The Houston Chronicle reports that the Houston Texans “top priority” heading into the offseason will be to re-sign free agent OLB Mario Williams to long-term contract.
“Anybody who knows anything about our team knows how significant Mario’s contribution has been,” GM Rick Smith said. “We would love to have him back. It goes without saying he’s one of our best players.”
Williams only played in five games this season while in a new defensive system but he managed to tally five sacks and a forced fumble during this time. Houston’s defensive front-seven has become one of the strengths of the team and that’s without Williams so they intend to invest heavily in that area.
“We’ve got some constraints with the salary cap, so we’ve got some challenges,” said Smith.
You can probably rule out the Texans using the franchise tag on Williams because it would push is salary up to $22.9 million. Last year Williams made $18 million so a new deal would most likely reduce that number to a more reasonable figure that the team can work with.
Williams has said that he would like to remain with the team but it will be interesting to see it’s actually a realistic idea. We have Williams listed as the #11 best available free agent in our Top 50 Free Agents list.
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