By Dianna Russini, Amos Morale III and Adam Coleman
The Houston Texans extended wide receiver Nico Collins, the team announced Wednesday. The deal is for three years and will pay him $24 million per year, league sources said Tuesday.
Collins is coming off a career season where he became the fourth player in franchise history to reach 1,000 receiving yards — joining Brandin Cooks, DeAndre Hopkins and Andre Johnson. He recorded 1,297 yards on 80 catches with eight touchdowns.
Here for a good time and a long time 🤟 pic.twitter.com/QyfRRGaTxP
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) May 29, 2024
Collins’ first shot at free agency was coming next year, but the Texans locked him in with a significant pay raise.
The Texans selected Collins in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He caught a combined 70 passes for 927 yards and three touchdowns in his first two seasons in Houston.
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In 2023, the arrival of first-year coach DeMeco Ryans and rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud led to a boom in Collins’ production as he saw 109 targets and averaged a career-high 86.5 yards per game last season.
Why it’s a smart move for Houston
The Texans have been busy this offseason but this may be one of their smarter moves. Collins made a significant jump in 2023, where he played and produced like a top 10 wide receiver while creating one of the league’s best QB-WR duos with Stroud, the Offensive Rookie of the Year.
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More than anything, Houston eliminates some risk with this extension. If the Michigan product and four-year pro had another season in 2024 like he did in 2023, retaining him could have been difficult in a potentially lucrative market for a loaded WR free agent class in 2025.
All Collins needs is health and consistency. He’s never played a full season in his three years in the league and his production in his first two years is starkly different from last year, although that can partly be blamed on playing on bad Texans teams amid a rebuild.
The Texans are betting Collins has put it all together and is ready for stardom in the NFL. — Adam Coleman, NFL editor
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(Photo: Ryan Kang / Getty Images)