One of the few bright spots for the Texans this season has been the continued high-level play of their top offensive lineman. Left tackle Laremy Tunsil plans to turn his 2022 performance into a noteworthy raise during the coming offseason.
The 28-year-old made it clear that he intends to become the league’s highest-paid left tackle, as detailed by ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime. That position has consistently been the top-ranked amongst all offensive linemen, with only Colts guard Quenton Nelson joining three blindside blockers at the $20M-per-year mark. Tunsil is already one of them, owing to his three-year, $66M extension signed in the spring of 2020.
“I don’t know who’s the highest right now, maybe Trent [Williams] at $23 [million], but I want to top that,” the former first-rounder said. “[I] 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.”
Tunsil has been named a Pro Bowler for the third time in his four seasons spent in Houston. He has played every snap this year, an encouraging sign of durability which comes after he was limited to just five games in 2021 by a thumb injury. The former Dolphin had strung together three nearly identical campaigns before that in terms of PFF grades, and he has taken a step forward in that regard in 2022.
Tunsil has posted an overall grade of 79.9 this year, the highest mark of his career. That rating places him 12th amongst all qualifying tackles, but his pass protection grade (91.8) is the highest at the position. He has allowed just one sack and 12 pressures this year, though penalties (10 accepted) have once again been an unwanted factor in his performance.
The Ole Miss product has one year remaining on his big-ticket deal, but no guaranteed money remains after this season. Tunsil’s cap hit is scheduled to reach $35.2M in 2023, and Houston would see $18.5M in relief by cutting or trading him.
Long-term security – along with a figure which sets him ahead of both Williams and David Bakhtiari in terms of annual compensation- will therefore be his target in the spring. The rebuilding Texans are currently projected to have just under $47M in cap space next year, which should afford them more flexibility than most teams.
More must-reads: