HOUSTON – The Texans have reached a one-year, $3 million maximum value contract extension with linebacker and special teams standout Jake Hansen, per NFL sources.
Hansen, 27, first joined the Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2022 out of Illinois as he reunited with Lovie Smith, his college head coach.
Hansen forged a spot on the 53-man roster as a rookie and has been with the AFC South franchise ever since. He re-signed with the Texans in March on a one-year, $2 million deal.
Hansen has emerged as one of the Texans’ top special-teams contributors. In eight games this season, he has 10 tackles while playing 82 percent of the special-teams snaps.
For his career, he has appeared in 49 games with four starts, including two last season for a division winner. He has 75 career tackles, three for losses, three quarterback hits, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery and two sacks.
As a rookie, Hansen played in 11 games with two starts. He recorded 25 tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery with two tackles for losses. He played 205 defensive snaps, 27 percent of the total defensive snaps, and 148 snaps for 50 percent of the special-teams snaps.
Six games into his final college season, Hansen tore his anterior cruciate ligament at Illinois during a shutout loss to Wisconsin.
That led to him going undrafted after finishing his career with 276 tackles, 28 1/2 for losses, eight sacks, 12 forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries and three interceptions. He ranked second in school history in forced fumbles to Simeon Rice.
One year after receiving a signing bonus of $2,500, Hansen is still with the Texans while multiple other linebackers have come and gone from the roster. The Texans have praised Hansen consistently for his work ethic, versatility and nose for the football.
“Jake Hansen, he’s done a good job,” Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke said. “Again, he’s another guy I would say in that linebacker world that, literally, he’s played all three positions for us. Mike, Sam, Will. He’s done a good job kind of moving in and out.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com .
Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.