Texans Exercise Deshaun Watson’s Fifth-Year Option

Unsurprisingly, the Texans are committing to Deshaun Watson. Houston has picked up the fifth-year option on their franchise quarterback, reports ESPN’s Field Yates (via Twitter).

Watson is set to play the 2020 season on a $1.17MM base salary. Under the fifth-year option, his salary will be boosted to around $17.3MM in 2021.

This was an easy decision for the Texans, as the quarterback has emerged as an MVP contender. The 2017 12th-overall pick has started 31 games for Houston the past two year, connecting on 67.8-percent of his passes while averaging 4,008 passing yards, 26 touchdowns, and 10.5 interceptions. He’s also continued to be productive on the ground, rushing for 12 touchdowns between 2018 and 2019.

Most importantly, he’s led the Texans to a 21-10 record over the past two seasons. This has led to a pair of playoff appearances, where he’s gone 1-2.

We heard last week that the organization had kicked off “very preliminary” extension talks with the star quarterback, and the front office was focused on completing a deal by the start of the regular season. We previously heard that Watson was going to wait under Patrick Mahomes re-signed with the Chiefs before inking his own extension.

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