Laremy Tunsil has a detailed vision of building a strong personal legacy, a winning one that goes beyond how he routinely stonewalls the top pass rushers in the game.
There’s a hefty financial element and respect factor contained within Tunsil’s goals
Now, Tunsil has achieved his goal again of being the highest paid left tackle in the game as he reset the tackle market again with a three-year, 75 million extension, according to league sources. The deal includes $50 million fully guaranteed, $60 million total guaranteed, a $30 million signing bonus, per sources.
The deal was negotiated by Saint Omni.
Originally signed to a three-year, $66 million contract after being acquired in a trade from the Miami Dolphins, Tunsil wanted to top San Francisco 49ers star Trent Williams’ $23.01 million average with a blockbuster contract extension this offseason. Tunsil views himself as a valuable insurance policy who keeps the quarterback safe and standing. With quarterback salaries skyrocketing -- Aaron Rodgers ($50.3 million), Russell Wilson ($49 million), Kyler Murray ($46.1 million) and Deshaun Watson ($230 million fully guaranteed, $46 million average) -- the tackle market is also expected to keep rising. That could mean, if the Texans are amenable to writing a large check, to an expensive deal for Tunsil that could potentially fall into the $24 million to $25 million per year neighborhood.
Although Texans general manager Nick Caserio was noncommittal Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine on whether a lucrative contract extension is in the offing, he emphasized there’s been a respectful dialogue.
“Laremy’s been a good player in this league for a long time,” Caserio said. “He’s done a lot of good things for our team. I think each individual player, when the time comes, and it’s appropriate to have any conversations, we’ll go ahead and do that. A lot of respect for Laremy, we’ve had good conversations along the way.
“We’ll see how it goes here in the offseason, but Laremy has expressed his sentiments about wanting to be here in Houston. We’ll see if it works itself out the way everybody would like it to.”
Tunsil wants to help transform theTexans into a winning program and, one day, conclude his career with the AFC South franchise.
“I want to turn this program around,” Tunsil told KPRC 2 at the close of the season. “That’s what I want: to turn this organization around from a losing organization into a winning organization. I want to finish my career here in Houston.”
“That would mean a lot to me to reset the market,” Tunsil said. “Absolutely, you have to have insurance. You have to protect the quarterback. You have to pay left tackles.”
Tunsil, who doesn’t have an agent and helped negotiate his original contract with the Texans with the advice and counsel of advisors Saint Omni and Laolu Sanni, hopes to talk with Caserio to get the conversation started toward this offseason goal.
“Plant the seed and see where we go from here,” Tunsil said.
Tunsil was the highest graded pass blocker in the NFL with a 90.9 Pro Football Focus analytics grade. The former Miami Dolphins first-round draft pick from Mississippi allowed just one sack all season, and that was in the first game of the season against the Indianapolis Colts.
Named to the Pro Bowl again, Tunsil expressed confidence in his game and where he stacks up around the league.
“Don’t doubt me,” he said. “That was the main thing that motivated me the whole entire season. They see that I’m LT1. They see I’m the best left tackle in the league.”
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