Houston Texans: Extending Benardrick McKinney is a surprising move

The Houston Texans have extended starting middle linebacker Benardrick McKinney. Let’s take a look at this surprising yet, excellent move.

On June 14th, the Houston Texans dolled out $50 million over five years to middle linebacker Benardrick McKinney. However, only $21 million of is guaranteed. The three-year pro has been a key player for the Texans drafted him out of Mississippi State.

After the Houston Texans released Brian Cushing earlier in the offseason, it was obvious a McKinney extension was on the way. Cushing has been injury prone for the last several seasons. This forced McKinney into a leadership role rapidly.

While JJ Watt, Jadeveon Clowney, and even Whitney Mercilus may garner the headlines, McKinney is a stalwart and the quarterback of this defense. He took over play-calling duties when Cushing got suspended this year. When Cushing came back, McKinney kept those duties.

The 6’4″, 260-pound linebacker is an absolute force up the middle. In his sophomore season, he registered 129 tackles, five sacks, and a forced fumble. All of that was good for a second-team All-Pro nod.

Brain Gaine said this to Aaron Wilson on McKinney.

"“Leadership and production. No. 2, he plays a core position. If you’re playing the Mike linebacker role, you’re commanding the huddle, you’re leading the huddle. Production matters, but also the fact that we feel like he’s built to last. We feel that he meets the height, weight, speed parameters that we want in the role, but he is now the guy that leads the huddle. That’s a big hole to fill now with Brian Cushing gone. So, we are expecting big things from a leadership standpoint and perhaps now he’s ready to do that.”"

So, why is this a surprising move for the Houston Texans?

Like I said earlier, the fact that this move was coming down the pipe was obvious. When you release your all-time leading tackler, you have to have confidence in someone else. McKinney is that man and he will be for a long time.

This is an excellent move but, it is a surprising one.

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The reason this move is surprising is that Clowney remains unextended. I wrote previously that the next move the Houston Texans needed to make was to extend Clowney. In fact, Clowney has also stated that he wants to be a member of the Houston Texans for life.

So, the fact that the Texans have yet to extend Clowney is a little shocking. However, it makes sense when you parse through it. The Clowney deal will likely be the biggest defensive contract in history. Thus, it is sure to be more complicated and have more details to work out.

Regardless of Clowney, extending McKinney is an absolutely excellent move by the Houston Texans organization. Gaine locked down a young, athletic player that is an incredible football player for this defense.

Five years and $50 million is a great price to pay for his talents. This deal compares favorably to one given to Lavonte David. David is a similarly athletic and skilled linebacker.

Next: An early look at the defensive depth chart

So, extending McKinney is a phenomenal move. It is surprising only in the fact that it came before Clowney’s. Now, McKinney will be a Texan for a long time. This deal is great for him and the Houston Texans.

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