BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Texans' J.J. Watt Signs Record $100 Million Contract

This article is more than 9 years old.

J.J. Watt entered the NFL in 2011 during the first year of the league's new collective bargaining agreement. The new CBA reigned in salaries, particularly for rookie contracts which were capped. Watt signed a four-year deal with the Houston Texans worth $11.3 million as the No. 11 pick in the draft. The 11th pick in the 2010 draft, offensive tackle Anthony Davis, had penned a five-year deal worth $37.5 million with the San Francisco 49ers. The rules of the new CBA were clear: you had to perform to get paid.

Saying Watt has performed is akin to saying Michael Jackson sold a few records in his heyday. Watt has been an unstoppable force his first three years in the league and will get his reward Tuesday when he signs an extension with the Texans. The deal, first reported by the Houston Chronicle, is worth $100 million over six years and is a record among defensive players for average annual value and guaranteed money of $51.9 million. The previous highs in those categories were by former Texans defensive end Mario Williams, who signed a six-year, $96 million free agent deal with the Buffalo Bills in 2012 with $50 million in guarantees.

The NFL's salary cap often makes ascertaining total contract values more art than science, but there have now been 19 $100 million contracts for NFL players and Watt is only the second defensive player to land one. Defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth signed a seven-year, $100 million deal with the Washington Redskins in 2009. Haynesworth was traded after two troubled years in D.C. and collected only a fraction of his overall pact.

Watt receives a $10 million signing bonus and his base salary this year will be $907,385. His base jumps to $9.969 million in 2015. There is expected to be a news conference on Tuesday at the Texans' home, NRG Stadium, to announce the signing.

Watt has 36.5 sacks since he joined the Texans, including 31 the past two seasons. He won the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year award in 2012 when he racked up 20.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and 16 passes defended, an astonishing number of knockdowns for a defensive lineman. ESPN polled 85 experts for its annual ranking of the best NFL players and Watt was comfortably No. 1 among defensive players for the second straight year. Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman ranked second this year among defenders.

The NFL salary cap has not budged much over the past few years with the average salary stuck around $2 million, but the NFL's stars continue to cash in. The NFL's top 15 earners banked $307 million in salary and bonuses over the last year led by quarterbacks Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford. But the cap is headed way up and then means even more cash for the top players. The league's salary cap jumped $10 million this season to $133 million and some experts think it could hit $160 million by 2016. Credit new TV deals that kick off this season and are expected to reach more than $200 million annually per club by 2016. The new TV deals and recent sky-high sale prices for franchises in major markets pushed up the average NFL team value 23% this year to a record $1.43 billion.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInSend me a secure tip