Houston Texans: Timing not right for a Whitney Mercilus extension

The Houston Texans are undergoing one of their busiest off seasons in franchise history as it works to pick itself from the bootstraps to the next level with a new regime in place. A lot has been had on the free agency market to say the least but what about our own guys? Whitney Mercilus may be up for an extension this season but the timing is not quite right. Let’s take a look to examine further.

The Houston Texans have been witnesses of the most dominant defensive unit in its existence. Stars like J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney, Benardrick McKinney coupled with free agency add-ons in Tyrann Mathieu and Aaron Colvin could help work make this unit one to behold for quite some time moving forward.

D.J. Reader, Zach Cunningham, Christian Covington and Dylan Cole are coming along just fine which will help with the depth of this team. Eventually these guys won’t be cheap as they are now and some tough decisions will have to be made on whether or not to keep the band together. Luckily, just a chosen few are up on the docket at this time but it’s certainly something to be concerned about long-term.

But here’s the skinny on the latest. It’s been long talked about that the Houston Texans want to do a long-term contract extension for Clowney and a deal is expected to get done before the start of the season.

However, Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports reported that the Houston Texans are also dead-set in getting outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus signed to an extension as well:

Also re #Texans, the team has made it a priority to extend Whitney Mercilus as well, before next season, per source.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) April 5, 2018

This news comes as quite surprising as I didn’t think the Houston Texans thought it would be as high of priority as it would at the end of next season. Mercilus is currently working off a four-year, $26 million extension — $10.5 million guaranteed — that he signed back in 2015, with his current deal expiring before the start of the 2020 season.

Mercilus would earn a base salary of $4.75 million this season as well as $5.75 million in 2019 so

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it’s understandable that he and his camp would be anxious to get a deal done. But it’s tough to gauge who initiated what but the main focus is to ensure that this guy doesn’t have a smidgen of a chance to hit free agency.

With the latest rumors of Clowney’s deal to be worth an estimated value up $18.5 million per season up to five years, the Houston Texans will be shelling out the cash for one of the league’s premier defensive players. With that proposed deal, he’d certainly be the highest-paid, non-quarterback in the NFL.

The team should have a bit over $30 million remaining to spend in 2018, nearly $60 million in 2019 and a whopping $112 million in 2020, the Texans certainly have the cash to do it. But is it a priority to get an extension on Mercilus now?

Some may so but I don’t think it is. I’d table it until early next off season and I think he could get a better deal at that time, especially if he performs well in 2018, which is expected. The franchise will be under pressure to prevent him from walking so he has a bigger opportunity to not only secure a nice payday for himself but for the Texans to be able to work out a deal that’s cost-effective on the balance sheet.

One can make every case to get Mercilus’ deal done early but I think patience would be an important virtue as we watch him return from his pectoral injury that he sustained last season. This injury is not expected to hamper him long-term but I’d still like to play the waiting game and see with him.

Next: A look inside the off season schedule

I honestly think that would be the most prudent approach at this time.

Let’s hope for the best and I certainly hope that he’s locked in with the Texans for a bit longer as he continues his ascent in his career.

Mercilus, 27, amassed nine tackles, 1.0 sack and one forced fumble through five starts in 2017 before his injury.

Go Texans.

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