Houston Texans: Laremy Tunsil is signaling to be highest-paid NFL OL

The Houston Texans are currently in talks with left tackle Laremy Tunsil on a contract extension. What’s the latest? Let’s take a look and find out.

It’s full-steam ahead for the Houston Texans as they work to try to get this team assembled for the upcoming season, whenever that start may be. It’s a long way away from now but with the world’s fight against a global pandemic, the timeline certainly remains uncertain.

There is some chance that the training schedule in the offseason being disrupted because of the United States aggressively adopting social distancing measures in their fight against COVID-19. If this continues not only through this month — that’s a given — but through May, you better believe that will be delayed.

Could this pause on sports delay training camp as well? There’s just so many unanswered questions. The most important thing is that we focus on a lot of ill people getting well once again and for tireless efforts of our first responders — our frontline heroes — the doctors, nurses, police officers, firemen, paramedics which all have come together with unique synergies to fight the good fight.

Sports will come back but it’s most important that we focus on saving as many lives as we can.

But while the battle is being fought in our nation’s healthcare facilities, there’s another one going on between left tackle Laremy Tunsil and the Houston Texans.

According to the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson, Tunsil has engaged with the Houston Texans in early talks to get an extension done.

There has been nothing finalized just yet but both sides are anticipating getting a deal done. The Houston Texans have reportedly offered him a deal around $18.5 million a season but Tunsil wants a contract somewhere along the lines of $20 million per season.

If Tunsil gets what he wants, this will make him the highest-paid offensive lineman in the NFL and that’s certainly what he’s signaling to this franchise, although he has not been verbal with it. As the old adage goes, actions speak louder than words.

His deal could potentially eclipse Lane Johnson‘s — currently the highest — where the right tackle is currently on a four-year, $72 million deal, earning $18 million per season.

Tunsil is going into his final season of the deal he agreed upon as a rookie, where he’ll earn at least $10.4 million.

It’s unclear if Tunsil will be handling the negotiating himself or with counsel as he recently fired his agent, having been represented by CAA since his pro career had started.

But nonetheless, Wilson does indicate that they want to get deals done not only for Tunsil but for quarterback Deshaun Watson — that we already know is imminent — but also for inside linebacker Zach Cunningham, who is going into the final season of his rookie deal.

Tunsil is the kind of offensive lineman that you pay the big bucks for and he’s going to be worth

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every penny. It’s hard to find exceptional talent in his regard and he must be compensated accordingly for it. I ultimately think that Tunsil will be able to get what he wants and we’ll all be happy for it.

But it’s not always about the money as it has been reported that Tunsil will donate $250K — a quarter of a million dollars — to coronavirus relief, which is a selfless and admiring act by the budding, larger-than-life lineman.

He allowed just three sacks last season but the double-digit penalties — mostly false starts — are the ones we remember most. A lot of that was attributed to him learning a new system right at the start of the season and things seemed to iron out over the course of the season.

I’m absolutely positive that we won’t see as much of that going into this season.

Next. Texans apparently have a Plan B for the offense without Hop. dark

We’ll have to see how it goes but there’s no question that we’re going to see Tunsil here for bonus rounds and for a long time.

For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s Web site or the Web site for your state’s Department of Health.

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