ESPN published an exclusive interview with Houston Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil Dec. 28 with the title “Texans’ Laremy Tunsil wants new deal to ‘reset’ tackle market.”
On its face the title gives the impression Tunsil is just in it for the money. The former Miami Dolphins 2016 first-round pick makes $22 million annually according to Over The Cap, and the Texans will have to evaluate the impact of his $35.2 million salary cap hit in 2023.
The first quotes from Tunsil also seem to support the notion that the blindside protector is about the money only.
“I don’t know who’s the highest right now, maybe Trent [Williams] at 23 [million], but I want to top that,” Tunsil told ESPN. “Always want to reset the market. Perfect opportunity to reset the market. Everything is lining up as far as my contract to how I’m playing. Everything lining up perfectly.”
However, making a quick summation of Tunsil based on the first set of quotes and the article title misses the real reason for Tunsil’s overall quest.
“Something that motivated me during the offseason was an article that came out that said I was a very good starter,” Tunsil said. “So that gave me your fuel to just get back to playing football because I did miss 12 games last year because of the thumb injury. But just coming back just to show everybody that I am the best tackle.”
Tunsil doesn’t want to be the highest paid tackle just for the sake of earning that much money; he wants the contract to match his production on the field. In other words, when measuring greatness at left tackle, whether by production on the field or looking at contracts, Tunsil wants his name at the top of the list.
The 28-year-old could have found ways to shirk his responsibilities to his teammates; the 2-12-1 campaign has not been fun for anyone except maybe punter Cam Johnston, who has had 78 punts this season, the third-most in the NFL, and the second-most of his career.
Yet Tunsil showed up, and played at a high level.
General manager Nick Caserio will have to determine if negotiating an extension with Tunsil is in the best interests of completing the rebuild. If the Texans released Tunsil in the offseason, they would owe a little over $16 million against the salary cap.
