For the first time in 2023, a top-five pick from this year’s class has inked his rookie contract. Will Anderson Jr.‘s Texans deal is now in place, as noted (on Twitter) by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. 
Anderson’s contract is worth a fully guranteed $35.2MM over four years; Houston will be able to keep him on the books beyond that via the fifth-year option. He will receive a signing bonus of $22.6MM as he begins his NFL career, one during which much will be expected of him.
The Alabama alum entered the 2022 season in the running to hear his name called first on draft night. His sophomore campaign saw him rack up 17.5 sacks and 31 tackles for loss, figures which placed him fifth in Heisman voting in that year. A step forward from those lofty totals would have boosted his stock even further, but the opposite scenario played out during the campaign.
Anderson’s production took a step back in terms of sacks (10) and TFLs (17), but they still resulted in considerable accolades. The 6-4, 243-pounder was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year, winner of the Bronko Nagurski award (given to the country’s top defender) and a unanimous first-team All-American for the second consecutive season. He was thus squarely on the Texans’ radar in the build-up to the draft.
Houston appeared to take themselves out of contention for Anderson when they selected quarterback C.J. Stroud second overall. That decision was soon followed, however, by a bold move up the board to No. 3 which saw the Texans part ways with the No. 12 pick and a package including a 2024 first-rounder. Anderson’s arrival in Houston will thus be met with sky-high expectations both in his rookie season and over the course of his career.
The Cardinals will have plenty of reasons to follow Anderson’s performance in 2023 and the impact it will have on the Texans’ ability to begin heading out of the rebuilding phase. He will transition from an outside linebacker to a defensive end at the NFL level under new head coach DeMeco Ryans, a change which is not expected to slow his development. Anderson will have plenty of snaps available as a rookie member of an edge group which will be led by Jerry Hughes and Jonathan Greenard after the free agent departure of Ogbonnia Okoronkwo.
With Anderson now on the books, Stroud stands as the only Texans rookie yet to ink his rookie deal. He, along with Anderson, will be central figures in the team’s performance in 2023 and for several years beyond that.