Jadeveon Clowney on Future in Houston: 'I Want to Be Here Forever'

Jadeveon Clowney is heading into a contract year in 2018, but he has no intention of leaving the Houston Texans.

"Hopefully, they lock me in," the pass-rusher said of a potential extension, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. "I want to be here forever."

"It would be great, something I always dreamed of," he added. "I don't want to leave this team. I've been here since the beginning. I want to stay here. I want to finish my career here, so I'm looking forward to that."

Clowney was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft, but his career got off to a slow start due to injury issues in his first two seasons.

However, he has developed into a star over the past two years with a pair of Pro Bowl selections. He was second-team All-Pro in 2016 and finished last season with a career-high 9.5 sacks.

The Texans picked up his fifth-year option, which will pay him $12.3 million in 2018.

He can hit free agency in 2019, although the front office is apparently trying to work out an extension before the start of the upcoming season.

"That's something that we're currently evaluating right now, about the feasibility of that," Texans general manager Brian Gaine said.

Houston finished 2017 dead last in points allowed (27.3 per game), but the defense was decimated by injuries. The returns of J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus, plus the addition of Tyrann Mathieu, makes this a dangerous unit, health permitting.

Keeping Clowney long term could make this team a top contender in the AFC South, especially if QB Deshaun Watson is fully recovered from his torn ACL.