Texans Hoping To Get Extensions Done With Deshaun Watson & Zach Cunningham Before Season

John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Texans are hoping to sign QB Deshaun Watson and ILB Zach Cunningham to extensions before the start of the 2020 season.

Houston has restructured three player’s contracts in recent weeks to boost their available cap space to over $20 million.

Watson is next in line for a massive contract extension after the Chiefs locked up QB Patrick Mahomes to a record 10-year extension worth up to $503 million last month. Mahomes’ deal includes $477 million in rolling guarantees over the next 12 years agreement. 

Watson, 24, was taken in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft by the Texans. He signed a four-year, $13.854 million with the Texans and will make a base salary of $1.17 million for the 2020 season.

Houston picked up Watson’s fifth-year option a few weeks ago worth around $17.3 million for the 2021 season.

In 2019, Watson appeared in 15 games for the Texans and completed 67.3 percent of his passes for 3,852 yards with 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also rushed for 413 yards and seven touchdowns.

Cunningham, 25, is a former second-round pick of the Texans back in 2017. He’s currently in the final year of his four-year, $4.471 million contract and stands to make a base salary of $1.07 million for the 2020 season.

Cunningham is in line to be an unrestricted free agent next year.

In 2019, Cunningham appeared in all 16 games for the Texans and recorded 141 tackles, two sacks, two recoveries and two passes defended.

We’ll have more regarding the Texans as the news is available.