JJ Watt has established himself as one of the best overall defensive players in the NFL. The Houston Texans have benefitted from having the top defensive end and look to continue the relationship for many years to come. However, the used their No. 1 overall draft pick on another defensive end, Jadeveon Clowney. Will the rookie hurt upcoming contract negotiations for Watt?
The Texans picked up the fifth-year option for Watt, securing the star for at least two more years and buying their time before his next contract. According to owner Bob McNair, the Texans have no plans on letting Watt walk away despite the addition of Clowney and will sign the defensive end to a nice contract in due time.
"It's going to be a big contract," McNair said, via ESPN.com. "If we can do something with him that makes sense for the team to do it early, we'll certainly do it. It has to make sense for us. The team comes first. We want to keep all of our players. We want to take care of all or our players, but the team comes first. We want him here for a long time. We protected Andre Johnson, given him long-term contracts. Brian Cushing's got a long-term contract. Arian Foster. So certain key players, core players, we've tried not to tie them up for a long period of time. Mario [Williams] is gone; we just couldn't do that."
McNair hinted that a franchise tag was an option for the defensive. The two sides attempted to negotiate a new contract prior to organized team activities beginning, but those never truly took off. The issue becomes Clowney and what he means for Watt's next contract. Most believe he should be the highest-paid defense player in the league, but will the rookie hurt his value with Houston? If Clowney excels, will Houston make Watt a priority or will they simply hold off and tag him? Watt loses his leverage.
"You don't have any leverage when you're a player," Joel Corry said, via CBSSports.com. "And if you're going to do a deal early, the player is going to have to be comfortable with the fact his deal won't keep place with the market over time. Structurally, it's going to be very team-friendly. So you're going to be getting a wholesale deal at that point because you can't expect a team to pay retail value before you potentially have any type of free agency."
The Texans want and need to keep Watt around for the long-term, but must be prepared to pay him a lot of money or else the defensive end could head elsewhere in the future. Watt will not be looking to take any kind of discount as he heads into his first big deal.
