The Houston Texans and defensive end J.J. Watt have reportedly reached an agreement on a long-term contract extension that will keep Watt in Houston for the foreseeable future.
According to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle, the Texans and Watt agreed in principle to a deal on Monday night.
Despite having two years remaining on his rookie contract, the two sides were able to come together on terms of a contract extension.
McClain reports the deal is a six-year extension worth $100 million with $51.876 million guaranteed. It’s the largest amount of guaranteed money ever given to a defensive player, surpassing the $50 million given to Mario Williams by the Buffalo Bills.
Watt has been arguably the best defensive player in football the last two seasons. Watt has amassed 161 tackles and 31 sacks with 23 passes defended and eight forced fumbles over that span. He earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2012 after posting 20.5 sacks on the year.
Watt was scheduled to make just $1.9 million in base salary this season. It’s a fairly safe assumption to believe he’s now going to make significantly more this season and into the future.
Per McClain, receiver Andre Johnson is the only other Texans player to get a new contract with two years left on his current contract.