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<\/p>\nHOUSTON \u2014 Will Anderson Jr. wasn\u2019t really interested in football as a young child but finally tried it at his family\u2019s urging as he approached high school.<\/p>\n
Back then he was a running back, but soon his coach informed him that he\u2019d be moving to defensive end.<\/p>\n
The news was not well received.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cried,\u201d Anderson recalled Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Despite his trepidation, Anderson quickly excelled at the position and on Tuesday he celebrated signing his three-year, $150 million contract extension with the Houston Texans that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt worked out,\u201d he said drawing laughs from everyone in the room.<\/p>\n
The extension includes $134 million in guaranteed money.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. speaks during an NFL football press conference in Houston, Texas, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. Credit: AP\/Annie Mulligan<\/p>\n
The $50 million per year Anderson will earn surpasses the $46.5 million per year defensive end Micah Parsons got when he signed a four-year extension with the Packers after a trade from Dallas last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been so overwhelmed with joy these last couple of days, nonstop tears, and it\u2019s been a blessing,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cAnd I think for me, I love what I do, and I tell people all the time \u2014 they\u2019re like oh, the money\u2026 it\u2019s really never ever been about the money for me. It\u2019s always just been about walking to my purpose and doing what God has called me to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Texans selected Anderson with the third pick in the 2023 draft, trading up to nab the Alabama standout after selecting quarterback C.J. Stroud second in that draft.<\/p>\n
Anderson, the 2023 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, started each game last season and had 12 sacks and 20 tackles for loss \u2014 both career highs \u2014 to lead a Houston defense that was among the best in the NFL.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. poses for a photo with his family and agent during an NFL football press conference in Houston, Texas, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. Credit: AP\/Annie Mulligan<\/p>\n
His work last season earned him a spot on first team of The Associated Press All-Pro team and he was a finalist for AP Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n
In three seasons with the Texans, the 24-year-old Anderson has piled up 30 sacks and 136 tackles, including 46 for loss. He also has 64 quarterback hits in his career and has forced four fumbles and recovered three.<\/p>\n
The Texans exercised his fifth-year player option earlier this month so this deal will keep him in Houston through the 2030 season.<\/p>\n
His agent Nicole Lynn was asked how the negotiations with Houston general manager Nick Caserio began.<\/p>\n
\u201cNick and I have a really good relationship,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t know exactly where it started. I think Nick called me, but I think we kind of all knew that it was time for him to get paid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone in the Texans\u2019 organization raves about Anderson\u2019s mentality and work ethic. Defensive line coach Rod Wright said that\u2019s what makes him so deserving of this contract.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe impression he makes on people is like, I\u2019m going to outwork you, I\u2019m going to out study you and he sets the bar for everyone,\u201d Wright said.<\/p>\n
Now that Anderson knows he\u2019s going to be in Houston for a long time to come, he\u2019s focused on helping the Texans reach new heights. Houston, which has never been to a conference title game, has lost in the divisional round of the playoffs in each of Anderson\u2019s three seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk me about contract, yeah, the contract is cool, but ask me about winning, that\u2019s more important,\u201d he said. \u201cHow we get over this hump, how we can get past the second round is what\u2019s been on my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Next Gen Stats, Anderson ranked second in the NFL last season with 85 total pressures and his 48 pressures on third down were the most by a player since the stat began being tracked in 2014.<\/p>\n
While Anderson appreciates those numbers, to him it just means he\u2019s coming up short on getting to the quarterback.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t even reached to the period of where I want to be at in my game,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think this offseason I\u2019ve continued to build my body up to be able to bend or to be able to finish on the quarterback. That\u2019s the next step is just be able to finish on the quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anderson isn\u2019t planning to do anything crazy with his money now that he\u2019s signed this huge extension. He really enjoys fishing so he said he\u2019ll likely get a speed boat so that he and his father can continue their fishing trips in style.<\/p>\n
Other than that, he\u2019s just thankful that his parents will never have to worry about money again after they went through some lean times while raising him and his five older sisters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s why I got so emotional because these two right here, being in a three-bedroom house with six kids wasn\u2019t easy,\u201d he said pointing to his parents. \u201cWorking long nights. My mom got to work overtime. My dad working overtime\u2026 it meant the world for me to do what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2014 Will Anderson Jr. wasn\u2019t really interested in football as a young child but finally tried it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[7,221,253,2368,6,222,2309],"class_list":{"0":"post-871515","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-wires-bot"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116445657897454064","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871515","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=871515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}