Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast discuss if the way Caserio and the Texans handled the Stingley extension may be a tell as to how they'll handle potential extensions for quarterback C.J. Stroud and defensive end Will Anderson Jr. when the time comes.
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00:00The Houston Texans have agreed to a contract extension
00:08with Derrick Steers. 90 million bucks, 89 million guaranteed. I would love to know where that
00:14one million, like that sliver of one million that's not guaranteed is.
00:18I'll ask Texans Cap about that because Daniel Hunter, it seemed pretty similar,
00:22there's probably a one million that has to be, I don't know, earned or something. I don't know,
00:27who knows? It's like Nick's like, I'm not going to guarantee a hundred percent.
00:33I'm no sucker. All right. You're not a lizard. I'm not talking to Jim Brown here. Okay. You're
00:37a good young football player, but I'm not going to go the full Monty. You know,
00:41what's funny about that is that there probably is a stigma on the fully guaranteed contracts
00:47since Deshaun got his from Cleveland a few years ago. You know, like there may be a stigma on that.
00:52Like, look, don't worry everybody. We've got it out. Yeah. Canner in that million dollars.
00:57Yeah. There's a word. We're going to get that million back someday. All right. We'll get that
01:000.35% of the cap back. Don't you worry about it? About a thing. All right. No, I like this deal
01:05though. And by and large, it looks like Texan fans really like this deal too. People weighing
01:09in. I love the Stingley contract. Bring on the Hornets nest. Is that what we're calling it?
01:14I like the kill zone. It's in contention. Hornets nest, the kill zone. Yeah. I think
01:18people were worried with the kill zone that it would just be, it's just too easy to be come
01:23up at an inappropriate time. Yeah. Uh, what would various things that happen these days? Yeah. Yeah.
01:28I admit boy, but the kill zone does sound better than it's bad-ass man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh,
01:34counterpoint on the text page, Jim Adler, the Texas hammer text line. I wouldn't guarantee a
01:39Stingley contract, Sean. I'm from LSU and I have a good memory. I could see where you'd be a little
01:45little scarred of your, well, and that's where the short term part of it comes in.
01:49Not, not that it all of a sudden erases Derrick Stingley's lengthy injury history. The he's had
01:55two healthy seasons since he got to college football, 2019 his freshman year. And then
02:01last year in 2024 there, uh, without doing all the math, that's more unhealthy seasons
02:07than healthy seasons by, by a long stretch. So this is where two things I think you got to take
02:15into account. One is that as it happens with some younger players, I remember I played with Fred
02:20Taylor. Fred Taylor was injured a lot in his first few years in the league. And he figured some
02:26things out about the way to handle his body, the way to handle recovery and rehab and all that.
02:31And ended up being way more durable in the second half. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, and it does
02:37happen. It happens with younger players all the time on the baseball side of things, Carlos Correa
02:42learned how to manage it to where after a while, the only thing that was injuring him was a massage
02:47therapist, allegedly. And, uh, then whatever that anomaly in his leg was. Right. So I'm,
02:53I'm cautiously optimistic that last year's version of singly a more durable and healthy
02:58one is the one that we're going to see. But that is also why these short term contracts,
03:05like you gave to Danielle Hunter, like you did with Nico Collins, like they did with Laramie
03:09tonsil a couple of times. They're appetizing to the team because you cover your butt a little bit
03:14on the injury side of things. The carrot on the stick for the player is all right. I'm making
03:18top of the market right now. But then in a couple of years when the salary cap is
03:26increased yet, doesn't going to be as competitive. If I just keep playing my ass off,
03:30then I can get another deal like this, either with the Texans or elsewhere.
03:34So it's, it covers a lot of the concerns and, or, you know, productive greed of either side.
03:40Does it bother you that it was so much higher than the next closest one? I mean, this is
03:44a 20% bump over what the previous high was that was signed a week ago with JC horn and 30 going
03:53from 25 million all the way up to 30 million. No, I like it without doing any thinking about it,
04:00but that's, but that's the irrational side of me. I mean, to be clear, I think Stingley is 20%
04:04better than JC horn. We know how these markets work. So that's where on the practical side of
04:09things, I think it makes sense that I, I think that Casario might realize that yeah, JC horns
04:16deal. Isn't going to be the one that sets the market and that you're going to be up around
04:2130 million per year regardless. So let's, let's be the first in like they did with Nico Collins
04:28last year and maybe by the end of next off season, there's a really good chance that this
04:33looks like a relative bargain because the, the, the salaries are going to go up that much.
04:38Two front offices that are cursing Nick Casario today, the jets and the chiefs,
04:44you've got sauce Gardner and Trent McDuffie, both extension eligible. And they've both been
04:51decorated in that same strata of cornerback that Derek Stingley currently resides in. So those two
04:57front offices are not happy with, they were probably planning on 25.2 million or whatever it was.
05:06Derek's thing might be, it's all for two things with the Texans as we're kind of looking
05:10forward here. Okay. This is the first like really big market setting contract that Nick Casario has
05:16done as the Texans GM. I either, maybe the tonsil extension qualifies as well, I guess, but I'm
05:21thinking more like young player coming off a rookie deal, second contract, big deal.
05:28Is this a tell for Willie Anderson jr. And CJ Stroud, if they keep playing at the level they're
05:33at, are we going to get the same tweet next summer or spring with Willie Anderson jr.
05:39Getting $42 million a year or whatever it is at that point. And CJ Stroud getting $62 million a
05:48year or whatever. Yeah, I think it's, I think it's very, very possible. And this is, this is
05:54one thing that I have always given Laramie tonsil credit for because I think it has been a good
05:59precedent to set on this team. So as much as we can talk about this, that, or the other with Laramie
06:04tonsil, it, he was very cool with signing extensions that were very short-term extensions.
06:11And then the second time he got a new contract from the Texans, it was kind of a proof of concept
06:17that, Hey, if the team likes what you're doing, they'll give you a new contract. So even after
06:22Laramie tonsil has gone, I do think there's a precedent on this team and an increasing precedent
06:26on other teams in the NFL that this is a good way to operate. Hey, Laramie tonsil did. And he's a
06:31guy that negotiates his own contracts and don't take no BS from nobody. All that that younger
06:38players see that and think that it does. And this is what I've long advocated that NFL players,
06:43if you want guaranteed contract or deal. And then what you also avoid is these annoying,
06:52incredibly annoying situations where a player decides two years into his five-year deal
06:57that he's underpaid and a no, that's not fair. It's not fair. I need more.
07:02Okay. It's a three-year deal. You're going to be, you're one of the top paid. Yes. If you play well,
07:07you're, you're going to, there's going to be other people that maybe you deserve more money then,
07:12but you're on a short-term contract. Just play it out and go be a free agent. Do you think that
07:17this contract look, cause they paid Stingley. If you missed it, and you're just tuning in
07:22Texans just signed Derek Stingley jr. To a monster extension, three years,
07:26$90 million, nearly every penny of a guaranteed 89 million guaranteed.
07:31So they paid Stingley. I think it's a, it's a given barring injury or some quirky
07:37underperformance that I don't think anybody sees coming with either guy.
07:41I think Willie Anderson jr. Is going to be a near, if not a market setting contract at edge
07:46rusher. I think CJ Stroud will be the next quarterback to get paid next summer. And that'll
07:51be in the $60 million range. They're going to have to steal from something in order to pay all these
07:57guys, Seth, like these tippy top contracts that they've not, they've not been in this neighborhood
08:02before with this regime. Like we're, you know, with Nick Casario at the controls, they've not
08:07lived in this world that like the Eagles and the chiefs live in where you're having to figure out
08:11which guys are going to be our 20 and $30 million guys. I do wonder if the offensive line is going
08:16to be the thing where not only is there a shift in the culture in that room, but is there a shift
08:20into how they prioritize paying offensive line? Like is that line as five average guys doing
08:30their job together? Is that the future of the Texans on the offensive line?
08:33Okay. So in calling it the Seth Payne offensive line, it's not like that's my dream. It's my dream
08:39for the baseline you have to get to right now. And beyond that, then yeah, you hopefully you draft
08:46the stud, you bring in some other guy develops into a stud, which tends to happen at the offensive
08:52line way more than at other positions. I, yeah, that makes a lot of sense, but I mean, it's,
08:59it's, it's always a good problem to have. It's that if you draft well,
09:04well, it's like the Astros. Yeah. You're going to have too many good players. And at some point
09:08you're gonna have to make some tough decisions. It's always, you know, and I think Laramie Tunsil
09:13fell into that boat of, all right, we're getting to a point where we've got to pay guys. We've got
09:18to keep cap space open. Is Laramie the exact guy that is worth keeping around and paying this money
09:25on this offensive line when they need so much, well, they need so much work altogether. And it
09:30was, I don't want to say easy to make that decision, but it was a hard decision that they
09:35felt most appropriate right now that obviously having just Laramie Tunsil on the offensive line
09:42was not turning it into a good offensive line. So if we can get compensation for him and clear
09:47up some cap space, we got to go about not just paying Derek Singley, but also finding five
09:52competent offensive linemen. Yep. Text message, Jim Adler, the Texas hammer text line. I think
09:57this contract makes the entire secondary hungry. If Stingley was motivated by Nico Collins,
10:02imagine Lassiter Bullock and Petrie. Yeah. It's a great point. I mean, that's, that,
10:10that is something that you can tell from the get-go with Nick is the GM. And I would imagine
10:15with D'Amico too, I think I've even heard D'Amico say something to this effect. They greatly value
10:21the Intel of being around a guy every day versus going out. Like Daniil Hunter is an exception to
10:28the rule in them giving 24, 25 million a year, even over just two years to a guy who's not been
10:35in the building. And I would imagine all the Intel they had on Daniil Hunter was over the moon really,
10:39really good. But there's a reason why, you know, for, for better or worse, like there's a reason
10:44why they paid Dalton Schultz three years, 36 million instead of dipping in and maybe going
10:48and getting a tight end that they didn't know anything about because they watched him work for
10:52that one year that he had the, the, the one-year prove it deal he was on. Now that one has not
10:56worked out thus far, but I think it's the same mindset that leads them to giving Nico Collins,
11:0124 million a year and leads him to giving Derek Stingley jr. The contract that they gave him today
11:06is that they watched this guy work in their ecosystem every single day. They value that Intel.
11:14If you think about boy, I mean, that's again, without putting the cart before the horse,
11:19those are nice problems to have when it comes to time to, if you've got multiple guys on the
11:23defense that have played up to that level to where they, I mean, you can't, you can't pay
11:28them all. Like at some point you're going to have to, you're going to have to pull another
11:31Laramie tonsil trade that maybe is a little bit more emotionally difficult. Yes. But that's a,
11:37that's a great problem to have as it's been with the Astros for the last several years.
11:41I know it's not fun right now with the Astros, but you got to remember that, that
11:46this is what can be good players on your team that you have that incredibly long
11:50world series window. So yeah, hopefully. So I, but I don't want to worry about it right now
11:55because they're not at that spot obviously, but it's definitely a good carrot on the stick for
11:59those guys. Hey, Sean and Seth, how much cap space do the Texans have now after the Stingley
12:03contract? I have no idea. I have no idea how the contract structure, they had 19 million coming
12:07into today. According to probably, it probably won't affect the cap much at all because these
12:13extensions don't kick in until the next year, usually. Right. So could be wrong on that,
12:18but like, I wouldn't, I don't think this will, I don't think this will matter all that much.
12:22So it'll be a three-year extension, but that doesn't include two. Have we seen any details
12:27on it? No details just in three years, 90 million. So we'll, I'm sure they'll, they'll,
12:32they'll trickle out today. Whatever the Jets and chiefs were thinking about giving sauce
12:36and McDuffie, they need to change their plans now because Stingley is, is better than both of them.
12:41Um, yeah, that's the deal. The problem is for those two teams is that I'm sure sauce Gardner
12:46thinks he's better than Derek Stingley jr. And I'm sure Trent McDuffie does as well. Um, so we
12:52all will see what happens, but the Texans, uh, Texans made life a little more difficult for
12:56those two teams today, probably. So if you look at Nico Collins, his deal, his, um, uh, dang it,
13:04his, his big money. I don't have it. Nevermind. I apologize. Okay. No worries. No worries. Um,
13:10you brought this up, I think during the break, sorry. Okay. Uh, Nico Collins, first year of big
13:15salary is 2026. Okay. So he redid his deal last year and his 2000, you know, his salary, his base
13:23salary in 2000. 25 is yeah. Yeah. And in 2002, Oh, that's right. They redid that. So I can't
13:30go back to the original. I think the big money was going to kick in this year. Uh, this come,
13:35this coming season, this coming year, a year after the rookie deals, they had redone the deal.
13:40So usually the, this first year, it's not Derek Stingley's deal probably isn't going to affect
13:45the way the Texans operate this season, or at least not, you know, obviously it's going to
13:49affect the way they plan and everything, but they still have cap space. It's not going to soak up a
13:53bunch of cap space. You brought up a good question. What is Daniel Hunter thinking right now?
13:56Cause there've been rumors of maybe them trying to extend him. He's a restructure
14:00candidate for sure. If they're trying to open up cap space, cause he's got a
14:03nearly fully guaranteed 24, $25 million deal this year, but man, the roof has been blown
14:10off some of these positional markets and his is one of them. Um, I would love to know what both
14:15sides are thinking right now, Daniel Hunter and the Houston Texans, if there's any sort of staring
14:19contest or if there's any conversation going on, um, is he a guy that the Texans, as they're
14:25putting a core together, like in the NFL, I think you can put a core together that you can feel good
14:29about being together for maybe three years. Like that's feels like the window, especially the
14:33window, the Texans seem to be operating in. I don't know that I want to tack three more years
14:37onto Daniel Hunter's deal, but I wonder if he's of mind, he wants to be here badly enough where
14:42he would tack, you know, another year at 30 something million onto it. It's a hard decision
14:47because he's everything that you want, but they also have a defensive end on the other side.
14:52That's going to be making a boatload of money most likely pretty soon. And I, if you're Nick,
14:58you almost got to hope that man, if they can, if they end up drafting a defensive end
15:07or that maybe they feel like they'll, uh, it's, they just don't want to commit that long
15:11term to a guy who's in his thirties, but they, it's not like they've been afraid to commit
15:16pretty big money to guys in their thirties before. Um, I would, yeah, I would lean toward,
15:20I would think this is what I would guess. I think Nick is cool with extending Daniel Hunter
15:25for maybe one more year, but the Daniel Hunter is thinking, all right, I'm only one year older
15:30than miles Garrett. And if I'm going to be a free agent at the end of this season,
15:35I'm just going to go ahead and see what's out there. We'll see if the Texans want to pony back
15:38up as a free agent, whatever it might be. Yeah. I mean, I, that I would have to want to be here
15:43really, really badly to forego one last dip into the pool of a market where the ceiling has now
15:49become 40. And it doesn't mean that Daniel Hunter's getting 40 million bucks, but it does
15:53mean he's probably getting way more than the 24 that he's currently getting. Plus we got to
15:57remember Daniel's only been, he's been living back at home for a year now. And sometimes when
16:02you first move back to your hometown, it's, Oh yeah, this is awesome, man. Oh boy. It's great
16:09being around family. And then after a while you remember like, Oh boy, I'm really just around
16:14family now, aren't I?
16:21It happens. I don't know. I don't know. I don't, I don't know how it is for him. Yeah. I'm it's,
16:26it's a, it's a curiosity, man. I'm, I'm curious what's going on with that.