The Houston Texans have the highest paid offensive lineman in the NFL with left tackle Laremy Tunsil, who signed a three-year, $66 million contract extension with the AFC South champions.
However, that title may not stay long with Tunsil, though the Texans will be saddled with the cost for the next three years.
Baltimore Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley told reporters that he “wants to be paid his worth,” according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN.
“That part of it is important,” said Stanley. “But, at the end of the day, I don’t think money is the most important thing to me.”
Objectively, Stanley was the better offensive lineman than Tunsil in 2019. It was the first time either member of the 2016 draft class made the Pro Bowl. However, Stanley earned first-team All-Pro honors as the Ravens earned the No. 1 seed in the AFC with a 14-2 record.
When the negotiations start with Stanley and the Ravens, the floor has to be Tunsil’s $22 million a year, if the former Notre Dame product wants to be paid his worth.
Ultimately, losing the title of “highest paid offensive lineman” may not bother Tunsil, as he wanted to crash the barbed wire and demonstrate to other linemen on their first contracts that resetting the market is possible.
“I just wanted to reset the market, become the highest paid offensive lineman just to show all the young players under me that anything is possible, you’ve just got to put your head towards it,” Tunsil told reporters on April 27.
More importantly than a market title, Tunsil has three seasons with Houston and a chance to play for a third contract. The Texans get a quality left tackle, one of the best in the AFC, to protect quarterback Deshaun Watson’s blindside as Houston seeks to reach the next level in 2020.
