The Texans will keep Whitney Mercilus in the fold on another extension. The eighth-year edge defender agreed to terms on a four-year deal, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
This agreement will mark a considerable raise for Mercilus, with Fox 26’s Mark Berman reporting (via Twitter) it is worth $53.5MM and comes with $28.5MM guaranteed. At $13.38MM per year, Mercilus will head into his age-30 season making more than double what he was over the past four years. He signed a four-year, $26MM deal in 2015. Mercilus said over the summer he wanted to remain in Houston, and the Texans convinced him to again bypass free agency to stay.
Mercilus’ second Houston contract was up at season’s end, but he will now join J.J. Watt as the primary members of the Texans’ edge-rushing group going into the 2020s. Previously operating as the team’s third-highest-profile pass rusher — behind Watt and Jadeveon Clowney — Mercilus has been thrust into a lead role down the stretch of this season.
While the Texans have struggled to generate sacks since Watt’s injury, Mercilus came through with two in last week’s AFC South-clinching win over the Buccaneers. The 29-year-old outside linebacker had previously gone seven games without a sack but now has 7.5 on the season — 3.5 more than he registered in 2018.
The Texans asked Mercilus to drop into coverage more frequently in 2018, leading to limited opportunities at sacks. But the Illinois alum has now posted four seasons with at least seven QB drops, peaking in 2015 with a 12-sack slate. Mercilus’ 50 sacks are third-most in Texans history — behind Watt (96) and Mario Williams (53).
With the Texans having traded Clowney after delaying an extension for years, they have identified the player they would like to be Watt’s top sidekick for the foreseeable future.