Justin Houston contract: Joel Corry breaks it down
Oct 26, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Justin Houston (50) celebrates with linebacker Tamba Hali (91) after making a sack against the St. Louis Rams in the first half at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
The Kansas City Chiefs made the splash of the day by signing All-Pro outside linebacker Justin Houston to a six-year deal worth $101 million, with $52.5 million guaranteed. General manager John Dorsey has shown a willingness to take care of his own, giving out large deals to Alex Smith, Jamaal Charles, Allen Bailey and Ron Parker since he arrived, not too mention Houston.
On Wednesday afternoon, cap expert and former agent Joel Corry of CBS Sports hopped on the phone with me for an interview about the Houston deal and what it means for the Chiefs moving forward. Corry believes the deal likely had to be done today, or Houston might have been walking elsewhere after team control expired.
“I think he would have been looking to get out. He wanted a contact last year and missed all of the offseason program. The only reason he showed up was to accrue a season. … That relationship was getting to a point where it might have been beyond repair.”
Corry, who is the top expert in the field when it comes to contracts, wrote a terrific piece a few weeks ago on what he thought it would take for Kansas City to ink Houston. Despite the numbers being a little higher, he believes the Chiefs made a solid move.
“It was a little longer than I thought because Kansas City doesn’t usually go six years. It has been a maximum of five in recent years. I thought somewhere in the J.J. Watt neighborhood, although I didn’t think they would go over. … They didn’t go above Alex Smith at 17 million per year, Justin is a little below that. It is in the neigherhood I thought it would be. The moral of story is when you drag your feet on a Pro Bowl-caliber player who has a career year, you are going to pay for it.”
Corry continued to say he believes the initial guarantees are where they should be, with Houston getting $20.5 million as a signing bonus. That money will be prorated over five years. When asked why Houston’s agent, Joel Segal, and the Chiefs were so quiet throughout talks, he praised both sides.
“That’s the best thing to do. There is really not a whole lot of benefit for negotiating in the media. Demaryius (Thomas) had been relatively quiet until the last couple of days. Dez (Bryant) has been playing it out through the media. Both sides have with Stephen and Jerry (Jones) talking from time to time. I would only try to negotiate if I had an impasse that there was a strategic benefit to it.”
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