As the second week of the league's free agency frenzy kicked off, the Houston Texans continued the action by taking care of someone in-house.
Cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. agreed to an NFL record 3-year extension worth $90 million, including a whopping $89 million guaranteed. This was yet another record-setting contract, this offseason, which continues to reshape and reset the market all over.
We've seen a handful of different positions get totally reset this offseason, and Stingley helped do it again at the cornerback position. With the salary cap continuing to rise each year, the Texans took their shot and got it done at what they believed was the right time.
One former Texans defender and legend, JJ Watt, certainly loved seeing the news on Monday morning.
JJ Watt approves of the Texans' big contract with Derek Stingley Jr.
Watt saw the news via ESPN's Adam Schefter on social media and had the perfect reply. He reacted with two words and an emoji.
"Good business," Watt responded, with an emoji of a padlock.
The emoji seemed to be two-fold. First of all, Stingley is the team's lock-down corner, so the emoji naturally made sense. But, in getting the deal done, the Texans ensured they had one of their top players locked down.
Watt's simple creativity made all the sense in the world.
Going back to the financial side of things, Watt's not wrong. This is good business. Look at the deal Patrick Surtain II just received last year, paying him an annual average of $24 million. When it's time for him to negiate an extension, he's going to want more than Stingley. You can bet on that.
Another thing you can bet on? New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner is coming up on his time for a new contract, as well, and he's going to want above and beyond what Stingley just received.
In the matter of a year's time, or so, this Stingley contract isn't going to look all that crazy. The cap will only keep rising. Other corners will only continue to make more. This was, as Watt put it, simply good business.