Report: Texans lock up ILB Zach Cunningham with contract extension

The Houston Texans have seen enough from Zach Cunningham over the past three seasons to know they want more.

According to Ian Rapoport from the NFL Network, the Texans are signing the former 2017 second-round pick to a “huge” contract extension worth $14.5 million per year.

Cunningham was on the verge of earning his first career Pro Bowl last season after leading the AFC in tackles. However, he remained an alternate for the Texans, and the opening never presented itself to be a part of the conference’s all-star team in Orlando.

Cunningham stated he was putting contract talks to the side and just focusing on football in his final year of training camp under his rookie contract. First-year defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver saw the way Cunningham would show up daily and lead by example.

“Zach Cunningham is a guy who day in and day out just gets the job done and makes plays that always leave you shaking your head a little bit,” Weaver said. “You’re like, ‘how did he make that play?’”

“He’s very athletic, very instinctive, a really good tackler,” coach and general manager Bill O’Brien said. “He’s made a couple of plays on screen passes where he’s fended off the blocker and been able to push the ball carrier back inside where to where his help is coming from. He can play zone coverage. He can play man coverage. He’s a good blitzer. We can use him in a lot of different areas — not just at inside backer. He can do a lot of different things for us. He’s a really, really good football player.”

The key note in the Cunningham contract extension is that the inside linebacker’s representation is the same as quarterback Deshaun Watson’s. With that extension out of the way, O’Brien can focus on locking up the two-time Pro Bowler and ushering in a new, veteran era of Texans football.