The Tennessee Titans plan to keep Jurrell Casey around for a very long time.
The team on Friday signed the Pro Bowl defensive tackle to a four-year, $60.4 million extension with $40 million in guarantees, per NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. Casey's previous pact was set to expire after next season.
Coming off another Pro Bowl campaign, Casey has served as Tennessee's most reliable defender over the past half-decade, piling up 33 sacks since being drafted in 2011.
"It is rare to do a contract extension early in this business," Titans general manager Jon Robinson told the team's official website. "But Jurrell is a unique player in that he was drafted here, has already done an extension with the team, is a standout in our community, and has earned multiple Pro Bowl invitations. We are happy to have him as a Titan for many years to come."
Casey is the kind of tackle who can reliably bottle up running backs and create nightmares for opposing quarterbacks. Often the subject of double teams, the 27-year-old ranked 10th among all interior defenders last season, per Pro Football Focus.
Robinson has used the past two seasons to turn the Titans into a more rugged team on both offense and defense. Paying Casey like a core member of this evolving roster makes plenty of sense.
