Kansas City Chiefs: Justin Houston’s future with the organization
By Chris Clark
The Kansas City Chiefs defense has been in decline in recent seasons. Some offseason moves to improve the ailing defense will likely happen in 2019. Could linebacker Justin Houston become a casualty of those changes?
Chiefs Kingdom watched as Justin Houston soared to NFL stardom after nearly breaking the NFL single-season sack record in 2014. His 22 sacks were enough to capture the attention of the other 31 teams in the league. This meant that the Kansas City Chiefs were going to have to pay up in order to keep Houston, and that’s just what they did.
After signing a six-year contract worth a $101 million, it looked like Houston would be terrorizing everyone except the Chiefs for years to come. Houston brought physicality to the field as well as leadership. Unfortunately, it was short-lived.
A knee injury plagued the next two seasons and he was only able to play a total of 16 games in those two years. Houston seemed to be a little bit more of himself in 2017 after tallying nearly ten sacks, playing almost a full season at 15 games. For 2018, he looks to be on pace for roughly that same number.
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Considering the enormity of Houston’s contract, it’s not unreasonable for Chiefs Kingdom to wonder how well that money is being spent. There really are two different trains of thought here. Is Houston underperforming or is the overall defensive scheme underperforming him?
The talk seems to be heating up on whether or not Bob Sutton will be the Chiefs defensive coordinator after this season. It’s likely that he’ll be looking for work elsewhere, considering the amount of talent on the Chiefs defense and the steady decline in overall performance. A coaching or scheme change might get the most out of Houston while he has a good season or two left.
Houston will turn 30 years old in January and that age is typically the beginning of the end for most players. Unless he has some really stellar seasons, that big paycheck will seem mostly undeserving. There is also the option that some fans won’t want to consider – Justin Houston in another team’s uniform.
With a defensive revamp on the horizon during the offseason, Houston could make way to invest in the younger talent on the roster. Both Dee Ford and Chris Jones will certainly have to be salary considerations as general manager Brett Veach looks to the future. There is the possibility that Houston would renegotiate his contract to be more team-friendly.
Next. Chiefs All-Time Leaders in Sacks. dark
If renegotiating doesn’t work out then other options might include trading him, cutting him and taking the salary cap hit, or just moving forward with him on the roster. No matter what, Houston’s future will certainly be discussed this coming offseason.
Whether he stays or goes, Justin Houston will always remain a favorite of Chiefs Kingdom.