{"id":846572,"date":"2026-04-01T07:20:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T07:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/846572\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T07:20:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T07:20:31","slug":"texans-discussing-extension-with-de-will-anderson-jr-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/846572\/","title":{"rendered":"Texans Discussing Extension With DE Will Anderson Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"

Well before the 2025 campaign was over, it became clear the Texans would target a\u00a0Will Anderson<\/a> Jr<\/a>.\u00a0extension during the 2026 offseason<\/a>. To no surprise, then, efforts to reach a deal are underway. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Houston has engaged in negotiations on a \u201cpotential blockbuster\u201d new deal with Anderson, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 reports<\/a>. Any second contract in this case will bring with it a massive raise. Picking up Anderson\u2019s fifth-year option for 2027 would cost $21.51MM<\/a>, and exercising it would buy time for extended negotiations on a long-term pact.<\/p>\n

The Texans can of course be expected to pick up Anderson\u2019s option, as they will also do in the case of<\/a> quarterback C.J. Stroud<\/a>.\u00a0Both players are in line for substantial pay increases if\/when agreements can be reached. Anderson took home Defensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2023 and he has established himself as one of the league\u2019s top edge rushers since. The former No. 3 selection posted 11 sacks during his second season and set a new career high once more with 12 in 2025.<\/p>\n

Anderson is approaching his age-25 season, so any long-term commitment can be expected to approach the top of the pass rush market.\u00a0Micah Parsons<\/a>\u00a0moved the bar to $46.5MM per year with his Packers extension, and\u00a0Aidan Hutchinson<\/a>\u2018s Lions deal carries an AAV of $45MM. With the NFL\u2019s salary cap having jumped since both of those pacts were signed, Anderson could attempt to at least match them during negotiations. It will be interesting to see how willing the Texans will be with respect to a financial commitment in this case, given the looming cost of a second Stroud contract.<\/p>\n

Houston\u2019s defense also has a major short-term EDGE commitment in the form of Danielle Hunter<\/a>\u2018s new deal along with a significant cornerback contract on the books (Derek Stingley<\/a> Jr.<\/a>). Adding Anderson to that group would of course present financial challenges, but it would ensure a core member of the team\u2019s elite defense would remain in place for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

The Texans have progressed to the divisional round of the playoffs during each of Anderson\u2019s three years in the league. He will be counted on to remain an impactful presence in 2026 and beyond, but he may have a new contract in hand by the time next season begins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Well before the 2025 campaign was over, it became clear the Texans would target a\u00a0Will Anderson Jr.\u00a0extension during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":846573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[7,221,253,2368,6,222,6051],"class_list":{"0":"post-846572","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-texans","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-houston-texans","11":"tag-houstontexans","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-texans","14":"tag-will-anderson-jr"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116328245405843908","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/846573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}