With the NFL Draft just a few days away, Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio took care of an important off-season action item on Friday afternoon, signing All Pro defensive end and Defensive Player of the Year runner up WIll Anderson to a massive three-year, $150 million contract extension.
The deal includes $134 million guaranteed money and a “no trade” clause (a rarity for a non-quarterback), and it makes Anderson the highest paid non-quarterback in the sport. Anderson’s $50 million average annual value (AAV) skyrockets past the previous high non-QB AAV of $46.5 million, which was the amount Micah Parsons signed for when he was traded to Green Bay last summer.
Anderson’s contract extension was widely expected to be coming down the pipe this spring. If anything, it probably took longer than most expected. Last year, the Texans signed Derek Stingley to a market setting extension on March 18, 2025. Here are a few more thoughts on this massive move for the Texans and Anderson:
The Caserio Method was in full effect here
Like Stingley’s deal a year ago (3 years, $90 million, $89 million guaranteed), Anderson’s deal is for a shorter than usual term, but for a very high AAV, with a majority of the deal guaranteed. If and when a contract extension comes for quarterback C.J. Stroud, it will likely look similar to these. Caserio has no problem resetting the salary level for a position or even an entire market, he just doesn’t want to be boxed in for five or six years at those rates. This approach has served the Texans well.
Will Anderson, Jr. is the safest bet in football
If you’re going to pick an NFL player to whom you give this deal, there is no safer bet in the world than Anderson. From the time Anderson set foot in NRG Stadium on his pre-draft visit, which DeMeco Ryans has referred to as the best visit a player has ever had, he’s taken the building and the league by storm. He’s improved every season, and he’s an exemplary leader in the building. There’s a reason Ryans proactively brings up Anderson as the model after whom every player should pattern their routine.
Another reminder that the Texans plundered the Cardinals in that 2023 trade
When the Texans traded up from the 12th overall pick in 2023 to the 3rd overall pick in that draft, it was widely viewed as an overpay. Experts around the league were very skeptical that a defensive end would ever justify a team giving up the top pick in the second round and a first round pick the next season to move up nine spots. As we all know now, if anything, the Texans may have underpaid based on Anderson’s first three seasons. Anderson is veering quickly into J.J. Watt territory. Hopefully, he stays healthier than Watt did.
Who’s next?
Anderson’s deal is easily the biggest piece of business that Caserio will do this offseason, UNLESS the team actually does a contract with Stroud this summer. If that were to happen, the deal would probably exceed $50 million AAV. More likely, it appears the two sides, Stroud and the team, will push things off to the 2027 offseason. Stroud’s uneven performance the last two seasons, particularly this past postseason, are cause for causation, if not concern. Other players to keep an eye on for contract extensions could be linebackers Henry To’o To’o (on a much, much smaller deal than Anderson’s, obviously) and Azeez Al-Shaair, who are both in the final year of their deals.
