The Texans Handed Out an Unnecessary Bonus for Nico Collins
Questions ahead of the start of organized team activities
The Houston Texans gave wide receiver Nico Collins a bonus this week. Already under contract for the next two seasons, the Texans added $17 million to the deal. No additional years were negotiated. Collins is still scheduled to become a free agent in 2028.
Why?
This served no benefit for the Texans. Only Collins benefited from the cash. The Texans are not a better football team because Collins received more money.
He was under contract for the next two seasons at a perfectly reasonable deal. The Texans signed Collins to a three-year extension after just one season of success. He was excellent in 2023. It was also the only year of success to that point, and Collins still missed games and left others early.
It wasn’t a market-setting deal like a lot of players signed, but Collins had only showcased one year of success. Collins will miss games. He has never played a full season for the Texans. It was a perfectly worthwhile investment. Collins went to the table with one excellent year, and the Texans got built-in security for a player who misses time.
It was a win-win deal that didn’t need adjusting.
Collins hasn’t replicated his 2023 breakout. Almost every per-game metric from the past two seasons is lower when compared to the stellar 2023 season. Sure, the quarterback play has been shakier. The offensive systems have been sketchy. That should be factored in, but even with those, Collins hasn’t outperformed the season that got him paid.
He also missed time. During the 2024 season, he missed five games. Three of those games are easily argued as potential victories if Collins is available. In 2025, concussions caused Collins to miss time. He left the loss against the Seattle Seahawks with a concussion and missed the following week against the San Francisco 49ers. Collins would leave the playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers with another concussion. He would miss the playoff game against the New England Patriots.
Yes, other contracts have blown past the deal Collins had. That isn’t a reason to hand money to a player. If these extra dollars came within a negotiation that added a year, it would be easier to understand.
General manager Nick Caserio paid a player bonus money with no benefit to the Texans. Would Collins have been a malcontent? It’s a hypothetical worth pondering, but was he going to make a mockery of the team and do a workout on his driveway like Terrell Owens did when he wanted a new contract? Part of the appeal of Collins has been his lack of diva wideout tendencies.
Was it too much, if he wanted more money, to ask him to play more than one year of his extension? It would seem so.
The Texans have been generous with money. Derek Stingley Jr. blew past the highest-paid cornerback in his rookie extension. Will Anderson Jr. flew past the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league. Danielle Hunter and Dalton Schultz received favorable contracts, but those came with additional time with the team.
The downside isn’t massive, yet. Could this money have been used this year and next year to add a key depth piece for a team trying to make a run to the Super Bowl? Absolutely. The Texans will have to navigate that element and need some luck at certain depth spots ahead of this season.
It’s the change in how the team handles business that could become costly.
Caserio created another expensive precedent for how the team operates. Not only are they financially generous when a player is nearing the end of their deal, but the team now allows players who have played to the value of their contract to ask for a raise with no benefit to the team.
This was great for Collins and his team. They negotiated a risk-free bonus and still hit free agency before Collins is 30. The Texans ripped up their well-negotiated deal with Collins for a reason not clear to people outside the building.
OTA Questions
The Houston Texans begin organized team activities this week. Here are four questions that should get answered in the coming weeks.
