Houston Texans: 5 Ways to Rationalize Johnathan Joseph Extension

Sep 28, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph (24) reacts during the game against the Buffalo Bills at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

From $12.25 Million To $11.75 Million

Since the Texans never intended on releasing Joseph this year (meaning that they were planning on paying his full cap hit), their goal in this new deal was to bring down Joseph’s 2015 cap hit from $12.25 million. While bringing down his cap number from $12.25 million to $11.75 million doesn’t represent a whole lot in savings and doesn’t really justify a $7 million cap hit in 2016, the Texans still achieved their goal of shaving off some immediate cap room.

These types of veteran extensions are generally all about saving short-term cap space and rewarding a veteran, so I guess the Texans got what they wanted by saving $500,000 against the cap this year. The reason why they couldn’t save more is because they didn’t have the leverage of releasing Joseph. Paycuts only occur when the player is at risk of being released, so Joseph simply traded a little bit of his cap hit for the security of sticking around for another year.

Next: Playing it safe with Johnson