Coming off a 15-sack season in 2025, defensive end Danielle Hunteris being hugely rewarded by the Houston Texans.
The five-time Pro Bowler and the Texans have agreed to terms on a one-year, $40.1 million extension that includes a $30.7 million signing bonus, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero reported Thursday night.
Hunter is now tied to Houston through the 2027 season.
Since joining the Texans as a free agent in 2024, Hunter has proven his worth to the tune of 27 sacks over two seasons along with 32 tackles for loss and 45 QB hits. In turn, he's been rewarded with one-year extensions in each of the last two years. This time around, Hunter's $40.1 yearly salary will put him at No. 4 among pass rushers behind Micah Parsons ($46.6 million), Aidan Hutchinson(45 million) and T.J. Watt($41 million) and just in front of reigning AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett ($40 million).
The 31-year-old Hunter has 114.5 career sacks, with the majority of them (87.5) coming during his eight seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. A step hasn't been lost since he joined the Texans, though. Houston was the No. 1 total defense in 2025 with Hunter taking on one of the starring roles.
Hunter has helped to provide the Texans with one of the elite edge tandems in the NFL landscape, as he and Will Anderson Jr. have each had double-digit sacks in both their years together. Anderson is likely to follow with a contract extension of his own, as Rapoport reported on Feb. 26 that Houston locking up the 2023 first-rounder was an offseason priority with work underway. Whether Anderson will follow Hunter on the pay scale remains to be seen, but one of the tone setters on the Texans' vaunted defense has been handsomely compensated.
