Texans QB Watson Gets 'Mahomes Money' - $160M For 4 New Years
HOUSTON - Like Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger in 2004, or Dan Marino and John Elway in 1983, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Pat Mahomes and Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson always will be compared to one another by virtue of their age, position, talent, and draft spot.
And now their money can be compared, too.
On Saturday morning, the Texans came to an agreement with Watson on what John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports is a "four-year extension with Deshaun Watson averaging $39 million a year with a $27 million signing bonus."
Watson was selected just two picks behind Mahomes in the 2017 NFL Draft, and both have flourished since, becoming two of the brightest young stars in today's NFL. And while the two have similar traits, they are also different players, in some respects.
Mahomes' rise to success, however, was meteoric in juxtaposition to Watson on paper, winning a regular-season MVP, a Super Bowl, and a Super Bowl MVP all in his second season as a starter.
Mahomes' stats also have been superior, with the 24-year-old throwing for 9,412 yards, 76 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions, while completing 65.9% of his passes and posting a 108.9 quarterback rating.
That said, Watson too has risen quickly to the top of the quarterback totem pole.
In three seasons, Watson has thrown for 9,716 yards, 71 touchdowns and 29 picks, while completing 66.8% of his passes with a 101 quarterback rating. Watson has also shown off his legs, rushing for 1,233 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Watson was up for a contract extension, coming off the heels of the record-breaking 10-year $503 million deal that Mahomes signed in July, which included $63 million in guarantees at signing and $141 million in case of injury. Once that was announced, Watson was expected to sign a similar deal, at least in terms of APY.
"My agent and the organization are continuing to handle that,” Watson said this week. “My main focus is just getting ready for next week and making sure this team is set in stone and mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually ready for Sept. 10. My agent is handling that.”
But especially now, with the two new deals, no matter which way you slice it, the two will be connected forever. Now that they are coming off a year in which they took each other to the brink in the 2020 AFC divisional playoff round, things will only get magnified.
However, as Watson told the media on Thursday, he wants to be his own quarterback and does not to get wrapped up in the comparison
"I focus on myself,” Watson said. “I'm not going to compare myself to no one else. Each one of us probably has different standards, different ways of how we approach the game. We all want to be legendary and champs, but there are different standards and different situations that we've got to focus on, so I can't compare myself to Pat because there are some things that Pat does well that I need to work on. There are some things I do well, Pat might need to work on. At the end of the day we do the same thing, but at the same time we're different people, and the way we operate and think might be a little bit different, so we can't compare each other to one another.”
Comparisons surely were being made at the negotiating table while Watson and the Texans worked out the deal.
Heading into the 2020-2021 slate, Mahomes and Watson are once again in a similar position—leading their defending division title-winning teams into an unorthodox season, in an unorthodox situation, where the two are set to face off against one another in the season opener.
And now that the deal is done, there's only one thing ahead of Watson and the Texans as the season get underway: Mahomes and the Chiefs.
