Tag: Shaq Mason

Breaking down the Shaq Mason contract extension

Here is a look at the details from the contract extension of Houston Texans guard Shaq Mason.

The Houston Texans plugged a hole along their offensive line with the acquisition of guard Shaq Mason.

The Texans solidified that position for the next three years with an extension.

Aaron Wilson from KPRC-TV was able to obtain the contract details of Mason’s three-year, $36 million extension, which had a $10 million signing bonus. The first year’s salary is guaranteed at $1.7 million with year two having a $9.25 million guarantee and year three a $10 million guarantee.

Mason is also able to earn a $29,411 roster bonus per game active each season. The cap on that bonus is $500,000.

A workout bonus is also included in Mason’s deal at $50,000 starting in 2024.

If Mason makes the Pro Bowl, which would be the first of his career, he would earn a $250,000 incentive.

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DeMeco Ryans expects the Texans’ offensive line to be the strength of the team

Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans has an expectation that the offensive line will be one of the strengths of the team in 2023.

The Houston Texans haven’t been known for their offensive line, but DeMeco Ryans wants to change that.

The rookie coach came from the San Francisco 49ers where Kyle Shanahan built a team known for its road-grading offensive line. Given that Ryans added Shanahan’s former passing game coordinator in Bobby Slowik to be the Texans’ new offensive coordinator, it is not surprising Ryans would like to see the same philosophy replicated in Houston.

“We have a really good offensive line group,” Ryans said on May 23 after organized team activities at Houston Methodist Training Center. “Veteran guys mixed in with some young guys. Right now expect our O-line to be one of the strengths of our team.”

There are key pieces to work with, chiefly three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Houston also has two solid veterans in right tackle Tytus Howard and right guard Shaq Mason. Left guard Kenyon Green, a former 2022 first-round pick, represents potential. The only area where there is a question mark is center as the Texans are relying on a trio of veterans — Michael Deiter, Jimmy Morrissey, Scott Quessenberry — and two rookies in Jarrett Patterson and Juice Scruggs to determine the starter.

Ryans knows that offensive line Chris Strausser and assistant offensive line coach Cole Popovich will get it figured out.

Said Ryans: “Those guys have done an outstanding job of getting the guys ready to play, being honed in on the details. Our offensive line, they’ve been impressive to watch over these few practices that we’ve had.”

Offensive line is a position predicated upon collisions, yet the NFL does not allow padded practices until training camp. All that can be evaluated is technique, footwork, and other technical aspects of the unit.

Nevertheless Ryans remains optimistic about how a possible strength of the team is developing.

“It’s been very impressive to watch and see how they’ve come along,” Ryans said. “I’m very excited where they’re going. I would expect them to continue to improve and definitely be a strength for our offense.”

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What does Ex-Patriot Shaq Mason’s new contract mean for Mike Onwenu?

Will Shaq Mason’s new deal impact ongoing negotiations between the Patriots and Mike Onwenu?

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Former New England Patriots offensive lineman Shaq Mason signed a brand new, three-year, $36 million contract with $22 million in guaranteed money with the Houston Texans on Wednesday.

Mason, 29, was acquired by the Texans in March, almost a year after the Patriots shipped him off to Tampa Bay to shore up the line in front of Tom Brady. With Brady now retired and the Buccaneers likely in a rebuild, they shipped off an elite guard to a team looking to protect their young quarterback, who we now know is C.J. Stroud..

With Michael Onwenu entering a contract year after performing well above his sixth-round pick status, the Patriots may have an understanding of the guard floor for that next contract.

In a previous article, I mentioned that the Patriots may be planning for life without Onwenu, but if they wish to retain young, homegrown talent, it feels like a contract of four years, $48 million is the starting point for the team in negotiations.

Onwenu is at the top of his position in terms of play and will likely cash in during the 2024 free agency period. However, with the Patriots only having 39 players under contract for 2024 and an estimated $100 million in cap space, they have the means to make it work. Even more so, the NFL salary cap continues to rise year after year with new money. So a $12-$14 million guard contract may seem silly now, but in a few years, the market will eventually even out.

The only thing that may hinder any contract negotiations is if the Patriots philosophically believe in their approach to draft the next guy and replace outgoing linemen, like they did with Ted Karras and Joe Thuney.

Frankly, I find that to be a good approach when you’re getting close to the cap, but with a 25-year-old, elite guard that has tackle flexibility sitting on the roster, they should do right and extend him early.

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Report: Texans signing G Shaq Mason to contract extension

The Houston Texans are signing guard Shaq Mason to a contract extension.

The Houston Texans are fortifying their offensive line for the next three years.

According to Aaron Wilson from KPRC-TV, the Texans are working out a contract extension with guard Shaq Mason. The former New England Patriot and Tampa Bay Buccaneer is finalizing a three-year extension with Houston worth $36 million with $22 million guaranteed and another $10 million as a signing bonus.

Mason told reporters on May 4 that he wasn’t worried about getting an extension worked out with the Texans.

“I play ball,” Mason said. “I let everybody else handle those types of things. I love to be here, that’s one thing. I’m here to ball and that’s what I’m going to do.”

The Texans traded for Mason at the start of free agency in March.

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Shaq Mason shared thoughts on Mac Jones and final season with Patriots

Shaq Mason commented on what he took away from his short time playing with Mac Jones.

Former New England Patriots offensive guard Shaq Mason knows a thing or two about the hard work it takes to excel at the quarterback position.

How would he not?

He stood along the offensive front as one of the enforcers of the greatest quarterback to ever play the game, Tom Brady. That was followed up with a year with former NFL MVP Cam Newton.

However, more recently, Mason competed in the trenches for Mac Jones, who made his rookie debut in 2021, which was Mason’s final year with the Patriots. The two-time Super Bowl champion remembers that season very well and even compared it to his current situation with the Houston Texans and quarterback C.J. Stroud, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2023 NFL draft.

“He was a rookie that year, and one thing I can take from that is him—and pass it along to C.J. as well—you know, rookie [quarterbacks] have to put in a little more than everybody else on the team,” Mason told media members. “That’s just kind of how that worked out, and Mac had a good amount of success his rookie year. And I think C.J. will have a good amount of success. I know he’s willing to put the time and effort in.”

Jones’ work ethic as a rookie can’t be denied considering he finished the year as a Pro Bowler. That was also the season when the Patriots still had offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and better offensive play-calling overall.

We’ll see if Stroud can hit the ground running in Houston, while Jones aims at a bounce-back year in New England.

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Texans G Shaq Mason says Kenyon Green ‘picks my brain a lot’

Houston Texans guard Shaq Mason can attest to second-year guard Kenyon Green being eager to learn and using him as a resource.

Shaq Mason is on his third different team in as many seasons, but he knows the drill in order to be a part of a functional offensive line.

The Houston Texans traded with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to obtain Mason’s services. The former New England Patriots 2015 fourth-round pick went to the Texans for a 2023 sixth-rounder.

To form cohesion, Mason knows it is a process.

“Really, it’s building continuity, taking it day-by-day,” Mason said. “Everybody’s out there grinding, trying to put our best foot forward. No matter who we’re playing beside, whoever the five are, I know we’re all going to be on the same page.”

The Texans have impressive pieces at two of their offensive line spots in three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil and former 2019 first-round right tackle Tytus Howard. The potential to have a third activate remains with former 2022 first-rounder Kenyon Green, who started 14 of his 15 games active last season at left guard.

According to Mason, the Texas A&M product is putting in the effort by tapping into Mason’s experience.

“Kenyon, he picks my brain a lot,” said Mason. “We’ve been talking. He’s been asking me things here and there.”

The Texans are in Phase 2 of their offseason workouts, which means there is on-field instruction but the offense and defense can’t compete against one another yet, not even in drills. The first phase of the offseason program consisted of more classroom work, which is where Green was able to demonstrate his dedication to improvement.

Said Mason: “One thing I know is that he cares. That’s a big thing coming from a guy that young. He cares about his craft. He cares about studying. He doesn’t want to mess anything up. That’s a lot coming from a young guy.”

Green, 22, had arthroscopic knee surgery in the offseason.

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Texans place No. 31 in Pro Football Focus pre-draft NFL power rankings

The Houston Texans at least avoided rock bottom in the latest Pro Football Focus pre-draft NFL power rankings.

The Houston Texans shored up roster deficiencies in free agency, but it wasn’t good enough to get them out of the bottom-5 of NFL teams.

According to Amelia Probst from Pro Football Focus, the Texans are the 31st-ranked team in the league ahead of the 2023 NFL draft. The biggest gain for Houston in free agency was safety Jimmie Ward, while the departure of tight end Jordan Akins to the Cleveland Browns was considered the Texans’ biggest loss.

The Texans made some decent moves in free agency. They added receivers in Robert Woods, Dalton Schultz and Andrew Beck and proven running backs in Devin Singletary and Mike Boone.

They also added to their offensive line by signing guard Shaq Mason.

Their defense was elevated by the signing of one of the best safeties in the league in Jimmie Ward. The Texans’ defense was graded 31st in the league last season, so they need all the help they can get.

While a second-to-last placement is understandable, it does undercut how improved the Texans have become at specific areas thanks to their free agent signings and trades alone.

With the Mason addition, Houston has a fortified offensive line with Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard as the bookends. Former 2022 first-round guard Kenyon Green will maintain the left side. With that type of blocking up front, the Texans should be able to keep their quarterback upright or provide running lanes for sensational running back Dameon Pierce.

Ward will be a part of a tandem alongside Jalen Pitre, who led the Texans with 147 combined tackles and five interceptions as a rookie. Houston’s secondary should be considerably improved as a result.

Across the rest of the AFC South, the Indianapolis Colts were the worst team in the league at No. 32. The Tennessee Titans were No. 23. The Jacksonville Jaguars came in at No. 12.

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Texans’ focus under DeMeco Ryans is to fortify the trenches

The aim for the Houston Texans with the arrival of new coach DeMeco Ryans is upgrading the offensive and defensive lines.

As a defensive-minded coach, DeMeco Ryans understands the importance of the play in the trenches.

Ryans earned the 2022 NFL assistant coach of the year honors thanks to his work as defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers. Defensive end Nick Bosa and the 49ers defensive line helped make Ryans look fabulous as a coordinator as San Francisco smothered opposing offenses with 3.4 yards per carry, tied for the lowest in NFL, and gave up 5.0 yards per play, tied for third most in the league.

Ryans also bore witness to the 49ers offense with 4.7 yards per carried, tied for the eighth-most in the NFL, and tied for fourth-most in the league with 5.9 yards per play.

If the Texans want to follow the San Francisco model, it will have to start upfront on both sides of the ball.

“The O-line, D-line, as I talked about earlier, that’s the important piece to building a football team,” Ryans told reporters March 27 at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix. “You have to build it from inside out, and to add interior defensive linemen, to add really good offensive linemen to our team, that’s going to be vital to us moving forward and being successful. That’s where it all starts.”

The Texans have done what they can through the first wave of free agency as they signed former 49ers defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway and former New York Jets defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins. Houston even traded for Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Shaq Mason to beef up the offensive line, which already boasts three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil along with 2019 first-round tackle Tytus Howard and 2022 first-round guard Kenyon Green.

“If we can’t play well up front, we’re not going to be a good football team,” said Ryans. “We want to continue to add up front as much as we can on the defensive end, offensive side, add as much depth as we can, because you lose those guys at times, so you have to have enough depth, you have to be able to rotate guys on the defensive side, and you have to have solid guys in the offensive line that you can count on and that can run the ball behind those guys and they can also protect.”

Last season, the Texans were the fourth-worst in the NFL defending the run at 5.1 yards per carry. Houston also was the second-worst in the NFL running the football at 3.7 yards per carry.

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Texans coach DeMeco Ryans seeks to bring winners to change culture

DeMeco Ryans says he wants to bring winners to the Houston Texans as he seeks to turn around the culture.

For DeMeco Ryans, it begins with people.

The 38-year-old is tasked with resurfacing the scuttled Houston Texans, who have endured three consecutive double-digit losing seasons and fallen to the bottom of the AFC South. In order to change the culture, Ryans knows he will need quality individuals in place.

“It’s bringing in guys who have been part of winning programs,” Ryans told reporters March 27 at the NFL owners meeting in Phoenix. “Those guys establishing how do winners practice, how do winners work in the weight room, how do winners handle themselves off the field, and when you add those guys to your team, that’s how the culture continues to change.”

One of the “winners” that the Texans have brought in is safety Jimmie Ward. Not only was Ward with Ryans throughout his development as an assistant coach starting in 2017 with the San Francisco 49ers, but the former 2014 first-round pick was part of the Niners’ collapse during the Jim Harbaugh era, the morass of the Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly one-season stints, and the rise of the Kyle Shanahan reign.

Ward has seen it all, and having the 31-year-old in the locker room would be a good example for the existing and future young talent that will be added after the 2023 NFL draft.

Said Ryans: “You come in, you add younger college guys, draft guys or undrafted free agents, and they just fall underneath that leadership of the guys that we’ve added, so, is there something grand, and it’s about the culture change, it’s about the people.”

The Texans don’t just have former lieutenants of Ryans joining the team to provide examples of hard work paying off. The Texans also traded for former Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Shaq Mason, who was also part of two Super Bowl-winning teams with the New England Patriots from 2015-21.

“If we bring the right people in who have the right work ethic, the right mindset, that’s how the culture starts to shift, and that’s how we build a winning program,” Ryans said.

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Texans still the worst team in the AFC after first wave of free agency

Despite the moves the Houston Texans made during the first wave of free agency, they are still the worst in the AFC according to CBS Sports.

The Houston Texans can’t win for losing.

Despite the Texans trading for guard Shaq Mason, adding tight end Dalton Schultz, acquiring receiver Robert Woods, giving Dameon Pierce support with running back Devin Singletary, and having all of their roster roles filled save for quarterback, edge defender, and receiver, Houston is still at the bottom of the barrel.

According to Jordan Dajani from CBS Sports, the Texans are the 16th-best team in the 16-team AFC.

Key addition: TE Dalton Schultz

The Texans have been rebuilding for a couple seasons now, but 2023 is where the real rebuild begins. Nick Caserio made a good hire in head coach DeMeco Ryans, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise up the coaching ranks, and he’s brought a couple former San Francisco 49ers with him to H-Town in safety Jimmie Ward and defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway. The Robert Woods signing was confusing. At least, giving him over $15 million following his worst NFL season was confusing. Losing Brandin Cooks doesn’t exactly help either, but Dalton Schultz is a nice addition at tight end. 

The Texans still have plenty of holes to fill, but all that matters is hitting on their new franchise quarterback at No. 2 overall in next month’s draft.

Cooks and Woods were a wash. Cooks generated 57 catches for 699 yards and three touchdowns through 13 games. Meanwhile Woods had 53 passes for 527 yards and two touchdowns through 17 games. Woods produced his totals despite the Tennessee Titans having better receivers. Cooks had his tally and was the Texans’ best receiver.

Across the rest of the AFC South, the Indianapolis Colts were considered the 15th-best team. The Tennessee Titans were the 13th-best team in the conference. The reigning division champion Jacksonville Jaguars were ranked the No. 6 team in the AFC.

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