The Texans signed linebacker Zach Cunningham to a four-year extension over the weekend to check off one of the two boxes on their contract to-do list.
The other box is the one next to quarterback Deshaun Watson’s name. Watson is heading into his fourth season and poised to cash in with a deal that will push him to the top of the quarterback market.
Word has been that the team wants to get that deal done before the start of the regular season. We’re a little more than a week away from the Texans taking on the Chiefs and head coach/General Manager Bill O’Brien’s Monday update on where things stand was short on details.
“I think, look, obviously we feel good about where we’re at as a team,” O’Brien said, via a transcript of his videoconference. “We feel like we have a lot of, like I said earlier, we’ve got a lot of dependable, tough, smart guys and they get along well. They want to be here. Houston’s a great city. They want to live here and they want to represent this city. Like I’ve said all along, I don’t really want to get into specific contract talks but quite obviously we want Deshaun Watson to be here for a long time. He’s had a great training camp, he’s a great player and we’re going to work hard to get that done.”
While discussing the Cunningham extension, O’Brien said that he didn’t think “it necessarily had to be before the season” so next Thursday night may not represent a deadline for Watson’s talks either.