Texans' Tunsil: I 'want to reset' tackle market with new deal

Houston Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil is the game's third-highest-paid player at his position, but that's not quite satisfactory for him.

Tunsil signed a three-year, $66-million extension in 2020 and plans to renegotiate with the Texans this offseason.

"I don't know who's the highest right now, maybe Trent (Williams) at 23 (million), but I want to top that," Tunsil told ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime on Wednesday. "Always want to reset the market. Perfect opportunity to reset the market. Everything is lining up as far as my contract to how I'm playing. Everything lining up perfectly."

Tunsil is playing at a high level on many metrics. He was recently named the AFC's starting left tackle for the Pro Bowl and has allowed just one sack on his way to a 91.8 pass protection grade from PFF.

This marks the 28-year-old's third Pro Bowl nod, but he's hoping to add the first All-Pro selection of his career this year.

"I've been working my ass off for all seven years just to get acknowledged as an All-Pro," he said. "I feel like that's one of the biggest achievements in the NFL."

San Francisco 49ers tackle Williams' contract has a position-leading $23.01 million average annual value. David Bakhtiari of the Green Bay Packers is the only other tackle currently ahead of Tunsil at $23 million per year.

The Texans could choose to move on from Tunsil, despite his high level of play, to free up cap space. They converted the majority of his 2022 salary into a signing bonus to provide cap relief for this year, but his 2023 cap hit is on pace to be about $35.2 million. Releasing or trading the Pro Bowler would effectively free up about $18.5 million in 2023 cap space.