Maliek Collins Two Year Contract Extension Details
Maliek Collins Two Year Contract Extension Details
Hello everyone, TC here. If you are a new subscriber to the Cap & Trade Newsletter, welcome! This newsletter covers the NFL salary cap and roster construction across the league with specific coverage of the Houston Texans. I’ve been covering the Houston Texans since 2012 and have been working at OverTheCap.com for the past 7 years. I hope you find this newsletter informative and digestible.
Just as the Houston Texans’ mandatory mini-camp was wrapping up, news broke of a two year extension between the team and veteran defensive lineman Maliek Collins.
I had heard rumblings that Collins was seeking a new extension with a pay raise a few months back. The Collins extension marks the second multiyear contract extension for a player initially acquired by Nick Caserio.
Houston first signed Collins, as an unrestricted free agent, in March 2021 after a rough performance in Las Vegas in 2019. Collins was originally drafted in the 3rd round by the Dallas Cowboys in 2016.
The first contract with Houston was a one year “prove it” contract worth $5.0 million (up to $6.0 million) with $2.0 million guaranteed.
Collins’ performance in 2021 was enough for the team to re-sign Collins during the 2022 free agency period to a two year $17.0 million contract with $8.5 million guaranteed. That contract was set to void in March 2024 on the day prior to the franchise tag period opened. This is a common date for contract voids, also known as the 23rd day prior to the new league year.
Collins’ continued performance in 2022 yielded the latest $23 million two year extension between Houston and Collins. The new extension will keep Collins on the Houston Texans roster through the 2025 season.
Table Link
Contract Details
Collins’ extension is worth $23.0 million, new money, with $18.5 million guaranteed at signing. Paper value, or whole value, of the contract is $31.5 million. Collins was due $8.5 million in cash for 2023 prior to this extension.
The guarantee includes a $10.5 million signing bonus, full guaranteed salary in 2023 and partial guarantee, $6.0 million, in 2024. Collins can earn, up to, $500,000 in per game roster bonus in each year of the contract. That money is paid $29,412 per game active each week. Details on incentives are not available as of yet.
On an APY measure, the extension places Collins at 22nd rank among all interior defensive lineman per OTC.
Full details on the contract can be viewed on OverTheCap.com
Market Adjustment
In the past 3 months the market has seen a contract value adjustment at the interior defensive lineman position. Everyone can agree the Aaron Donald number, $31.6 million APY, is an outlier regardless of his performance.
Daron Payne got the ball rolling in early March with a 4 year $90.0 million contract with an APY of $22.5 million after a franchise tag situation with Washington.
Javon Hargrave, at age 30, signed with San Francisco as a free agent on a 4 year $84.0 million contract with an APY of $21.0 million.
Jeffery Simmons continued the action with an extension in Tennessee touting a $23.5 million APY. Dexter Lawrence also signed an extension in New York with an APY of $22.5 million.
These new contracts essentially raised the floor for subsequent 2nd and lower level contracts for the rest of the position group; as evidenced by Sheldon Rankins signing a one year $9.75 million contract with Houston in March as a free agent.
Past Performance
Was Maliek Collins deserving of this extension? His performance over the past two years in a Houston Texans uniform would indicate this extension value is right in line with Collins’ performance against the position group.
Before we get into grades and performance, first we should take a look at where Collins lined up. Keep in mind the following numbers were over the 2021 and 2022 seasons under a defensive coordinator and scheme that is no longer in place with Lovie Smith and his classic Tampa Cover 2.
How Collins is utilized under Demeco Ryans “wide 9” scheme could place Collins in different spots along the defensive line compared to what we’ve seen in the past.
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For my regular readers, you know that I subscribe to the PFF grading system and data content. And I will agree that the grades are to be taken only at face value. However I do feel the grades provided are an solid representation of the player’s performance on the field.
Below area two plots for Collins’ PFF pass rush grade and run defense grade for the 2021 and 2022 season.
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In 2021 Collins performance placed him in the top right quadrant, the place you want to see your players in such a chart. In 2022 Collin’s pass rush grade improved, but his run defense grade dropped. Houston’s defense was near historically bad in run defense as a unit in 2022.
PFF also has two “signature stats” in Pass Rush Productivity and Run Stop Percentage. Maliek Collins displayed strong improvement on both metrics from 2021 and 2022. His performance on the field was clearly evident, post injury, during the final 10 weeks of the 2022 season.
Per PFF
Pass Rush Productivity: PFF’s pass-rush productivity measures pressure on a per-snap basis with a weighting toward sacks. Overall, it’s a deeper dive into a player’s pass-rushing efficiency that goes beyond just sacks and pressure rate.
Run Stop Percentage: A stop constitutes a ‘win' for the defense or conversely a ‘loss' for the offense. PFF describes a ‘stop' further as an offensive gain on first down that is kept to less than 40 percent of the line to gain, less than 50 percent of the line to gain on second down and any third- or fourth-down play kept without a first down or touchdown.
View Table to Interact With Data
Final Thoughts
My assessment is the contract value is inline with Collins’ market value when reviewing his performance over the past two seasons. The guarantee is strong from the player perspective. Collins was also able to minimize the large $1.25 million in per game roster bonus pay for 2023, down to $500,000.
The first out for the team, from a player release stand point, is 2025 with a $5.0 million dead money charge remaining.
From a team/organizational perspective, it was long past the time to ramp up re-signing players your own acquired players. A change much needed compared to the continuous high quantity roster turnover the team has experienced the past two offseasons.
The team has identified their young pillars of the future with Derek Stingley, Jalen Pitre, Will Anderson, and C.J. Stroud. Identifying the veteran pillars of the short term future is also key in roster construction. Maliek Collins is now included in that identification made by the Houston Texans.
-TC