Kuharsky: What I'd do if I ran the Texans

[GP]

The money isn’t mine. I’m not certain about what you can afford and what the market will pay when free agency opens on March 13. I’m not positive about your plans and schemes.

But I’ve got a good sense of your team. We've looked at your free agents.

And here’s what I’d try to do with your major issues:

1. Make one, big solid offer to defensive end Mario Williams. Very soon. Tell him it’s the best you are going to be able to do now or later. Expect him not to take it. Prepare for life without him and the crushing reviews you’ll get when he goes to a place like Seattle or, worse, Jacksonville, and wreaks some havoc as a pass rusher. Take solace that he’s overpaid by his new team and will ultimately mess up its cap. Plan to draft a outside linebacker to be third in a rotation with Connor Barwin and Brooks Reed.

2. Free up money with the following moves: Cut receiver Jacoby Jones (due a $3 million base salary) and reserve quarterback Matt Leinart (due a $1.75 million base). Make it clear while you’d like to keep them on your team, you cannot pay inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans ($5.9 million), receiver Kevin Walter ($3.5 million base) or defensive tackle Shaun Cody ($2 million) the base salaries they are scheduled to make. Ryans is a good player and a great locker room guy. But he played 58 percent of the Texans' defensive snaps last season. He can't make that money for that time on the field.

3. Do what you need to do to hold on to running back Arian Foster, but realize you have control. He’s a restricted free agent. A team trying to lure him away with an offer sheet would have to give up a first-rounder for him, and as great as he is, a first round pick is a high price for a running back. I think you can be a little risky here in terms of not worrying about outsiders. An offer sheet could be front-loaded and hard to match straight up. Hopefully if he’s offered one, he’ll share the numbers because he likes you and you’ve give him an equivalent deal shaped differently to get him to steer clear of signing the sheet. With or without outside influence, you should be able to give him a deal he’ll like that has a smaller 2012 cap number than the franchise tag of nearly $8 million.

4. Find a way to lock up center Chris Myers and don’t worry about guard Mike Brisiel, who's not the same caliber and won't cost nearly as much, unless he can be had for cheap. While you’d like to keep both, Myers is a better player, who's more valuable and has a better injury history. He’s also more of a the leader of the group. You need him long-term to keep that great running game going. Antoine Caldwell can take over at right guard without major drop off. There is no obvious replacement for Myers on the roster, so they’d have to find one if you let him go.

Link to story here.

[GP]

I more or less agree with what he said, except his statement that there's no drop off from Briesel to Caldwell at the guard position. Disagree much.

What do you think about his ideas? His article on this issue reads pretty much like the discussions we've had on here regarding Myers, Foster, Williams, JJ and KW, and DeMeco.

I read that article and thought to myself, "Well, all this has pretty much been kicked around on the texanstalk board for the past two months already."

Did he bring anything new to the table, in your opinion?

[alphajoker]

I wouldn't want to cut Walter, Cody or Ryans but rather see if they can restructure their current contracts. I don't think it would be smart to cut them. IMO, there is a need to have proven veterans on the team for leadership & guidance. History for this team has shown when you don't have a good mix of veterans on the team, it's not pretty <see 2005 & 2010 seasons>

[ThaShark316]

Originally Posted by alphajoker

I wouldn't want to cut Walter, Cody or Ryans but rather see if they can restructure their current contracts. I don't think it would be smart to cut them. IMO, there is a need to have proven veterans on the team for leadership & guidance. History for this team has shown when you don't have a good mix of veterans on the team, it's not pretty <see 2005 & 2010 seasons>

Yeah, I don't want to be the Cowboys. No leadership AT ALL.

[gtexan02]

Don't risk the offer sheet with Foster. Thats the only real difference I see
Plus, Id try to keep Briesel. I think he wants to play here

[Brisco_County]

Where I disagree: Tie up Foster soon, keep Brisiel, and don't restructure DeMeco's contract. DeMeco's early contract renewal was an example for the rest of the team. That good faith gesture reverses itself if you reduce it.

[Playoffs]

Cutting/restructuring DeMeco is a very tricky situation, even if warranted.

He is unquestioned clubhouse leader/cheerleader/motivator -- to a man players love him. Sometimes chemistry is worth more than that.

Everything else is: keep Mario/Arian/Myers & cut Jacoby & Leinart. (Don't want Leinart back, personally.) I'm down with that, as I think most are, but can we do all that?

[bah007]

QB - Let Leinart go. Draft a QB to replace him if you want. I trust Yates as QB #2.

HB - Pay Foster.

WR - Cut Jacoby. Draft a replacement. See if Walter will restructure his contract.

OL - Pay Myers. Pay Brisiel if we can. If we can't then expect to draft OG pretty high. I loved Caldwell when we drafted him but he has shown me nothing.

OLB - I would love to keep Mario. Offer him somthing we can afford. If he says no that is fine. He is deserving of the pay day that somebody else will offer him. I like what we have coming back here. Draft OLB depth.

ILB - Ryans' deal was a reward. Asking him to restructure would send a negative message. I think we just need to grit our teeth while he plays out this deal.

[Double Barrel]

Lock down Foster asap.

Agree about cutting Jacoby Jones and Leinart.

Leave DeMeco Ryans alone, but try to work with Cody and Walter, who are both replaceable.

And definitely lock up Chris Myers and Mike Brisiel. Keep that line intact. Continuity is important.

Bye bye Mario.

[disaacks3]

Originally Posted by bah007

QB - Let Leinart go. Draft a QB to replace him if you want. I trust Yates as QB #2.

HB - Pay Foster.

WR - Cut Jacoby. Draft a replacement. See if Walter will restructure his contract.

OL - Pay Myers. Pay Brisiel if we can. If we can't then expect to draft OG pretty high. I loved Caldwell when we drafted him but he has shown me nothing.

OLB - I would love to keep Mario. Offer him somthing we can afford. If he says no that is fine. He is deserving of the pay day that somebody else will offer him. I like what we have coming back here. Draft OLB depth.

ILB - Ryans' deal was a reward. Asking him to restructure would send a negative message. I think we just need to grit our teeth while he plays out this deal.

Agreed on all counts.

[bckey]

1-I agree with all of this about Mario.

2-Sure I would cut JJ and Leinart. I don't see Cody as a problem at 2 million. Leave Ryans alone. Try and restructure Walters because I don't really think any teams are going to be blowing up his phone if he is cut and hopefully he knows this.

3-Most will say pay Foster and I agree but I think he is right on how to go about it.

4-Locking up Myers is a no brainer but dumping Brisiel for Caldwell is an extremely bad move.

[Dutchrudder]

I don't see why anyone would want to cut Cody. 2 million for a starting NT who is capable, not great, is fine. Not much savings in cutting him anyways, but we should draft a NT to groom behind him.

[Mr teX]

Originally Posted by bah007

QB - Let Leinart go. Draft a QB to replace him if you want. I trust Yates as QB #2.

HB - Pay Foster.

WR - Cut Jacoby. Draft a replacement. See if Walter will restructure his contract.

OL - Pay Myers. Pay Brisiel if we can. If we can't then expect to draft OG pretty high. I loved Caldwell when we drafted him but he has shown me nothing.

OLB - I would love to keep Mario. Offer him somthing we can afford. If he says no that is fine. He is deserving of the pay day that somebody else will offer him. I like what we have coming back here. Draft OLB depth.

ILB - Ryans' deal was a reward. Asking him to restructure would send a negative message. I think we just need to grit our teeth while he plays out this deal.

This. offer something reasonable to both parties for mario, if he declines, no biggie.

[rush2112mn]

I agree with what Paul has to say for the most part.
Demeco's contract is a little hefty and his playing time has been cut as well due to the defensive scheme we are running now.
I agree with cutting Jacoby but would keep Leinart so you have 3 qbs.....
I agree with how you offer Mario a contract.....and see if he takes it or heads for the better offer somewhere else....

[badboy]

Originally Posted by bah007

QB - Let Leinart go. Draft a QB to replace him if you want. I trust Yates as QB #2.

HB - Pay Foster.

WR - Cut Jacoby. Draft a replacement. See if Walter will restructure his contract.

OL - Pay Myers. Pay Brisiel if we can. If we can't then expect to draft OG pretty high. I loved Caldwell when we drafted him but he has shown me nothing.

OLB - I would love to keep Mario. Offer him somthing we can afford. If he says no that is fine. He is deserving of the pay day that somebody else will offer him. I like what we have coming back here. Draft OLB depth.

ILB - Ryans' deal was a reward. Asking him to restructure would send a negative message. I think we just need to grit our teeth while he plays out this deal.

good post. My understanding is Leinert's & JJ's cap for 2012 is apprx $7m which should get us Foster & a back ended deal.

Mario will sign with enough wiggle room to sign both Myers and Briesel imo. Contracts other than Cody and Ryans could be enough to re-sign Dreesen (unless he gets a starter option elsewhere). I am predicting new NFl cap of at least $124 million. We still can borrow money from a future cap per new CBA. We did not use this tool in 2011 & not sure if that $3m can be rolled over; probably not. Still $4m + $1.5m (my figure though some have stated $3m can be borrowed this season)= 4.5 million which could go towards draft.

[badboy]

Originally Posted by rush2112mn

I agree with what Paul has to say for the most part.
Demeco's contract is a little hefty and his playing time has been cut as well due to the defensive scheme we are running now.
I agree with cutting Jacoby but would keep Leinart so you have 3 qbs.....
I agree with how you offer Mario a contract.....and see if he takes it or heads for the better offer somewhere else....

You don't think his severe injuries last season had anything to do with his productivity?

[ChampionTexan]

Originally Posted by Dutchrudder

I don't see why anyone would want to cut Cody. 2 million for a starting NT who is capable, not great, is fine. Not much savings in cutting him anyways, but we should draft a NT to groom behind him.

I'm thinking that between Cody and Earl Mitchell at a 2012 salary cap hit of probably not much more than $3 Million combined, the Texans are pretty likely to sit tight on NT. Not a strength, but the combo of the two guys doesn't appear to be viewed as a weakness by Wade or Gary, so my guess is that they're thinkin' "If it ain't broke (and it's cheap), don't fix it".

The NT to be groomed probably comes next year after Cody's current contract is up.

[Premier]

how would asking ryans to restructure be a negative????? hes still getting all the money hes owed, just more of it upfront...

[leebigeztx]

I would get demeco deal down to 3m with 3m in incentives like snaps,probowl,and all pro. This is serious business and with ryans making almost 7m for a 2 down lb isn't good business. Deqwell jackson dea is at about 5m per and he's as good if not better than ryans. Whe they go sub package, which is over 60%, demeco isn't even on the field.

As stated before, mario@12-14m per,meyers at 5m,foster at 8m in terms of cap hit. Cut cody,jones,lienhart, and let all the other fre agents go. They can be replaced via draft or 2nd tier/3rd free agents. I would like to see the texans bring in a someone like brady quinn to develop with yates.

[False Start]

I pretty much agree with everything he said, except the Briesel thing.