Horn’s tenure with the top contract lasted one week
Last week, the Carolina Panthers made corner Jaycee Horn the highest paid defensive back of all time with a monster four-year, $100M extension that included $70M in guarantees. The Houston Texans took one week to blow that deal out of the water. This morning they extended their own cornerback, Derek Stingley Jr, with a three-year deal worth $90M and $89M guaranteed.
Stingley was selected by the Texans with the third overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, one year after the Panthers picked Horn at a similar draft position. Similarly to Horn, Stingley has only played one full season since entering the NFL. His main superlative over Horn is his interception count, where has racked up 11 picks in his limited playing time as compared to Horn’s five.
Both guys are excellent corners deserving of being paid like the top of their positions, but record setting deals like theirs are more than the norm than any exception. A constantly ballooning salary cap makes contracts grow every year. Bigger deals like Stingley’s will continue to come every year or so, and each one is going to make Horn’s contract look like a better and better value on the Panthers books.