Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston just got paid. On Wednesday, hours before the franchise-tag deadline, he signed a six-year, $101 million deal that includes $52.5 million in guaranteed money, according to various reports. It's the richest contract in Chiefs' in history, and Houston also becomes the highest-paid linebacker in league history.

“Today we were able to reach an agreement with Justin and his agent, Joel Segal, to keep him here in Kansas City for the foreseeable future,” Chiefs general manager John Dorsey said, via the team's website. “He’s one of the top players in the National Football League and a premier pass rusher. As we’ve said from the beginning, Justin the football player, and the person, is someone we wanted to be a part of our organization. We are very happy that he will remain a member of the Chiefs.”

Chiefs coach Andy Reid added: “John, Joel and their staffs did a great job of getting this deal done. Justin has a relentless work ethic on the field and in the classroom, and he provides our team with tremendous leadership. He is a fearless competitor, and we are glad he is going to be back.”

What this mean for the Chiefs

Houston, the former third-round pick out of Georgia, led the NFL with 22 sacks last season, and at 26, he's entering the prime of his career. The Chiefs' defense ranked 19th in 2014, according to Football Outsiders, but much of the mediocrity was due to their struggles against the run (26th); against the pass, the unit ranked 13th.

ProFootballFocus ranked Houston as the league's best outside linebacker, where he dominated as a pass rusher (that explains the 22 sacks), but he was also fourth against the rush, behind Terrell Suggs, Jabaal Sheard and Jason Babin.

And help is on the way; the Chiefs signed safety Tyvon Branch in free agency and selected arguably the draft's best cornerback, Marcus Peters, 18th overall.

How Houston's new deal compares to the league's other highest-paid defenders

Houston's $101 million deal not only ranks first among all rush linebackers, it's second among all defensive players, behind only the $114 million contract Ndamukong Suh signed with the Dolphins in March. Houston is also second behind Suh in average salary ($16.8 million to Suh's $19 million) and guaranteed salary (52.5 million to Suh's $59.5 million).

Here's the list of the NFL's 10 highest paid defenders, via Spotrac.com:

(Spotrac.com)
(Spotrac.com)

What this mean for the other franchise-tag designees

Players with the franchise-tag designation have until 4 p.m. ET Wednesday to sign a long-term contract or the CBA requires that they play under a one-year deal in 2015 and a long-term contract can't be negotiated until next offseason. The biggest names include Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant, Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas and Giants linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul.

Bryant has made it clear that he will sit out unless the Cowboys give him a multi-year deal. Whether that means "Calvin Johnson money" -- which works out to more than $16 million annually, or something less than that -- remains to be seen. The Cowboys originally offered Bryant $10 million per season, according to reports, but have bumped it up to more than $12.8 million, which is what Bryant would have made under the franchise tag in 2015.

Meanwhile, ESPN reports that Thomas and the Broncos haven't exchanged contract proposals in more than a month. Thomas said earlier this year that while playing under the franchise tag wasn't ideal, he'd do it because he thinks Denver is a Super Bowl contender.

"As a player, you want to get a deal, but if it doesn't happen you just got to deal with it," Thomas said at the time. "You just go out and play. I'm still going to play, still going to put my best game up, not going to do anything to hurt the team. I'm going to go out and put my best game up and have another great year."

We could find out shortly if Thomas' sentiments on that have changed.

Then there's Pierre-Paul, who lost his right index finger in a July 4th fireworks mishap. The Giants reportedly pulled a $60 million deal off the table once they found out about the accident, though the franchise-tag offer remains.

(The team could have pulled that too, but that would have made JPP a free agent. Given that he's expected to make a full recovery, perhaps as soon as late August, teams would be lining up for his services.)

For now, Pierre-Paul has no plans to sign the franchise tender until he is healthy, per a ESPN report, because the Giants could chose to put him on the nonfootball injury list to start camp, and possibly for the first six games of the regular season. And the team wouldn't be obligated to pay him during those six games.

Justin Houston has signed a reported six-year, $101 million deal. (USATSI)