Sources: Texans re-signing linebacker E.J. Speed to two-year, $13 million max value deal

HOUSTON – E.J. Speed, a key linebacker and special-teams contributor, will remain with the Texans under a new contract.

Speed is signing a two-year, $13 million maximum value contract rather than head to free agency after his original one-year, $5 million contract expired, per league sources. Speed will receive a $4 million signing bonus, per sources, and $7.5 million of the deal is guaranteed, with base salaries of $1.75 million (fully guaranteed), another $250,000 total available through per game active roster bonuses and an additional $1.5 million in incentives.

His total first-year payout has a base value of $5.75 million and a max value of $7.5 million. In the second year, he has a $3.75 million base salary with $1.75 million of that guaranteed and identical playtime per game and incentives as this season.

Speed is represented by Houston-based veteran agent Will Felix III of Maven Sports.

A tall and rangy Tarleton State graduate, Speed signed with the Texans last year over opportunities in free agency with the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers. He was expected to draw significant interest around the league if he had hit the marketplace next week when free agency officially begins.

Speed emerged as an important part of the defense, recording 62 tackles, three for losses, two quarterback hits and one pass defensed in 16 games with nine starts for a playoff squad. He played 44 percent of the defensive snaps and 52 percent of the special teams snaps last season.

Speed, 30, is a former Indianapolis Colts starter and fifth-round draft pick.

A two-time All-Lonestar Conference selection, Speed has recorded 416 career tackles in the NFL, 30 tackles for losses, two sacks, six forced fumbles and one interception with 13 passes defensed.

As Speed went through his process last year playing for a former NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year whose 49ers background included coaching Fred Warner and current Texans Pro Bowl linebacker and team captain Azeez Al-Shaair resonated strongly.

“Quite honestly, DeMeco Ryans, defensive minded head coach, I loved what he did up in San Francisco with Fred and Azeez,” Speed told KPRC 2 last season. “He always had a great linebacking corps. He actually worked me out coming out of college, so that was a good thing. We had that tie through there and just knowing what he did in the league. It’s always a good thing when you play with somebody who’s been through everything you’ve been through as a player and did it at a high level. That was a big part of my decision going to Houston.

“It’s different. He played in it. He played it, coached in it, was an assistant coach in it. So, it’s a lot of interesting things that he says that I can understand and can relate to my game on the field. And a lot stuff that he understands like where your eyes go and plays and stuff like that. So that been the biggest thing that I gained from this since I’ve been here.”

Speed recorded a career-high 142 tackles two seasons ago for the Colts as he started 15 games and recorded seven tackles for losses with one interception. He played 98 percent of the Colts’ defensive snaps.

A Fort Worth native, Speed was a quarterback and wide receiver at North Crowley High School who passed for 3,000 yards as an all-district quarterback as a senior. He was offered scholarships to Colorado, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma State, but decided to play at Tarleton State, a Division II program at the time, after his stepbrother was diagnosed with cancer.

Moved to linebacker, Speed emerged as All-Lone Star Conference selection. He finished his career with 231 tackles, 36 for losses, 11 1/2 sacks and eight forced fumbles and was drafted in the fifth round by the Colts.

Speed is an extremely tall linebacker at 6-foot-4, 227 pounds. He became a full-time starter three seasons ago for the Colts and finished with 102 tackles, 12 for losses, one sack and three forced fumbles.

Speed is proud to represent Tarleton State in the NFL.

“It’s crazy just seeing how far Tarleton has came since I left and since I was there,” Speed said. “I noticed the growth when I was here and now it was just growing further. The coaches, they actually taught me how to play at this level, how to be at this level just mentally.

“And just being a guy with character. Never let your character take you out of a room that your talent is putting you in. So. Just always just try to balance it. We was big on character at Tarleton State. Now that I’m here, just everywhere, I just like to show off my character and my athleticism.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com