Hoping to ‘reset market,’ Texans lineman Laremy Tunsil thrilled he negotiated new deal on his own
Tunsil negotiated his own contract with coach and general manager Bill O’Brien, agreeing to a three-year, $66 million contract extension with $50 million guaranteed. The $22 million average per year on the contract makes him the highest-paid offensive lineman by $4 million per year.
“I just wanted to reset the market and become the highest-paid offensive linemen just so all the young players under me [know] that anything is possible,” Tunsil said. “You just have to put your head toward it.”
In a conference call on the first day of the Texans’ virtual offseason program, Tunsil said the team first approached him in February to get an extension done, and the sides finally agreed to terms last week. Tunsil said he wanted to sign a three-year contract extension instead of a longer deal because he wanted to give himself another opportunity to hit free agency at 28 or 29 years old.
Tunsil said he had advisors helping him and that he spoke to Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner, who negotiated his own contract last year.
“He actually told me that it was pretty easy doing the deal by yourself and the toughest part of doing the deal on your own is the terminology,” Tunsil said. “[Just] learning the terminology and being able to voice it to the coaches.
“It was tough, but we got it done, and it was fun to just be in that moment and to learn different things.”
The left tackle, whom the Texans acquired last August in a trade that included sending two first-round picks to the Miami Dolphins, said he decided to fire his agent and negotiate the contract himself because he felt “it was time to write my own destiny” and “to put things in my own hands to get it done.”
“You just have to bet on yourself, and that’s what I did, and I got the deal done,” Tunsil said. “I’m extremely proud of myself and the team. I’m still speechless, even though it was a couple of days ago they made the announcement. I’m still speechless.”