KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Every time Justin Houston grabs an opposing quarterback for a sack, one can almost hear the cha-ching of a cash register in the distance.

Houston’s three sacks led the Kansas City Chiefs’ defensive effort in a 34-7 victory over St. Louis on Sunday. Overall, the Chiefs took Rams quarterback Austin Davis down seven times. Those three sacks now give Houston 10 on the season. That’s halfway to the franchise record of 20 sacks by Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Thomas in 1990.

It’s also where he was last season after seven games. Injuries sidelined Houston for most of the second half of the 2013 schedule and he had just 11 sacks when it was all said and done.

That he’s back at that number with a chance for more if he stays healthy comes at a very good time for Houston. His contract expires at the end of the 2014 season, and he could become an unrestricted free agent. He could also become the Chiefs’ franchise player, a move that would hold him out of free agency and under contract for another season.

Either way, Houston will become a very rich man, and those dollars continue to go up with each moment he lifts himself off an opposing quarterback and adds another notch to his pass rusher belt.

He now has 36.5 sacks in 50 games and that total has him already ranked No. 9 in franchise history. With his sack hat trick against St. Louis, he passed Wilbur Young (35). If he stays healthy, just ahead of him and reachable by the end of the 2014 season are Bill Maas (40), Jared Allen (43) and Eric Hicks (44.5).

And Thomas’ single-season franchise record is within reach. After seven games in 1990, Thomas had seven sacks.

“I’ll worry about at the end of the season,” said Houston. “Right now I’m taking it one game at a time. My goal is to get as many sacks as I can every game. That’s my job. Every time I can put pressure on the quarterback, that’s a plus.”