While some NFL teams wait for the decision on the potential new collective bargaining agreement to come down, the Houston Texans continue to do business with their players.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday morning that the Texans agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension with tight end Darren Fells, per sources informed of the pact. Later Tuesday, NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported that the Texans have also locked up kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn to a four-year, $17.65 million contract.
Fairbairn's contract includes $9 million fully guaranteed and makes him the third-highest paid kicker on a per-year basis, Garafolo added.
The two-year deal for Fells is worth $7 million, with $4 million in 2020, per Rapoport.
Fells played on a one-year, $1.5 million contract in Houston in 2019.
Turning 34 years old next month, Fells bounced around the NFL the past several seasons before finding a home in Houston. The former basketball player turned tight end finally broke into the NFL as a role player in Arizona in 2014. Fells spent three seasons with the Cardinals before venturing to Detroit in 2017 and Cleveland in 2018.
In his first year with the Texans, Fells set career-highs with 34 receptions for 341 yards and caught seven touchdowns, third-most among tight ends in the regular season.
At 6-foot-7, Fells proved a menace in goal line situations and was nearly unguardable slipping off the line in designed plays to the flat. He also proved solid as a blocking tight end in Houston's scheme.
After playing for three teams in three years, Fells finally stops the journey to remain a key cog in Deshaun Watson's offense.
A UCLA product who's played all three of his NFL seasons in Houston, Fairbairn made 20 of his 25 field-goal attempts in 2019 -- a season after converting a league-high 37 field goals.
