.
Houston’s record-setting contract to Watt was at the time crazy to give to a non-skill position player or quarterback at that. However, as time went on, and he won multiple Defensive Player of the Year, All-Pro, and Sack Leader awards, among others, that contract would turn out to be cheap.
Watt abruptly asked for his release before free agency in 2021, going down as the best Texans pass rusher in history and a top 5 overall player in team history. While he has said recently he’s open to a return “if Demeco Ryans needs it”, he seems to be enjoying retirement too much to come back. His football career will end with a trip to Canton in the not-too-distant future.
Wide receiver Deandre Hopkins (5 years/$81M in 2017)
Deandre Hopkins was unguardable his entire Texans career, up until that wild trade that sent him to the Arizona Cardinals. During his Texans career, Hopkins totaled 8,602 yards and 54 touchdowns on 632 receptions. He would also accumulate three First-Team All-Pro nominations, one Second-Team All-Pro, and was the NFL’s touchdown leader in 2017. Hopkins was coming off back-to-back years with 1,210 yards and 1,521 yards when Houston gave him his contract extension.
At the time of his contract extension, the only other wide receiver Houston gave that much money to was Andre Johnson. In 2010 Houston gave Johnson a contract worth 7 years/$67.8M. After his blockbuster trade to the Cardinals, Texans fans are left wondering how far that team could have gone if they stuck together for a few more years.
Now, coming off a 1,000-yard season, Texans fans will have to face their former star wide receiver twice a year. Hopkins is out for revenge this season after posting to Twitter/X calling out NFL executives who have called him washed. It’s certainly fair to assume he’s circled these two games on his calendar.