The Houston Texans gave Nick Martin a three-year $33 million extension on Tuesday. The man he's paid to protect, quarterback Deshaun Watson, believes the 26-year-old is deserving of the extension.
Said Watson, via Mark Lane of Texans Wire: “For sure, he deserves it. Everything he’s put in for this organization, for himself, on and off the field, coming back from injuries, being able to come in and lead that O-line group.”
A second-round pick in 2016 from Notre Dame, Martin took over the starting center role in 2017, starting 14 games on the season. In 2018, he started the entirety of the season. Though an injury kept him out for most of training camp, he started in team's season-opening loss against the New Orleans Saints.
Despite the Texans offensive line allowing six sacks on Watson on Monday, the quarterback still raves about Martin's presence on the team, considering the toughness of playing center in Bill O'Brien's offense.
“It’s hard to play center in this offense,” said Watson. “It’s a lot of information, a lot of things that you’ve got to call at the line of scrimmage and make sure that everyone is on the same page. He deserves it. Congratulations to him and definitely more dinners for him to pay for the offense.”
Martin is now under contract through 2022. The Texans figure he's a focal point for a youthful offensive line built to grow around and protect Watson. Though the team hasn't done that yet, they now boast two recent first-rounders (LT Laremy Tunsil, LG Tytus Howard) and two recent second-rounder (Martin, G/T Max Scharping) to the right the ship.
Follow Us
Subscribe