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

[Mr teX]

Originally Posted by GP

Gotta have Arian Foster. He's worth the money.

I agree for the most part.

i'd just hate to see us in the same situation the Titties were in with chris johnson...or seattle got into with shaun alexander.


Then you look at guys like Adrian Peterson who tore his knee up in the same year he got a huge extension...it gives you caution.

All it takes is 1 false step/cut & a guy may never be the same anymore.

[badboy]

Originally Posted by Mr teX

I agree for the most part.

i'd just hate to see us in the same situation the Titties were in with chris johnson...or seattle got into with shaun alexander.


Then you look at guys like Adrian Peterson who tore his knee up in the same year he got a huge extension...it gives you caution.

All it takes is 1 false step/cut & a guy may never be the same anymore.

Are not injury buy outs often done?

[Texecutioner]

Originally Posted by GP

Gotta have Arian Foster. He's worth the money.

But how much money? There has to be a cut off at some point. You don't pay any RB what Chris Johnson got.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by 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.

I agree with this.

I didn't care much for this article...... I'm not worried about the base salaries, all I care about are the cap numbers & the remaining contracts.

Nothing else matters.

[ckhouston]

Interesting, but I would try and keep both Myers and Mike B. Also Cody doesnt seem to be a horrible deal a 2m but if he can restructure do it. Cut Matt L, Jacoby, and restructure or cut Walter (Casey could play slot in a pinch). Try to restructure Ryans and keep him, but he is making too much. I think he would be willing to negotiate. Keep Mario (heard on NFL radio driving to SA today he is third in the history of the NFL in sacks by the time the player turned 26) hopefully he will accept a reasonable offer. I wouldnt want to make him a financial legend, but he needs to stay if possible. Lock up Arian, I think he would get a huge offer if we leave any chance. Some team on the verge would give up a first and pay him big for three years and he would be gone. That being said, I also feel if Tate was our #1, although he has a different style, I think we would be ok. Im just greedy, I want them both.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...mario-williams

Link for sack total by 26.

[The1ApplePie]

Originally Posted by GP

Arian made HUGE plays last season, I'm talking "momentum changers" that makes him vital since our previous momentum changer, #80, is likely fading with each year that goes by. He's assumed AJ's throne.

Derrick Ward thought he'd go be a bad azz in Tampa but Hook 'Em will tell you he knew it was doomed from the beginning--Ward was successful in NY because of the straight line style of Jacobs. Tate is that straight line guy and Arian is a weaver and juke guy. The two guys enjoy their success due to their contrasting styles which wears down a defense over 4 quarters. Just when the D is trying to stop a weaver, the straight line RB comes in and blows by them like Smokey The Bandit.

If it means letting Mario walk, then I'd spend that dough on Arian. He's smart too...he gets out of bounds when he needs to, he covers up and goes down he needs to. When has he ever taken a hard shot? He doesn't. Smart dude, and he'll play a long long time that way.

Running back just isn’t that important in the NFL any more thanks to the rule changes a few years ago. Its about QBs, WRs, and freak TEs now.

How many elite RBs were in the playoffs this year? How many have won a Super Bowl in the past decade.

Arian is a beast, but clogging up the cap with a running back may not be the best move in the modern NFL. Especially if it interferes with signing or drafting a few WRs and CBs.

[welsh texan]

Originally Posted by ckhouston

Keep Mario (heard on NFL radio driving to SA today he is third in the history of the NFL in sacks by the time the player turned 26)

Yes but he doesn't make a sack on every play so he's clearly rubbish!

[Perki-Perk]

Originally Posted by The1ApplePie

Running back just isn’t that important in the NFL any more thanks to the rule changes a few years ago. Its about QBs, WRs, and freak TEs now.

How many elite RBs were in the playoffs this year? How many have won a Super Bowl in the past decade.

Arian is a beast, but clogging up the cap with a running back may not be the best move in the modern NFL. Especially if it interferes with signing or drafting a few WRs and CBs.

Yes, but you also have to look at why that is... the last 5 years, with QB's like Brady and Manning and Brees dominating, defenses have been investing in secondary to attempt to stop those kind of attacks. Happened in the late 80's also.

Football moves in cycles and I think we will move back to a run dominated game in the next couple of years, if it is not starting already. Brandon Jacobs is a pretty good running back, imo, a bruiser, nothing like Arian, but pretty good.

Think of the past championships before the Colts/Pats/Steelers/Giants. The Steelers had a bruiser in Bettis, Broncos had Davis, I mean, it cycles, and I think the cycle is going to swing in our favor again. What's more? I think the front office sees it and that is why we haven't done a whole lot with our receiving corps. Think about it. The Patriots had a respectable back in their first couple of Bowls, though his name escapes me for some reason. I'm telling you, it's swinging back to the ground game now that everyone is investing in secondary help.

Lucky for the Texans, we have a solid front 7 already, and our secondary is good enough right now, and I believe KJ is getting better. all my opinion of course.

[Rey]

Originally Posted by The1ApplePie

Running back just isn’t that important in the NFL any more thanks to the rule changes a few years ago. Its about QBs, WRs, and freak TEs now.

That may be true overall, but it is not true with regards to our offense.

And I'd say that with most of the top RB's in the league it's not true about their offenses either.

Remove Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson, MJD from their teams and their offenses will struggle a bit if not a lot.

The teams that don't rely as much on their running backs are, for the most part, the teams that have pass heavy offenses and have guys like Peyton, Drew, Brady, Rodgers using the passing game as the running game.

Teams with top level running backs still value those guys...

[GP]

Originally Posted by Mr teX

I agree for the most part.

i'd just hate to see us in the same situation the Titties were in with chris johnson...or seattle got into with shaun alexander.


Then you look at guys like Adrian Peterson who tore his knee up in the same year he got a huge extension...it gives you caution.

All it takes is 1 false step/cut & a guy may never be the same anymore.

Originally Posted by badboy

Are not injury buy outs often done?

Yes. If a guy is THAT done after an injury, you do a settlement and you're finished. If he cannot perform, and he settles (because he knows no team will want him now) then he's done and you're off the hook. Not sure how the cap hit factors into it, but injury buy outs are there for this reason.

If you don't want to risk paying a RB big money due to fear of injury, then you could have those same fears about any other position. Owen Daniels and DeMeco Ryans are 2 guys who have about 4 injuries more than Arian Foster has had. You can't "not" sign a RB to a lucrative deal just because he might get hurt. He could be an iron man and play another 10 years and then where would we be? On the outside looking in.

Originally Posted by Texecutioner

But how much money? There has to be a cut off at some point. You don't pay any RB what Chris Johnson got.

I agree. Just don't know what that cutoff is. I admit I don't pay as much attention to the financial side of the NFL as I should. Wish I did. It's really confusing, though. Like a medical insurance company bill--Good luck understanding that bill, I think the same people who construct those bills are the ones who do NFL contracts too. LOL.

Originally Posted by The1ApplePie

Running back just isn’t that important in the NFL any more thanks to the rule changes a few years ago. Its about QBs, WRs, and freak TEs now.

How many elite RBs were in the playoffs this year? How many have won a Super Bowl in the past decade.

Arian is a beast, but clogging up the cap with a running back may not be the best move in the modern NFL. Especially if it interferes with signing or drafting a few WRs and CBs.

You did read the Grantland article about the overall value of Arian Foster, right? He covers how crucial AF is in more than just the run game. He averaged like 40 something yards per game catching the ball. He averages 1 TD a game. Nobody but MJD matches his output across the board in all areas.

He's just too vital to be lumped into the rest of the NFL's RB corps. In fact, the league has such appallingly mediocre RB talent that a guy like AF seems like a luxury when he's not. He's a necessity here, especially without AJ being in prime form AND question marks at WR2 and WR3. I actually think our TEs are going to outperform the WRs in 2012 unless guys like Lestar Jean or new recruits take over and assume AJ's throne. And before I get labeled an AJ hater, I have his Battle Red jersey and I'm a HUGE fan...just fearful he's reaching that downward slope in the next two years, the legs are the key.

Anyways, I just think AF is due a nice payday and I think he will entertain offer sheets and then check that against what the Texans can do. Mario's agent will do the same thing. The Texans are going to have to choose, IMO. I don't think all this talk about how it's possible to do it all is rational or accurate. It assumes things don't get weird with everybody's agents and other teams going psycho on March 13 due to their cap space.

[GP]

Baltimore just tagged Ray Rice today, March 2nd 2012. $7.7 million for 2012.

I think it's smart to tag a guy, it instantly nullifies the emotional aspect for agents and players. They can't even field offers from other teams throughout 2012, so that means a good, lengthy time for Baltimore to approach Ray Rice with a long-term deal.

When it's the summer, and you got a big contract waiting for you...and you're sweating away in camp...you begin to think "I might as well take the deal. What if I get hurt this year?" The psychological advantage is to the owner and front office, IMO. That deal just sits and soaks, waiting for them to sign it.

Link to story here.

BALTIMORE -- Ray Rice has been designated the franchise player of the Baltimore Ravens, who hope to buy some time while negotiating a lengthy deal for the two-time Pro Bowl running back.

Rice's contract expired after a season in which he amassed an NFL-best 2,068 yards from scrimmage and helped the Ravens advance to the AFC Championship Game.

As a franchise running back, Rice will earn $7.7 million in 2012. Baltimore, however, intends to have him around a lot longer.

"As we have in the past, placing the franchise designation on a player allows us to keep negotiating on a long-term contract," general manager Ozzie Newsome said Friday. "Our goal is to keep Ray Rice a Raven. "

Last September, Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata traded his franchise tag for a five-year, $61 million contract. Rice would like to follow a similar path.

Soon after Baltimore's loss to New England in the AFC title game, Rice said, "I'm not going to complain about the franchise tag, but I prefer the long-term. That's what Baltimore, the city, the fans, would love to know -- that Ray Rice is going to be here, not just one year, but for many years to come."

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by GP

Baltimore just tagged Ray Rice today, March 2nd 2012. $7.7 million for 2012.

When it's the summer, and you got a big contract waiting for you...and you're sweating away in camp...you begin to think "I might as well take the deal. What if I get hurt this year?" The psychological advantage is to the owner and front office, IMO. That deal just sits and soaks, waiting for them to sign it.

Link to story here.

If Ray Rice hasn't signed the deal, he most definitely won't be in camp. He can't; he would be "working" for free.

[GP]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

If Ray Rice hasn't signed the deal, he most definitely won't be in camp. He can't; he would be "working" for free.

He's going to get $7.7 million or sit out 2012. Once he accepts the $7.7 mill he will be under contract and will be at camp and will have his agent helping on a long-term deal.

Isn't this correct? Maybe I'm wrong.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by GP

He's going to get $7.7 million or sit out 2012. Once he accepts the $7.7 mill he will be under contract and will be at camp and will have his agent helping on a long-term deal.

Isn't this correct? Maybe I'm wrong.

You're right. I thought you meant sign the franchise offer....

[GP]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

You're right. I thought you meant sign the franchise offer....

Ray's comments seem to indicate he's fine with it, and he's looking forward to working out the long-term deal. Seems positive on both sides.

Deadline is March 5, so not many days left for teams to tag players. My prediction that we'd tag AF might not come true.

[ChampionTexan]

Originally Posted by GP

He's going to get $7.7 million or sit out 2012. Once he accepts the $7.7 mill he will be under contract and will be at camp and will have his agent helping on a long-term deal.

Isn't this correct? Maybe I'm wrong.

Yes and no. I would guess Ray will be in training camp from day one. There aren't many franchised players who've chosen not to sign and sit out until the last minute like Dunta did. But if you're saying the grind of camp will make him more agreeable to a long term deal, that can't happen.

The deadline for any franchised player to sign a multi-year deal with his club is Monday, July 17th at 4:00 P.M. EST. After that, he can't sign a multi-year deal until after the last game of the regular season. Last season the earliest training camp to open was on July 27th.

[GP]

Originally Posted by ChampionTexan

The deadline for any franchised player to sign a multi-year deal with his club is Monday, July 17th at 4:00 P.M. EST. After that, he can't sign a multi-year deal until after the last game of the regular season. Last season the earliest training camp to open was on July 27th.

Well then, that makes it a different ballgame altogether. Thanx for the info, btw!

Wow, so you can only negotiate and sign a tagged player up until July 17th....and then after that, the team cannot sign that player to a long-term deal until the following off-season (after last reg season game).

Gee whiz. That's not very much time. Now I can see why a team would NOT want to use the franchise tag in a case such as trying to tag a guy and then work a long-term deal: The team might pay $7.7 million for that tagged year on a RB like Foster and then he skips town after last reg season game, meaning you paid out the nose for one year of that RB's service...and he STILL left town afterward!

Because after a tagged year, that player is not a RFA anymore...he then becomes a full FA in 2013 and no team would have to surrender a draft pick to us since the RFA system would not be in effect for that guy.