NFL teams
Tom Carpenter, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Will Texans extend J.J. Watt's contract?

The Houston Texans have a pair of interesting contract quandaries as training camp nears. Andre Johnson, who is 33 and has three years remaining on his current contract, continues to holdout, because he wants to be traded. On the other end of the spectrum is 25-year-old J.J. Watt, who is under contract through 2015 after the Texans picked up the fifth-year option on his contract this offseason.

Time will tell how things will work out with Johnson, but the Houston Chronicle's John McClain expects the Texans to give Watt an extension sooner than later.

"... Watt, 25, won't play under his current contract in 2015. The Texans' philosophy for their best players has been to extend their contracts with a year remaining," McClain wrote.

"The Texans can have Watt tied up for three more years if they choose, including 2016, when they could use the franchise tag on him," he added. "But it won't come to that."

Watt was drafted in 2011, the first season under the current CBA, which gives first-rounders a four-year contract with a fifth-year option. To date, none of the '11 first-rounders have received an extension, but the Texans may become the first to make it happen.

"The Texans don't have to do anything," noted McClain, "but they could be trend-setters by extending Watt and becoming the first team to step out from the pack."

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