The big picture

[jacquescas]

an interesting article i read.....

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1910623

The interesting things about this are that there is no cap in 2007 if the labor agreement is not changed, the current agreement expires in 2008. Secondly Houston falls into one of the 8 teams that are considered to have unfair advantages.

Gene Upshaw told NFL owners Wednesday that he believes eight powerful teams have obtained an unfair advantage over the other 24.

Here is what our owner had to saw about it.

High-revenue owners don't agree.

"The union is using published information on gross revenues, and we are looking at net income," Houston's Bob McNair said. "The high-revenue teams are also the ones that have invested heavily in their franchises, so when you look at what money we have at the end of the day, the disparity isn't of the significance that some people would have you believe."

I wonder how much money McNair can really pump into the team, how many free agents could he bring in if there was no cap? How deep are those pockets, really.

[Grid]

well from what i remember.. McNair is not himself a HUGE football fan.. and I dont beleive he considers the Texans to be "his baby".. didnt he bring Football back to houston for a friend of his that passed away, or something along those lines?

This is not a knock on mcnair.. i love mcnair, he is awesome .. just pointing out that.. if i have these facts straight.. it doesnt seem to me that he would go WAY out of his way to empty his pockets into this team.

[jacquescas]

well either way we are in the minority of teams that will have enough money to spend whatever we want. and thats nice, lets keep selling out the place.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by jacquescas

The interesting things about this are that there is no cap in 2007 if the labor agreement is not changed, the current agreement expires in 2008.

The bad thing about this is that teams cannot pro-rate signing bonus to uncapped years so the term of contracts is going down--last year and before top 1st rounders were signing 7 yr deals, this year 6 yr deals. If they don't get something done draft picks will become free agents very early in their careers.

[TsJagman]

Upshaw is breaking the cardinal rule.

"IF it ain't broke, don't try and fix it."

If this guy goes the way he wants to, he will turn the NFL into either the NBA, or worse, NHL.

It is the owners responsibility on the bottom line, not the rest of the league. Just because Jerry Jones, Dan Snyder, or McNair was able to land a franchise that makes a ton of money, does not mean they should have to share it. Owners like Irsay have to realize, every other owner has worked their butts off to get to where they are at. The Jones, Snyders, McNairs, even the lower tier guys like the Weavers, have done what it takes to invest in their franchises to turn a profit. Irsay at the time of moving the Colts from Baltimore to Indy, had one of the sweetest deals on the table, it should not mean the McNair or anyone else should bail him out, now that his building does not create the revenue it once was.

Upshaw is gonna do whatever it takes to put more money into the pockets of these prima donnas, while of course the owners are gonna try and put more money in their own pockets. In the end, the public is still gonna have to pay for these stadiums, and the fans are gonna have to pay for these players. Eventually the NFL is gonna get too big for themselves, just the way the NBA is going now. The NFL is going to completely price themselves right out of business, much the way the NBA is doing, and the NHL has done.

[Jwwillis]

Originally Posted by Grid

well from what i remember.. McNair is not himself a HUGE football fan.. and I dont beleive he considers the Texans to be "his baby".. didnt he bring Football back to houston for a friend of his that passed away, or something along those lines?

This is not a knock on mcnair.. i love mcnair, he is awesome .. just pointing out that.. if i have these facts straight.. it doesnt seem to me that he would go WAY out of his way to empty his pockets into this team.

Nobody ( except Howard Hughs or someone like him ) spends a record amount of money(300million ?) to obtain an NFL franchise for "a friend of his that passed away,..." McNair, as a business man, has to protect his investment and for that reason alone will reach down to buy the best players. The facilities that the Texans orgianization built cost more to maintain than say the Steelers facilities. I am remeinded of an old saying I like to use, " Its not what you make, its what you get to keep." The Texans may bring in more revenue but they have a lot more money going out as well. It is all a moot point anyway, they won't enter a year without a cap anytime soon.

[TsJagman]

Originally Posted by Jwwillis

Nobody ( except Howard Hughs or someone like him ) spends a record amount of money(300million ?) to obtain an NFL franchise for "a friend of his that passed away,..." McNair, as a business man, has to protect his investment and for that reason alone will reach down to buy the best players. The facilities that the Texans orgianization built cost more to maintain than say the Steelers facilities. I am remeinded of an old saying I like to use, " Its not what you make, its what you get to keep." The Texans may bring in more revenue but they have a lot more money going out as well. It is all a moot point anyway, they won't enter a year without a cap anytime soon.

Is this the old adage, you have to spend money to make money?

[aj.]

well from what i remember.. McNair is not himself a HUGE football fan.. and I dont beleive he considers the Texans to be "his baby".. didnt he bring Football back to houston for a friend of his that passed away, or something along those lines?

Where in the world did you come up with this?

It was 700 million.

[HJam72]

McNair hates football. He just wanted cheerleaders. :hehe:

[Jwwillis]

Originally Posted by HJam72

McNair hates football. He just wanted cheerleaders. :hehe:

Thanks A.J. I guess my mind just can't wrap itself around a figure like that.

[Mistril48]

Originally Posted by infantrycak

The bad thing about this is that teams cannot pro-rate signing bonus to uncapped years so the term of contracts is going down--last year and before top 1st rounders were signing 7 yr deals, this year 6 yr deals...

Excellent point. We may feel the affect of this much sooner than we think.

[ColdSteelBlue]

Originally Posted by Titanico

as far as you are having a ball, with just ONE win against us...you faced a weakened Titans team...but if you like to celebrate that..........................ok. You are just too satisfied with two "spoons of soup".

titanico shall henceforth be known as thumbtacktroll

[Low Life]

it says that McNair first tried to obtain rights from the NHL for a Houston hockey franchise but was denied. then he and his business partners decided that the NFL would be a reasonable route. I don't know that we can really state his motives for starting the franchise but I'm just happy that he did. I would have to agree with him on the revenue issue too. I don't expect the rich to give me jack based on the fact that they have money to invest and i've squandered mine on $50 worth of boose and beef on gameday.

[Grid]

take what I said with a grain of salt.. i was basing that on hearsay and things I heard a LONG time ago.


Thats why I tried not to make my post sound like i knew what I was talking about .


Im not real sure on the ins and outs of this whole deal.. but personally I think they just need to sign another "contract" to do it the same way they HAVE been doing it for another 20 years or whatever. The current salary cap "system" has turned the NFL into an even playing field for all teams.. it is working.. the NFL is the #1 sport in america.. leave it alone.

[aj.]

it says that McNair first tried to obtain rights from the NHL for a Houston hockey franchise but was denied. then he and his business partners decided that the NFL would be a reasonable route.

McNair's been interested in the NFL for a while. His first involvement in pursuing an NFL franchise was over a decade ago when Bud Adams asked him to look at the Miami franchise after Joe Robbie died. He looked at it but it was a complicated situation so he decided not to get involved. Later, in about '94, McNair was approached by Tagliabue to look at the St. Louis situation since they had lost a principal investor. Once again he looked into it but didn't like the situation well enough to pursue. McNair even asked Bud around that same timeframe if he would be interested in selling the Oilers. Bud declined and soon afterward moved the team. Then McNair's buddy Chuck Watson asked him if he would like to get involved in the pursuit of an NHL team. McNair joined up with Watson but they both abandoned the effort because the Toyota Center was only a dream at the time. After abandoning the hockey effort, McNair turned his attention to what would become the Texans, and the rest is history.

Note to moderator: You might want to remove my post above since it makes no sense now that you removed Titanico's post.

[Double Barrel]

Originally Posted by aj.

Note to moderator: You might want to remove my post above since it makes no sense now that you removed Titanico's post.

Thank you. I was getting severely confused (happens easily :woot ) trying to figure out why Titanico was being quoted!

Anyway, I'm not sure about Bob McNair not being a fan. I have read many interviews with him that he says that he's a big FAN of the NFL, and this is one of the big reasons why he does not want to micromanage the team *cough*Jones*cough*. He wants to watch as a fan and enjoy the games like the rest of us.

I do hope that the NFL fixes this situation as soon as possible. Their business model has created the most successful sports league ever, and the system allows us fans to keep new hope every year that our team could be the one that makes it all the way.

Dynasties got really boring, IMO, especially because our team we never one of them!