On Wednesday, July 26th, 2023 Tytus Howard agreed to a three-year, $56 million extension to his rookie contract with the Houston Texans. The deal includes $36.5 million guaranteed.
Howard has been the most consistent starting tackle opposite Pro-Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil for the last three seasons. According to ESPN’s pass block win rate rankings, Tytus Howard was the 6th highest-ranked offensive tackle last year with a 93% pass block win rate. Which is music to rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud’s ears that he will have Howard and Tunsil as his tackles for the next few years. He also started 15 games in 2021 as the left guard, so he is able to move around the offensive line if needed.
Texans LG Tytus Howard (71) and LT Laremy Tunsil (78) – Daniel Dunn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Solidifying the Offensive Line
With this extension, Howard avoids playing the season on his fifth-year option that was picked up by the Texans after they drafted him in the first round in 2019. Also, with this extension, all five projected starters for the offensive line are on contract through 2025 and 2026 if the Texans pick up the fifth-year option on first-round guard Kenyon Green. This solidifies this unit for the next three seasons, and unless one of these 5 big hogs underperform or can’t stay healthy the front office doesn’t have to worry much about drafting or signing offensive lineman in the off-season.
The offensive line will have an average age of 26 going into the season, with Shaq Mason turning 30 less than two weeks before Week 1 vs. Baltimore. Although they are young, they have a combined 271 regular season starts in the NFL. A new unit will always take time to gel together, but the amount of experience that three of the five linemen have will hopefully speed along that process. As this group learns how to play each other, they could really make an improvement from an offensive line group that was rated 17th in pass block win rate and 27th in run block win rate last season.
Texans RT Tytus Howard (71) – Jordon Kelly/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Houston front office knows how important a good offensive line is to win in the NFL. The starting offensive line accounts for just under $50 million in cap this season. Which at this time is third most in the NFL, and currently are in the top five for active roster cap hit from the offensive line in 2024 and 2025 after this extension of Howard. They see the opportunity they have with having their quarterback, running back, and top defensive weapons all on rookie contracts. They have over $62 million of the cap towards offensive linemen, which takes up 26.88% of the cap.
C.J. Stroud, Dameon Pierce, Will Anderson Jr., Derek Stingley Jr., and Jalen Pitre account for less than half of the cap space that the starting offensive line accounts for. Actually, they all account for less of a cap hit than Laremy Tunsil by himself this year. Of course, that will all change as the years go on, but for the time being, the Texans have the money to focus on protecting their young QB and RB, so they are doing it.
Players on One-Year Contracts
The offensive side of the ball is pretty locked up for the Texans now. 10 of the 11 projected starters are locked up through at least the 2024 season as well. Dalton Schultz is the only player on a one-year contract. However, on defense, five of the starters are in the last year or on one-year contracts. Would be six if you count the nickel corner as a starter. Also, both their kicker and punter are in the final year of their contracts.
So, there may be some more extensions coming from the Houston Texans, and they will have to make some tough decisions. Corners Steven Nelson, Desmond King, and Shaquill Griffin are all on one-year deals and will be unrestricted free agents at the end of the year. It is highly unlikely that they can bring all three back, so it will be interesting to see who they are able to keep.
Until then, it is a congratulation to Tytus Howard on earning a second contract in the NFL and truly changing the life of his family forever. It is ridiculously difficult to get into the league, and it is a whole other level to sign a second contract, so kudos to Tytus on earning his payday.
See Also: 2023 Houston Texans Rookie Preview
