Justin Houston rumors: Chiefs hope for mid-season extension, deal unlikely
By Hayden Kane
Justin Houston is in a position to get paid this off-season. The Kansas City Chiefs will try to lock him up with a contract extension mid-season, but a deal is unlikely.
The Kansas City Chiefs would like to sign elite pass rusher Justin Houston to a contract extension before the end of the season. That would allow them to avoid a situation where he is set to hit free agency, a scenario that would likely force the Chiefs to use the franchise tag.
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The Chiefs tried to lock Houston up to an extension this past off-season, to no avail. Jason La Canfora of CBS reports that the Chiefs are going to try again, this time mid-season, to sign Houston to a multi-year deal. Those efforts are not likely to be successful.
"Retaining elite pass rusher Justin Houston remains a top priority for the Kansas City Chiefs, who attempted to get a deal done this summer, and they intend to renew negotiations with him soon, but a deal remains highly unlikely, sources said.…The sides did not come close to bridging their substantial gaps in the preseason and that’s unlikely to change now, sources said, but with Smith’s deal done the Chiefs want to take another attempt at trying to resolve this situation prior to the offseason."
La Canfora also notes that this all seems to point to a franchise tag situation, meaning the Chiefs would be on the hook for $13 million to keep Houston in 2015.
Joel Corry makes the following additional point about a contract for Houston because pass-rushing is his primary skill:
@JasonLaCanfora J.J. Watt & Robert Quinn's deals didn't make it any easier for KC to extend Houston even though he's a pass rushing OLB.
— Joel Corry (@corryjoel) October 12, 2014
As a reminder: Watt’s deal was six years, $100 million, with $51 million guaranteed and an annual average hit of over $16 million (per Spotrac). Quinn’s deal is probably a better barometer: four years, $57 million, $41 million guaranteed, and an annual average hit of about $14 million (also per Spotrac).
The Chiefs seem to be willing to open up their wallets to get a deal done. It will just be a matter of timing and how much Justin Houston wants to use his leverage to get even more money in a deal.
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