Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil recently underwent successful surgery on his left knee, as Aaron Wilson of Click2Houston.com reports. Per Wilson, the surgery was an arthroscopic procedure to address the injury that sidelined Tunsil for three games during the 2023 season.
Critically, both Wilson and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com note that Tunsil will make a full and fast recovery, so the club can continue to count on him to serve as one of the league’s best LTs. Despite the nagging knee ailment, which Tunsil managed last year by having it drained and by sitting out of practice once or twice per week, the former first-round pick of the Dolphins earned the fourth Pro Bowl nod of his career in 2023.
Tunsil’s work on the blindside was instrumental in quarterback C.J. Stroud‘s Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign, and, by extension, Houston’s surprising run to the divisional round of the playoffs. His Pro Bowl acclaim was buttressed by the advanced metrics, as Pro Football Focus considered him the 20th-best OT out of 81 qualifiers in 2023 and the fourth-best pass blocker. His work against the Browns’ Myles Garrett in the Texans’ wildcard round victory over Cleveland was especially telling, as Tunsil yielded no sacks or hits when lined up against Garrett, who earned Defensive Player of the Year honors last year (h/t Wilson).
The successful surgery is not only good news from an on-field standpoint, but from a financial one as well. Tunsil landed a massive three-year extension last March that includes a $25MM average annual value, the highest figure in league history for an offensive tackle. Tunsil, who is entering his age-30 season, is under club control through 2026, though his base salaries from 2024-26 ($18MM, $20.95MM, and $20.95MM) are not unreasonable for a player of his caliber.
On the defensive side of the ball, DeMeco Ryans‘ team has made a number of offseason additions, including a big-money contract for former Vikings standout Danielle Hunter. In terms of pass-rushing presence, Hunter will take the place of Jonathan Greenard, who parlayed his breakout contract-year campaign into a four-year, $76MM deal with (coincidentally) Minnesota. Although Houston was reportedly interested in retaining Greenard, we had heard that the club was concerned about his eventual price tag, and Greenard believes the Texans never extended an official contract offer (via Wilson, who passes along Greenard’s full statement on the matter).
How many times have qe seen the headline that ‘so and so’ had a successful surgery on something, only for them to have complications during rehab and then setback after setback. If there’s one headline that you can never trust, it’s this one. Unless thr definition of ‘successful’ is that they didn’t die during surgery, it’s a bunch of bull. There is no real way to determine if the surgery was actually successful or not for many months down the road. I’m glad that Laremy pulled through it alive though.
Well, it’s successful in the sense that the issue was fixed, making the part functional again. Unfortunately, there’s nothing in that about being “football” successful.
Texans should take a project tackle just in case Tunsil misses games.
Thought he was getting his Tunsils out.
Luckily he had a gas mask to aid in his sedation…
I can’t wait for the headline when Tunsil has tonsil surgery.