HOUSTON (AP) — Pro Bowl linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair will remain with the Houston Texans through the 2029 season after signing a three-year extension this week.
The Texans didn’t release terms of the deal when they announced it Friday, but it is reportedly worth $54 million.
“Truthfully, I just wanted to be authentically myself and I always felt like if I got the opportunity to be at a place and show everybody who I was, then things would go well for the team and myself,” he said. “I’m grateful for that.”
His deal comes on the heels of defensive end Will Anderson signing a three-year, $150 million contract extension with the Texans that makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history
Al-Shaair has spent the last two seasons with the Texans, appearing in 27 games with 173 tackles, eight tackles for losses, two sacks, 13 passes defensed, two interceptions and three forced fumbles.
Last season, he was selected for his first Pro Bowl after making 16 starts for a defense that allowed the fewest yards in the NFL (277.2 per game) and averaged the second-fewest points allowed (17.4) in the regular season.
Al-Shaair joined the Texans after spending the 2023 season with the Titans. He was an undrafted free agent who spent his first four seasons in San Francisco, where he appeared in 56 games and had 199 tackles and 11 tackles for losses.
Al-Shaair was honored for his off-field work last season when he was named Houston’s Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award recipient. He supports numerous charities that support homeless youth after experiencing homelessness growing up after his family’s home was destroyed in a fire.
Al-Shaair said Friday that his mother didn’t want him to play football as a child because she didn’t want him to get hurt. He begged her and made a promise that he has since fulfilled.
“We were staying in a motel at the time, (and I said) ‘I promise you, if you let me play football I’m going to make it to the NFL, I’ll take care of our family one day,’” he said. “I had no clue if I was ever actually going to be able to do it or not. I never saw it done. ... So, to sit here years and years later, to be actually living that out, is absolutely amazing.”
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