The 2025 offseason has seen several record-breaking deals. From Myles Garrett’s four-year, $160 million extension with the Cleveland Browns to Ja’Marr Chase’s $161 million deal with the Cincinnati Bengals, the 2025 offseason has flooded NFL players with new money. The latest to cash in is Houston Texans star Derek Stingley Jr.
Stingley signed a historic three-year, $90 million extension with the Texans, and he celebrated in a way that stood out — not by throwing a big party, but with something a little different.
Derek Stingley Jr.’s Celebration After Becoming NFL’s Highest-Paid Cornerback
The Texans didn’t add any big names in free agency this offseason. Instead, they made waves by trading for proven veterans like Christian Kirk and Super Bowl champion C.J. Gardner-Johnson. However, Houston did spend big to lock up its All-Pro cornerback with a massive $90 million extension.
Stingley celebrated by throwing a crawfish party on his lawn. In a video posted to his Instagram story, hundreds of crawfish were scattered across the grass, but Stingley was only seen with one other person — maybe he planned to eat them all himself.
“This is how you celebrate, fr,” he wrote in the caption.
TRENDING: #Texans star Derek Stingley Jr. posted how he is celebrating his new historic contract extension that he signed today.
👀👀👀
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) March 18, 2025
Stingley’s $90 million extension completely reset the cornerback market, making him the highest-paid player at the position by nearly $5 million, per Spotrac.
- Derek Stingley Jr. — $30 million
- Jaycee Horn — $25 million
- Jalen Ramsey — $24.1 million
- Patrick Surtain II — $24 million
- Jaire Alexander — $21 million
His $89 million in guaranteed money is nearly double the next-highest guarantee for a defensive back ($46.7 million for Jaycee Horn).
Stingley is one of the league’s best corners, recording five interceptions in each of the last two seasons. His 10 picks over that span rank first among cornerbacks and tied for fourth among all players. He allowed just 4.5 yards per target (40 completions on 85 attempts for 382 yards), the best mark among 147 players who faced 50 or more targets last season.
For Stingley, 2024 was the best year of his career, but he’s been consistently good since entering the league. Through three NFL seasons, he’s allowed just 5.8 yards per target — fourth-best among defensive backs with 100 or more targets since 2022.
The No. 3 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, he has lived up to the hype.
The Texans have benefited from playing in the weak AFC South, winning the division for the second straight season in 2024 with one of the league’s best defenses. Houston finished No. 7 in PFSN’s Defense+ metric last season, and Stingley was a key part of that success. As they look to contend for another division title, locking down one of their top defensive players was the right move.