Pay Foster now.

[GP]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

Let's think about this for a minute.

1. let's figure out what Arian is worth.
2. How much we are willing to pay him
3. How much does Arian think he's worth
4. How will we structure the contract
5. Make a deal

The last three contracts that come to mind, are:

Adrian Peterson's

7 years $100M - $36M guaranteed - $40M in first 3 years

DeAngelo Williams'

5 years, $43M - $21M guaranteed

Chris Johnson's.

6 years $56M - ~$33M Guaranteed

Where do you think Arian Fits in?

A 3-year deal or 4-year deal at the most.

And I don't know how to structure that, tbh. I would say give him enough to make him a happy man for 3 to 4 years with the intention of making him an even happier man on another 3 or 4 year deal after this one has expired.

I know everyone says it MUST be a 5-year deal, at least, because all the RBs are getting 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 or 13 year deals or whatever. So what. Reward a guy for what did the past two years by giving him a nice 3 or 4 year deal since RBs are (according to legend) a high-risk investment over the long run.

If a 5-year deal averaged $4 million-per, then give Arian more than $4 million-per but decrease the year(s) on the deal. Make it clear that you expect him to be here for 3 or 4 years AND you expect him to be here another 3 or 4 after that to make it a 10-year career and retire as a wealthy Texans player and likely a HOF'er too.

But again, I don't know all the ramifications of doing a shorter-term deal. I just wonder what's so special about giving a RB an exceptionally long deal. They rarely stay on the same team, most often getting worn down and released or traded or whatever once they can't run the old horse race anymore. So why not focus more short-term and be more genuine about the expectations? That's my thinking on it.

And I don't know why some are theorizing that Arian is not going to be all that lustful over a big payday. He chose the Texans because we offered more UDFA money than the Saints did AND he had a better shot at becoming the starter here at the time. Sounds like a very calculating and strategic person to me....

[amazing80]

Do a 4 year 36 M (9 a year) with 19 M guaranteed.


Remember AF is young and only has 2 years starting on his body, he will have at least another great 4 years.....

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by Goatcheese

The funny thing is that fans were just a vehement in their demands to see Robinson get his money, but as soon as he held out they turned on him and from that point forward insisted that he sucked(even though it was technically the best year of his career as a cover man).

For even more humor, I was one of the only ones who was saying that D-Rob was being overrated before his holdout.

You weren't alone. I was against the Texans franchising him to begin with. As a matter of fact, when I found out they offered him top 5 CB money (as it were rumored), he turned it down, then he refused to sign his Franchise contract... I thought the Texans should have pulled the offer & let him walk.

No doubt in my mind, at that point, that he simply didn't want to be on this team. As dumb as it sounds, I felt McNair was offering him "that" money as a matter of courtesy, similar to the $8M golden handshake David Carr got. But if Dunta wanted to be an ass about it, don't let the door hit ya fella.

Ah... memories.

Honestly, I appreciated Dunta's physicality & attitude he brought to the team. After the injury, he didn't bring it. After the tagged year, he didn't bring it..... I understand not wanting to get hurt without a long term deal.... but to hold out & be a punk about it? Nah... not me.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by GP

A 3-year deal or 4-year deal at the most.

I like the idea.. a little outside the box. But, the longer contracts are usually to the benefit of the team, especially with a signing bonus. The longer the contract, the more they can spread it out, the smaller the cap hit.

Most contracts are 3-4 year contracts, with a little fluff added on the back end.

Originally Posted by GP

If a 5-year deal averaged $4 million-per, then give Arian more than $4 million-per but decrease the year(s) on the deal. Make it clear that you expect him to be here for 3 or 4 years AND you expect him to be here another 3 or 4 after that to make it a 10-year career and retire as a wealthy Texans player and likely a HOF'er too.

You're not even close. I'm sure talks will start at $9M per.... look at those contracts I mentioned. The $9M is what's going to make it difficult for a short termed contract. You could give him a $20 signing bonus on a 4 year contract, which would count $5M/yr towards his cap number. 1st & 2nd year salaries of $2M would give you a Cap hit of $7M/yr..... with the 30% escalation rule, his 3rd yr salary would be $2.6M & 4th year would be $3.38M But you would have to add roster bonuses about $3M/yr to make the $9M/yr average. However, it would add directly to his cap number in 2014 ($10.6M) & 2015 ($11.38M)....

[Blake]

I see Arian Foster as Mrs. Davis from Its a Wonderful Life. She helps the Savings and Loan stay in business by asking for only what she needs. Seventeen dollars and fifty cents.

Foster will have his agent ask for only what he thinks he needs. He is not going to withdrawl his entire account and leave the Savings and Loan.

What a great movie.

[GP]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

You weren't alone. I was against the Texans franchising him to begin with. As a matter of fact, when I found out they offered him top 5 CB money (as it were rumored), he turned it down, then he refused to sign his Franchise contract... I thought the Texans should have pulled the offer & let him walk.

No doubt in my mind, at that point, that he simply didn't want to be on this team. As dumb as it sounds, I felt McNair was offering him "that" money as a matter of courtesy, similar to the $8M golden handshake David Carr got. But if Dunta wanted to be an ass about it, don't let the door hit ya fella.

Ah... memories.

Honestly, I appreciated Dunta's physicality & attitude he brought to the team. After the injury, he didn't bring it. After the tagged year, he didn't bring it..... I understand not wanting to get hurt without a long term deal.... but to hold out & be a punk about it? Nah... not me.

And as much as he was candid about David Carr (remember when Dunta made veiled comments in the locker room about David, but he never mentioned his name) there was, inside of that moment, a stark reality about the character of Dunta Robinson--A guy who values his own opinion so highly, that whatever he feels or thinks, at a given moment, is somehow THE Gospel Truth.

Dunta is a team player. But the team he plays for is Team Dunta. I think he was so shaken and dissatisfied by the abysmal existence of the Texans, and what seemed like a road to nowhere for all 52 of them, that he figured it was time to be on team Dunta from then on.

Even in Atlanta, this past season, I think he was criticizing his own teammates to the media. IIRC, he was critical of the WRs or the play of the offense or something. There he was, making sure Team Dunta would win at the end of the day.

That's my theory, at least.

[b0ng]

Originally Posted by Goatcheese

The funny thing is that fans were just a vehement in their demands to see Robinson get his money, but as soon as he held out they turned on him and from that point forward insisted that he sucked(even though it was technically the best year of his career as a cover man).

For even more humor, I was one of the only ones who was saying that D-Rob was being overrated before his holdout.

Not really. More fans didn't want Robinson to leave because there was literally nothing behind him on the depth chart, not because they thought he was some awesome CB. Most people around here thought Dunta was going to get way more money than he was worth because him and Leigh Bodden were the only 2 CB's that could even be misconstrued as starters during FA that year.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by GP

Dunta is a team player. But the team he plays for is Team Dunta. I think he was so shaken and dissatisfied by the abysmal existence of the Texans, and what seemed like a road to nowhere for all 52 of them, that he figured it was time to be on team Dunta from then on.

This is what I refer to when I talk about how hard it is to change an organization's culture. "I'm just going to do what I gotta do.... make my money & go home."

It's not about being a team, it's not about winning games, it's not about building a successful organization. Sure, there's one or two guys who have such aspirations. But they don't care enough to put forth the effort, or don't have the gumption to discuss it with the big man, or even their immediate supervisor.

The 49ers, I think, was the perfect team for Jim Harbaugh. He wouldn't have been as successful with too many other teams. The F.O. was determined about bringing in quality draft picks. They were stacked with talent before Harbaugh got there. All they needed was the right coach.

Harbaugh was able to use his enthusiasm & experience motivating young men to "do the impossible" it was the perfect storm.

Here, we had such a mix of "veteran" FAs & "mediocre" draft picks, that I don't know if any coach could have came in & built something special. Could someone come in & get us to two AFC Championship games? Probably. Like the Jets & Rex & their dysfunctional locker room. I'm going on record, saying Ryan is going to have to clean house, or be swept away. I don't think he has the personal skills to pull it all together.

Would I have been happy with those two back to back AFC Championship game appearances? WEll... yeah. Would I be rather be where they are today, than where we are today.... maybe.

Would I trade where I think they are headed for where I think we are headed? Not so much.

[gafftop]

So glad they did not have to franchise and we end up with the Dunta deal. One and done. The Texans are sending the RIGHT messsage. We appreciate how you(Foster) handled the situation this last year. We are paying you because of what you did on the field and how you handled yourself in dealing with this situation. The Texans have been saying they would take care of him and they did. Good for the FO.

[El Tejano]

Oh he's paid now!!!!