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Rick Smith looks smarter every day

dalemurphy

Hall of Fame
The NFL is confirming that Rick Smith has become a shrewd S.O.B.... Look at how his very difficult and controversial decisions the past few seasons have turned out:

1. Dunta Robinson- Falcons cut him 3 years into that monster deal.

2. Asomugha- remember how many people wanted us to get him. Disaster for Phillie! Joseph was cheaper, younger, and has been much better.

3. Winston- Surprising cut by Houston last year. Less surprising, KC cut him this year.

4. Demeco- We got out from under that contract and received to mid round picks. A year later, Phillie is struggling to keep him and he was part of an awful defense.

5. I wanted Barwin signed before last year. Smith didn't and he's going to be cheaper now.

6. Briesel- hardly worth $20 million he received last year (and we are about to get a 5th or 6th round pick as compensation for not letting him destroy our cap)

7. Jason Allen? Didn't miss him and about to be rewarded a 6th round compensatory pick for him.

8. Mario- Anyone doubt that anymore? (plus a 3rd rounder this year)

9. Kareem Jackson pick- Not looking too bad after last season.

10. 10-11 picks this year in the draft.

11. Literally, according to my info, Texans have $73,000 of dead money this year. Wow!
 

Mr teX

Hall of Fame
The NFL is confirming that Rick Smith has become a shrewd S.O.B.... Look at how his very difficult and controversial decisions the past few seasons have turned out:

1. Dunta Robinson- Falcons cut him 3 years into that monster deal.

2. Asomugha- remember how many people wanted us to get him. Disaster for Phillie! Joseph was cheaper, younger, and has been much better.

3. Winston- Surprising cut by Houston last year. Less surprising, KC cut him this year.

4. Demeco- We got out from under that contract and received to mid round picks. A year later, Phillie is struggling to keep him and he was part of an awful defense.

5. I wanted Barwin signed before last year. Smith didn't and he's going to be cheaper now.

6. Briesel- hardly worth $20 million he received last year (and we are about to get a 5th or 6th round pick as compensation for not letting him destroy our cap)

7. Jason Allen? Didn't miss him and about to be rewarded a 6th round compensatory pick for him.

8. Mario- Anyone doubt that anymore? (plus a 3rd rounder this year)
Yeah...but what about that Schaub extension doe? :kitten:
 

dalemurphy

Hall of Fame
Yeah...but what about that Schaub extension doe? :kitten:
What about it? He was signed to a reasonable deal while Flacco just signed a $120 million deal. We will see if Schaub's struggles after Thanksgiving last year was a slump or an indication of declining skills or limited weapons. That being said, the Texans can get out from under his deal, if needed, without destroying their cap after next year.

Let's remember that the Texans went 12-4 and won a playoff game last year despite cleansing the team of cap issues that included a retooling of the offensive line, loss of a valuable TE. I was as frustrated as anyone with December and January, but, March is not the time to be myopic... Looking at the big picture, the GM is kicking butt!
 

76Texan

Hall of Fame
Rick Smith seems to take quite a few pages from Belichik's personnel acquisition strategy, which is a good thing.

In 2009, the Pats traded Mike Vrabel and Matt Cassell to the Chiefs for the #34 pick, which netted them Patrick Chung. The more important thing; however, is that they rid themselves of $18M in cap space to resign Wilfork while avoiding cap hell.

The Texans traded Ryans to move up 12 spots in the third to select Brandon Brooks, and also received a 4th to draft B. Jones.
They took a short-term $2M cap hit but save $9M in future years; money that can be used for other needs.

They resigned Dobbins and acquired James (and later on Rudd) for cheap.
Without the injury to Cushing (and later on Sharpton), that move would have been proven even wiser.
 

TexanSam

Hall of Fame
The fact that we got anything for Jason Allen is kind of awesome. Hell, I had to google him because I forgot who he was (I was confusing him with James Allen).
 

Brisco_County

Apples and roadmaps
The NFL is confirming that Rick Smith has become a shrewd S.O.B.... Look at how his very difficult and controversial decisions the past few seasons have turned out:

1. Dunta Robinson- Falcons cut him 3 years into that monster deal.

2. Asomugha- remember how many people wanted us to get him. Disaster for Phillie! Joseph was cheaper, younger, and has been much better.

3. Winston- Surprising cut by Houston last year. Less surprising, KC cut him this year.

4. Demeco- We got out from under that contract and received to mid round picks. A year later, Phillie is struggling to keep him and he was part of an awful defense.

5. I wanted Barwin signed before last year. Smith didn't and he's going to be cheaper now.

6. Briesel- hardly worth $20 million he received last year (and we are about to get a 5th or 6th round pick as compensation for not letting him destroy our cap)

7. Jason Allen? Didn't miss him and about to be rewarded a 6th round compensatory pick for him.

8. Mario- Anyone doubt that anymore? (plus a 3rd rounder this year)

9. Kareem Jackson pick- Not looking too bad after last season.

10. 10-11 picks this year in the draft.

11. Literally, according to my info, Texans have $73,000 of dead money this year. Wow!
To be fair to Winston, he's getting cut due to a change in philosophy under the new HC. He did just fine for the Chiefs last year.

The Mario situation became a best case scenario for us.

Asomugha is playing in a broken system. I'd speculate that he would've done great for the Texans, but Smith made the right decision with J-Joe. An added bonus is J-Joe's assistance with developing Kareem Jackson.

I think we would've been a better team with DeMeco, so it would've been nice if it had worked out. I can't say for certain if keeping him was possible, so maybe someone more familiar with the real cap limitations like Dutch Rudder can speak to that.

Overall, Rick Smith has done a great job managing the cap problem while acquiring enough quality talent (J-Joe, Manning) to keep himself and Kubiak in good standing.
 

76Texan

Hall of Fame
The fact that we got anything for Jason Allen is kind of awesome. Hell, I had to google him because I forgot who he was (I was confusing him with James Allen).
LOL, when you googled him up, did you find out if he ever settle with the escort service he used (in Vegas I think).
 

Trap_Star

SiteContributor
rick wanted asomugha, but he realized nnamdi was just f'n with him and went to plan b in Joseph. let's not pretend he wanted JJo over nnamdi.
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
I think we would've been a better team with DeMeco, so it would've been nice if it had worked out. I can't say for certain if keeping him was possible, so maybe someone more familiar with the real cap limitations like Dutch Rudder can speak to that.
I still don't like getting rid of Demeco. Cushing missed serious time & Demeco would have been the perfect filler.

Having said that, I don't know how the OL would have turned out, with Caldwell struggling early, then getting injured himself. I'm excited about Ben Jones' future with the Texans.
 

Mr teX

Hall of Fame
Barwin is gone, and we will be very surprised at the kind of deal he's gonna get.
More appropriately, the team will be surprised at the kind of production they're going to wind up getting from him...Think Anthony Weaver, Robaire Smith.

If the dude couldn't come up with more than 5 sacks playing off of JJ Watt this year, there's no hope for him.
 

b0ng

Bad Hombre
rick wanted asomugha, but he realized nnamdi was just f'n with him and went to plan b in Joseph. let's not pretend he wanted JJo over nnamdi.
Rick wanted Aso, but he obviously had a limit on what he wanted to spend on one CB. I think he gets credit for making the right decision and getting Manning+Joseph that offseason.
 

Playoffs

Hall of Fame
I agree with most, although I think Jason Allen was missed.

Aso, not so sure he's just in wrong position.... but he did force Smith the grab the 'next best" with his time-eating bidding war and Rick was decisive.

Rick has proven to me he's grown into one of the better GMs. (Unless he fubars this upcoming draft. :kitten:)
 

IDEXAN

Hall of Fame
Contributor's Club
Whoever signs him is going to be very disappointed.
You know what, you could very will be right because I don't really have a feel where Barwin's production is going to be in the next couple years no matter who he's playing ball for ? But I'm still of the opinion that he's gonna get a pretty strong deal just based upon those 2011 stats.
 

dalemurphy

Hall of Fame
rick wanted asomugha, but he realized nnamdi was just f'n with him and went to plan b in Joseph. let's not pretend he wanted JJo over nnamdi.
I can say with confidence that you are wrong about that. I was following the team very closely two years ago, and it was clear the Texans were never serious about bidding for Asomugha. Still, it doesn't really matter. The Texans had the money to spend and could have offered Asomugha a deal he would have accepted. They chose not to, choosing instead to allocate the money towards the combination of Joseph and Manning. It was a good decision.
 

Trap_Star

SiteContributor
If JJo was rick's main target, he would of been signed the day FA opened. Instead days went by and everyday a new team was rumored to go in along with the texans in the hunt for nnamdi. One day it was SF, then NYJ, then DAL, then Philly. Rick was all in on Asomugha until he realized it wasn't going to happen and he would lose out on other top CB free agents if he kept waiting.
 

HOU-TEX

Ah, Football!
I can say with confidence that you are wrong about that. I was following the team very closely two years ago, and it was clear the Texans were never serious about bidding for Asomugha. Still, it doesn't really matter. The Texans had the money to spend and could have offered Asomugha a deal he would have accepted. They chose not to, choosing instead to allocate the money towards the combination of Joseph and Manning. It was a good decision.
I can say with confidence you have no idea what was going on in the Texans FO at that time. There were many reports at the time saying that we were one of 3-4 teams in the running. We bailed when Aso decided to take his time in making a decision.
 

deucetx

Rookie
Yeah it was rather obvious the Texans were interested in Nnamdi. Especially when even Andre Johnson joined in trying to recruit the guy to the team. But still smart of Smith to pull out on that one and get two players for the price instead of one.

Other than that...eh. I'm half and half. Winston and Demeco did not have bad seasons so we shouldn't paint it like they did and give praise for Smith on that based on their play last year. It was good to get the cap room for the re-signings we have on the table and that is where he can receive that credit. At the same time we ended up hurting in those spots so the gamble went 50-50. We got cap room but also got medicore to poor play.

Barwin, Smith did try to resign. It's Barwin who veto'd the contract amount. So that was more about Barwin overestimating his worth after one season. Though could say at least Smith didn't get carried away in his offer.

Brisel...a trained chimpanzee would know not to pay him that amount. Guess this says something about the Raiders, huh? LOL

Jason Allen was about as average as one could be (and I am being charitable)so not resigning wasn't some brain racking decision.

Mario Williams....see the chimpanzee remark (Tells you about the Bills, doesn't it)

So some of this I could give cred to but not all. He's done a decent job because we could definitely have worse and he does an adequate job draft wise.
 

Dutchrudder

Hall of Fame
The NFL is confirming that Rick Smith has become a shrewd S.O.B.... Look at how his very difficult and controversial decisions the past few seasons have turned out:

1. Dunta Robinson- Falcons cut him 3 years into that monster deal.

2. Asomugha- remember how many people wanted us to get him. Disaster for Phillie! Joseph was cheaper, younger, and has been much better.

3. Winston- Surprising cut by Houston last year. Less surprising, KC cut him this year.

4. Demeco- We got out from under that contract and received to mid round picks. A year later, Phillie is struggling to keep him and he was part of an awful defense.

5. I wanted Barwin signed before last year. Smith didn't and he's going to be cheaper now.

6. Briesel- hardly worth $20 million he received last year (and we are about to get a 5th or 6th round pick as compensation for not letting him destroy our cap)

7. Jason Allen? Didn't miss him and about to be rewarded a 6th round compensatory pick for him.

8. Mario- Anyone doubt that anymore? (plus a 3rd rounder this year)

9. Kareem Jackson pick- Not looking too bad after last season.

10. 10-11 picks this year in the draft.

11. Literally, according to my info, Texans have $73,000 of dead money this year. Wow!
1. We offered Dunta a "fair" deal before the "Pay Me Rick" fiasco. I believe it was just over 7m a year for 3 years. He clearly was worth more to the Falcons, so that worked out for us. Let's not pretend the Texans didn't want to keep him around, or else we wouldn't have franchised him for so much money and made him an offer.

2. By all accounts the Texans were in the heat of negotiations with Aso's agent, and we had every intention of signing him if the money was right. I think Rick got tired of the back-and-forth with his agent and went with JJo instead. It didn't appear to me that JJo was our primary target at any point in that free agency. It was clearly the right decision to get him, but let's not pretend it was Rick's idea from the start. I think a bit of luck played a role in that.

3. Winston was overpaid here at 5.5m per year. No question about that. He went and signed a similar deal with KC, but with a small amount of guaranteed money. It didn't work out, or maybe the coaching change hurt him, or maybe Albert+Joeckel was the reasoning behind him getting cut, but after the year we had with our o-line, I'm not going to claim victory for Rick in that deal. Winston was floored when he learned he got cut, and was angry that he wasn't asked to renegotiate. It's amazing to me that anyone can claim Rick handled that situation properly, when he did the exact opposite with Walter and got him to agree to a paycut. The least he could have done was see if Winston was willing to go from 4.5m salary to 2. I mean c'mon man! He only had signing bonus guaranteed money left on his deal, so it's not like you avoid paying it regardless of the decision. I thought this was a mistake at the time, and I still think it was. His contract was not guaranteed, and I think he could have been traded for a mid-round pick if they had looked into it.

4. Trading Ryans was a tough call. He's a fan favorite and moving him actually increased his cap hit for 2012 by 1 million+. At the time, I thought it was a good idea if we were going to give up on him because he's not a 3-4 ILB, but in hindsight, he would have been nice to have while Cushing was out. In any case, you can't predict the future, so I think it was correct to move him, as tough as that was. Rick definitely gets some credit for that, and the trade netted us a 4th to get Brandon Brooks.

5. Barwin was a flash in the pan, and nobody signs guys like that to extensions when they are still on a rookie deal. It's a good call not to do it, but I can't think of any other instance where another team has extended a guy after one good season in the middle of a rookie deal. I'd give him some credit if I could think of any instance where this had happened before...

6. I don't think we had any intention of re-signing Brisiel. He never made much money and wanted more, so he was going to the highest bidder. We didn't have the money to re-sign him, so I guess that's good on Rick?

7. Jason Allen got 2 years 4.2 million, and this was well after free agency started. I honestly don't know why the Bengals gave him that much, but he wasn't going to be re-signed anyways. Good job Rick on not giving Jason Allen 4 million a year? I think my cat could have figured that one out...

8. No money to re-sign Mario, and no way he was gonna take a paycut. We spent his money on Foster and Myers instead. Whether that was the right call is debatable, but I'm good with it. Good job Rick!

9. Kjax got a real coach when they got Phillips and Vance Joseph. There's no question that was the catalyst that made Kjax go from zero to hero. I think I have to say mostly "good job McNair!" on this one. Without Phillips, Kjax wouldn't be nearly the #2 CB he is now. I also kind of wonder how much JJo has to do with it, from a developmental perspective.

10. Good for Rick not giving away our draft picks?

11. Dead money is all over the place on the net, I wouldn't put too much stock in it. I wouldn't be surprised if Winston was designated a June 1st cut and had 1m in dead money moved to 2013. Either Lienart or Jones may also have been June 1st cuts too.


I think you are leaving out some important things on Rick Smith's record. Without getting into draft picks which can cut both ways, here's a few I think are notable.

The Good:

1. Owen Daniels. OD has been good for us his whole career. He was drafted in 2006 and has remained with us since. Rick tendered him once he became an RFA in the uncapped year, and that was a good move. He then signed him to a decent deal, but not too pricey for us. I think OD is actually a good contract to this day and has been ever since he was drafted. We never overpaid for him, even when he was asking for top 5 TE money. Good job on Rick.

2. Duane Brown. This guy has been a beast for us the last few years. I don't know what clicked in his head since about 2010, but he has really found his groove and is a top 10 LT for sure. His new deal is well designed, in that he signed it this past year and the team was able to include 2012 his signing bonus proration into 2012's cap. So that puts 2.5 million of his 12.5m signing bonus in 2012. The way the contract is designed, he will be under contract in 2017 and 18 for 9+ million, but will have no guaranteed money. Essentially, we have him locked in for the next 4 years for for 32.5 million, which is 8.125 average. That is an excellent contract.

3. Donnie Jones. Great fill-in punter after Hartman got hit with a suspension. Can't ask for more from a minimum guy.


The Bad:
1. Matt Schaub. This is debatable, but signing him to a long term deal in week 1 was a mistake. I think the numbers were fine for who he is, and what we expected of him, but the guy just came off a bad injury, and they signed him too early. His contract will likely be 3 years long, making it worth 40.15m for an average of 13.383m. That's too much if he continues to play like he did, which seems to be likely after talking with the Doc about it. He apparently can't plant on his foot due to the injury, and if that's the case, then he's going to continue to throw wobbly and inaccurate passes. Rick jumped the gun on this one, and should have waited until the playoffs at the very least. This will likely be the biggest mistake of his career.

2. Chris Myers. He's getting old, and isn't getting much better. We have had a hole at backup center for a long time that finally got addressed last draft when we got Ben Jones. That's good, but the situation kind of forced the team's hand to pay Myers top 5 center money. That's bad, and should have been addressed before. Caldwell was supposed to be that guy, but he has been injured more than Mario Williams since he got here. He's not reliable, and we should have addressed C before the last draft.

3. Andre Johnson's contract. He is getting paid a ridiculous amount of money, and all because Rick didn't put some of it upfront in the uncapped year. He's clearly a core player, a Texan for life, and yet there wasn't enough certainty to give him a 5-10m roster bonus that year? C'mon man!

4. 2010 - The Uncapped Year. The Texans did not take advantage of this year as they should have. They re-signed guys to huge contracts in AJ and Ryans, but didn't bother putting a large roster bonus or 2010 salary in the deal to curb their salary cap hits down the road. This was a huge mistake, and it put our team behind the rest of the league. Other teams were able to spend up to 140 million in cap space that year, and they got away with it. The Skins and Boys were forced to push some of that excessive money to their future caps to get them in line with the other teams spending. The Texans kept on spending like there was a cap, and missed out on paying AJ and Demeco upfront roster bonuses. Now we have a 2013 caphit of 14.6m for AJ, and we spent over 9m on Demeco last year when he was cut.

5. Jacoby Jones+Lawrence Vickers over Vonta Leach. With the money we spent on JJ and Vickers, we could have kept Leach instead. Vonta got a deal worth 3.66m a year, JJ got one from us worth 3.5 a year. I'd take the starting all-pro FB over the #3 WR any day. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that, but losing Leach was bad for us. We even went on to spend some money on Vickers, who wasn't that great. Bad move all around, Leach should have been designated a core player.


Anyways, that's most of what I can think of for now (Joe Marciano, team doctors and S&T coaches should be on the bad list too). Rick's record is simply not as good as you make it out to be.
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
Rick wanted Aso, but he obviously had a limit on what he wanted to spend on one CB. I think he gets credit for making the right decision and getting Manning+Joseph that offseason.
Where he should get credit, was knowing when to cut the line & go after another fish.
 

b0ng

Bad Hombre
Where he should get credit, was knowing when to cut the line & go after another fish.
Either way it was still a decision in which the end result worked out the best for the Texans. I'm perfectly fine with how Smith has run this team for his time here and it's been a long time since any football executive has made me say that.
 

ASidd_1990

Waterboy
Thread should be titled "Rick Smith looks dumber every day"

SMH

I wish Daryl Morey was running the Texans. We could already have won the SuperBowl by now.

Haha.
 

Mr teX

Hall of Fame
Thread should be titled "Rick Smith looks dumber every day"

SMH

I wish Daryl Morey was running the Texans. We could already have won the SuperBowl by now.

Haha.
Hows that working out for Morey in the NBA again? People give this guy entirely too much credit for having done not much of anything but penny-pinch us all the way to the lotto for 78907 seasons...Wake me up when his moves actually lead to us winning a playoff series.
 

ASidd_1990

Waterboy
Hows that working out for Morey in the NBA again? People give this guy entirely too much credit for having done not much of anything but penny-pinch us all the way to the lotto for 78907 seasons...Wake me up when his moves actually lead to us winning a playoff series.
Hahaha he made a blockbuster deal for James Harden and the Rockets are serious playoff contenders all while being the youngest and least experienced team in the league.

Oh and they will have cap space to go after max FA too.
 

AcresHomesTexan

No Longer Arlington: Escaped From Jerry's World
Staff member
Hahaha he made a blockbuster deal for James Harden and the Rockets are serious playoff contenders all while being the youngest and least experienced team in the league.

Oh and they will have cap space to go after max FA too.
And the texans are coming off a 12-4 season and back to back dvision titles and playoff wins each year. I know people are excited about the rockets, but the Texans have been and are closer to their league title than the Rockets. Being disappointing in the texans finish is not the same as having proper perspective of where the teams are.
 

ASidd_1990

Waterboy
And the texans are coming off a 12-4 season and back to back dvision titles and playoff wins each year. I know people are excited about the rockets, but the Texans have been and are closer to their league title than the Rockets. Being disappointing in the texans finish is not the same as having proper perspective of where the teams are.
I think both Texans and Rockets will be in the championship picture by next season.
 

dalemurphy

Hall of Fame
Thread should be titled "Rick Smith looks dumber every day"

SMH

I wish Daryl Morey was running the Texans. We could already have won the SuperBowl by now.

Haha.
Ahh, an NBA fan... once small step from pro wrestling. I have no idea what your point is... Smith's team has won a playoff game each of the past two seasons and are poised to continue their run of success. I respect the fact that some fans won't have as highly an opinion of Smith as I do and may disagree with some of my arguments.

You, however, offer nothing thoughtful or insightful. To your credit, it's not as if you tried.
 

badboy

Hall of Fame
Ahh, an NBA fan... once small step from pro wrestling. I have no idea what your point is... Smith's team has won a playoff game each of the past two seasons and are poised to continue their run of success. I respect the fact that some fans won't have as highly an opinion of Smith as I do and may disagree with some of my arguments.

You, however, offer nothing thoughtful or insightful. To your credit, it's not as if you tried.
Also he only posts a few times a year since 2010. I am willing to let him say pretty much anything.
 
Yeah...but what about that Schaub extension doe? :kitten:
I'm a firm believer that Schaub held all the cards back then. If we don't extend him he might have been telling the Texans he'd walk at the end of the year. In retrospect it would have worked to our benefit if he could have been brought back cheaper, but he could just have easily played the final month like he did the first 12 weeks and we could be looking at TJ Yates as our starter. I'm not a Schaub fan and I think we need to upgrade at some point. However, there are no QBs available right now that we could insert into the offense and still be a contender.
 
1. We offered Dunta a "fair" deal before the "Pay Me Rick" fiasco. I believe it was just over 7m a year for 3 years. He clearly was worth more to the Falcons, so that worked out for us. Let's not pretend the Texans didn't want to keep him around, or else we wouldn't have franchised him for so much money and made him an offer.

2. By all accounts the Texans were in the heat of negotiations with Aso's agent, and we had every intention of signing him if the money was right. I think Rick got tired of the back-and-forth with his agent and went with JJo instead. It didn't appear to me that JJo was our primary target at any point in that free agency. It was clearly the right decision to get him, but let's not pretend it was Rick's idea from the start. I think a bit of luck played a role in that.

3. Winston was overpaid here at 5.5m per year. No question about that. He went and signed a similar deal with KC, but with a small amount of guaranteed money. It didn't work out, or maybe the coaching change hurt him, or maybe Albert+Joeckel was the reasoning behind him getting cut, but after the year we had with our o-line, I'm not going to claim victory for Rick in that deal. Winston was floored when he learned he got cut, and was angry that he wasn't asked to renegotiate. It's amazing to me that anyone can claim Rick handled that situation properly, when he did the exact opposite with Walter and got him to agree to a paycut. The least he could have done was see if Winston was willing to go from 4.5m salary to 2. I mean c'mon man! He only had signing bonus guaranteed money left on his deal, so it's not like you avoid paying it regardless of the decision. I thought this was a mistake at the time, and I still think it was. His contract was not guaranteed, and I think he could have been traded for a mid-round pick if they had looked into it.

4. Trading Ryans was a tough call. He's a fan favorite and moving him actually increased his cap hit for 2012 by 1 million+. At the time, I thought it was a good idea if we were going to give up on him because he's not a 3-4 ILB, but in hindsight, he would have been nice to have while Cushing was out. In any case, you can't predict the future, so I think it was correct to move him, as tough as that was. Rick definitely gets some credit for that, and the trade netted us a 4th to get Brandon Brooks.

5. Barwin was a flash in the pan, and nobody signs guys like that to extensions when they are still on a rookie deal. It's a good call not to do it, but I can't think of any other instance where another team has extended a guy after one good season in the middle of a rookie deal. I'd give him some credit if I could think of any instance where this had happened before...

6. I don't think we had any intention of re-signing Brisiel. He never made much money and wanted more, so he was going to the highest bidder. We didn't have the money to re-sign him, so I guess that's good on Rick?

7. Jason Allen got 2 years 4.2 million, and this was well after free agency started. I honestly don't know why the Bengals gave him that much, but he wasn't going to be re-signed anyways. Good job Rick on not giving Jason Allen 4 million a year? I think my cat could have figured that one out...

8. No money to re-sign Mario, and no way he was gonna take a paycut. We spent his money on Foster and Myers instead. Whether that was the right call is debatable, but I'm good with it. Good job Rick!

9. Kjax got a real coach when they got Phillips and Vance Joseph. There's no question that was the catalyst that made Kjax go from zero to hero. I think I have to say mostly "good job McNair!" on this one. Without Phillips, Kjax wouldn't be nearly the #2 CB he is now. I also kind of wonder how much JJo has to do with it, from a developmental perspective.

10. Good for Rick not giving away our draft picks?

11. Dead money is all over the place on the net, I wouldn't put too much stock in it. I wouldn't be surprised if Winston was designated a June 1st cut and had 1m in dead money moved to 2013. Either Lienart or Jones may also have been June 1st cuts too.


I think you are leaving out some important things on Rick Smith's record. Without getting into draft picks which can cut both ways, here's a few I think are notable.

The Good:

1. Owen Daniels. OD has been good for us his whole career. He was drafted in 2006 and has remained with us since. Rick tendered him once he became an RFA in the uncapped year, and that was a good move. He then signed him to a decent deal, but not too pricey for us. I think OD is actually a good contract to this day and has been ever since he was drafted. We never overpaid for him, even when he was asking for top 5 TE money. Good job on Rick.

2. Duane Brown. This guy has been a beast for us the last few years. I don't know what clicked in his head since about 2010, but he has really found his groove and is a top 10 LT for sure. His new deal is well designed, in that he signed it this past year and the team was able to include 2012 his signing bonus proration into 2012's cap. So that puts 2.5 million of his 12.5m signing bonus in 2012. The way the contract is designed, he will be under contract in 2017 and 18 for 9+ million, but will have no guaranteed money. Essentially, we have him locked in for the next 4 years for for 32.5 million, which is 8.125 average. That is an excellent contract.

3. Donnie Jones. Great fill-in punter after Hartman got hit with a suspension. Can't ask for more from a minimum guy.


The Bad:
1. Matt Schaub. This is debatable, but signing him to a long term deal in week 1 was a mistake. I think the numbers were fine for who he is, and what we expected of him, but the guy just came off a bad injury, and they signed him too early. His contract will likely be 3 years long, making it worth 40.15m for an average of 13.383m. That's too much if he continues to play like he did, which seems to be likely after talking with the Doc about it. He apparently can't plant on his foot due to the injury, and if that's the case, then he's going to continue to throw wobbly and inaccurate passes. Rick jumped the gun on this one, and should have waited until the playoffs at the very least. This will likely be the biggest mistake of his career.

2. Chris Myers. He's getting old, and isn't getting much better. We have had a hole at backup center for a long time that finally got addressed last draft when we got Ben Jones. That's good, but the situation kind of forced the team's hand to pay Myers top 5 center money. That's bad, and should have been addressed before. Caldwell was supposed to be that guy, but he has been injured more than Mario Williams since he got here. He's not reliable, and we should have addressed C before the last draft.

3. Andre Johnson's contract. He is getting paid a ridiculous amount of money, and all because Rick didn't put some of it upfront in the uncapped year. He's clearly a core player, a Texan for life, and yet there wasn't enough certainty to give him a 5-10m roster bonus that year? C'mon man!

4. 2010 - The Uncapped Year. The Texans did not take advantage of this year as they should have. They re-signed guys to huge contracts in AJ and Ryans, but didn't bother putting a large roster bonus or 2010 salary in the deal to curb their salary cap hits down the road. This was a huge mistake, and it put our team behind the rest of the league. Other teams were able to spend up to 140 million in cap space that year, and they got away with it. The Skins and Boys were forced to push some of that excessive money to their future caps to get them in line with the other teams spending. The Texans kept on spending like there was a cap, and missed out on paying AJ and Demeco upfront roster bonuses. Now we have a 2013 caphit of 14.6m for AJ, and we spent over 9m on Demeco last year when he was cut.

5. Jacoby Jones+Lawrence Vickers over Vonta Leach. With the money we spent on JJ and Vickers, we could have kept Leach instead. Vonta got a deal worth 3.66m a year, JJ got one from us worth 3.5 a year. I'd take the starting all-pro FB over the #3 WR any day. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that, but losing Leach was bad for us. We even went on to spend some money on Vickers, who wasn't that great. Bad move all around, Leach should have been designated a core player.


Anyways, that's most of what I can think of for now (Joe Marciano, team doctors and S&T coaches should be on the bad list too). Rick's record is simply not as good as you make it out to be.
1. We wanted to keep Dunta, but we weren't willing to overpay him. Rick could have gone the Falcons route, but didn't and let him walk.

3. We don't know if the Texans approached Winston to take a pay cut. They may have and I'm sure he would have said no. It's the last year of his contract so he's going to get the money. I agree that maybe a trade could have been found, but if teams know you need to move someone they might not be as quick to answer that call.

Under the bad calls:

3&4. Wasn't this what the Redskins and Cowboys were punished for? I'm pretty certain teams were told they couldn't front load contracts for the uncapped year without penalty.
 

Maddict5

Hall of Fame
4. 2010 - The Uncapped Year. The Texans did not take advantage of this year as they should have. They re-signed guys to huge contracts in AJ and Ryans, but didn't bother putting a large roster bonus or 2010 salary in the deal to curb their salary cap hits down the road. This was a huge mistake, and it put our team behind the rest of the league. Other teams were able to spend up to 140 million in cap space that year, and they got away with it. The Skins and Boys were forced to push some of that excessive money to their future caps to get them in line with the other teams spending. The Texans kept on spending like there was a cap, and missed out on paying AJ and Demeco upfront roster bonuses. Now we have a 2013 caphit of 14.6m for AJ, and we spent over 9m on Demeco last year when he was cut.
ask the redskins and cowboys how that strategy worked out for them :rolleyes:
 

Uncle Rico

Ur apology should be as loud as Ur disrespect was
Getting outbid for players isnt necessarily being shrewd. handing out deals before the contract is fulfilled is stupid. Most good GM's want to be sure of what they are about to mortgage the farm for. Doesnt use the franchise tag to his advantage tokeep quality players on the team, even when the team isnt in danger of going over the cap to keep guys around an extra year to see if they continue the upward trend and truly deserve the long deal. Overpaying his guys because he thinks 'they deserve it' is dumb.

I like the truly shrewd GM's. like the guy from baltimore,denver,san francisco,seattle. Our GM is just like the majority of the brass, good enough.
 

Lucky

Ride, Captain, Ride!
Staff member
3. We don't know if the Texans approached Winston to take a pay cut. They may have and I'm sure he would have said no.
At the time, I think I heard Winston say in an interview that he was not approached by the Texans for a pay cut. That his agent quickly found a similar deal, indicates that Winston probably wouldn't have agreed to a cut in salary.
 

Lucky

Ride, Captain, Ride!
Staff member
I'm a firm believer that Schaub held all the cards back then.
Schaub was coming off a major injury. He held no cards. If the Texans could have afforded a $60+ million deal in 2012, they certainly could have done one this offseason. Joe Flacco always had the tools and the upside. He finally played up to them in the most opportune time. Schaub was never going to become what Flacco became. He's a pretty smart system QB with zero athleticism. The market would have been the Texans and...maybe the Jets. Maybe. Schaub might have gotten a $25 million, 3 year deal. Not the $60+ million he got from the Texans.
 

dalemurphy

Hall of Fame
Getting outbid for players isnt necessarily being shrewd. handing out deals before the contract is fulfilled is stupid. Most good GM's want to be sure of what they are about to mortgage the farm for. Doesnt use the franchise tag to his advantage tokeep quality players on the team, even when the team isnt in danger of going over the cap to keep guys around an extra year to see if they continue the upward trend and truly deserve the long deal. Overpaying his guys because he thinks 'they deserve it' is dumb.

I like the truly shrewd GM's. like the guy from baltimore,denver,san francisco,seattle. Our GM is just like the majority of the brass, good enough.

Who is being overpaid.

Not overpaying? You mean giving $120 million for Flacco... Baltimore is about to fall apart. Good thing Flacco was so good that he made the Denver safety fall asleep on his basic responsibillities in a prevent defense... Baltimore won't have another shot at a Superbowl for a long time!

Because of the Flacco deal, the Ravens dumped Anquan Boldin for almost nothing to get below the cap and that is in addition to the retirement of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed free agency, along with the following free agents:

Paul Kruger
Ellerbe
Chris Johnson
Considine
Kemoeatu
Cary Williams

Bryant Mckinnie
Bobbie Willilams

and many other contributors. With all those players off the book, the Ravens have $5 million more room in the cap than the Texans...

By the way, in 2014 the following players are scheduled to consume $70 million of the Ravens cap:

Flacco, Rice, yanda, Suggs, Ngata, Rice, L.Webb.

Seattle and San Fran are in great shape right now because of their youth and the fact that they hit on young QBs in the mid rounds. as long as they are working off their rookie deals, they will have a $10 - $15 million advantage over teams with veteran Qbs.

by the way, the Seattle GM gave Lynch a deal almost identical to Foster. Also, he sign Sidney Rice to a 5yr $41 million contract and Zach Miller to a 5yr $34 million contract (yikes!), and he also spent significant money bidding for Matt Flynn one year ago.

I'm not seeing the distinction you are making. I think all these organizations are doing a good job.... but I certainly don't see how Smith is less shrewd. Explain with evidence, please.
 

Texecutioner

Hall of Fame
The NFL is confirming that Rick Smith has become a shrewd S.O.B.... Look at how his very difficult and controversial decisions the past few seasons have turned out:

1. Dunta Robinson- Falcons cut him 3 years into that monster deal.

2. Asomugha- remember how many people wanted us to get him. Disaster for Phillie! Joseph was cheaper, younger, and has been much better.

3. Winston- Surprising cut by Houston last year. Less surprising, KC cut him this year.

4. Demeco- We got out from under that contract and received to mid round picks. A year later, Phillie is struggling to keep him and he was part of an awful defense.

5. I wanted Barwin signed before last year. Smith didn't and he's going to be cheaper now.

6. Briesel- hardly worth $20 million he received last year (and we are about to get a 5th or 6th round pick as compensation for not letting him destroy our cap)

7. Jason Allen? Didn't miss him and about to be rewarded a 6th round compensatory pick for him.

8. Mario- Anyone doubt that anymore? (plus a 3rd rounder this year)

9. Kareem Jackson pick- Not looking too bad after last season.

10. 10-11 picks this year in the draft.

11. Literally, according to my info, Texans have $73,000 of dead money this year. Wow!
When Rick Smith learns how to make trades where he can dump poor assets and acquire strong players consistently instead of having this "follow behind poppa Kubiak" with his "build through the draft only" approach then I'll refer to him as "shrewd." Until then, he'll continue to be a guy that is average at best that looks good because of Kubiak and Wade's cherry picked guys in the draft. Rick Smith doesn't seem to know how to make strong trades at all and I hate that about him. He has only had one off season where he went after some help in free agency and it worked out very well, but we haven't seemed to have figured out how to free up cap money since.

Lol at the idea of Rick Smith being shrewd.
 

steelbtexan

King of the W. B. Club
Contributor's Club
LOL

How long has Rick been here?

How many playoff wins? Super Bowls?

Tell me more about the Texans annual cap situation?

What is Rick Smith's actual role with the Texans? Somehow he's managed to keep his job despite being avg at best. That's kinda schrewed I guess.
 

Texecutioner

Hall of Fame
LOL

How long has Rick been here?

How many playoff wins? Super Bowls?

Tell me more about the Texans annual cap situation?
I don't think he has to win a SB to prove that he is a good GM. As long as he can consistently whip out strong teams from year to year and build a really strong one back if we have a lousy season, then that's the sign of a good GM to me. When I see Rick Smith standing pat every off season with this mythical dream that some rookies out of the draft are going to cover up the gaping holes we have on this team from year to year, then that shows me that the guy doesn't learn from his past mistakes, nor from other mistakes in history with other franchises. I certainly don't expect to see him making the Texans a major player in free agency or trades in every off season, but since he has been here it has only taken place in one off season out of what 6 or 7 now?? That's a horrible ratio and I don't see him managing the cap situation that well. Not that the Texans cap is easy with a lot of the successful 1st round picks and all, but I find it incredibly challenging for anyone to make a case that Rick Smith is some rennaisance man as a GM in this league.
 

dalemurphy

Hall of Fame
When Rick Smith learns how to make trades where he can dump poor assets and acquire strong players consistently instead of having this "follow behind poppa Kubiak" with his "build through the draft only" approach then I'll refer to him as "shrewd." Until then, he'll continue to be a guy that is average at best that looks good because of Kubiak and Wade's cherry picked guys in the draft. Rick Smith doesn't seem to know how to make strong trades at all and I hate that about him. He has only had one off season where he went after some help in free agency and it worked out very well, but we haven't seemed to have figured out how to free up cap money since.

Lol at the idea of Rick Smith being shrewd.
Umm, we got a 3rd and a 4th for Demeco Ryans last year. Not bad for an aging, MLB, one year removed from a torn achilles tendon who was a liability in pass coverage when he was young and healthy.

How about the trade down in 2008 to drop back and grab Duane Brown one pick before the Chargers grabbed him. How does that move look now?

How about last off-season when he got us cap healthy without sacrificing the season and landed us (likely) 4 compensatory draft picks for this year, including a 3rd rounder?

How about outbidding the Bears a few years ago for an UDFA, offering a rare two year contract to lure him out of Chicago: Arian Foster?


He has let Dunta walk, and he let Mario walk away despite a lot of noise suggesting it was very foolish to do so... The Texans did have a choice, by the way. They could have restructured contracts and chosen not to pay some of Foster, Brown, Myers, Schaub... electing to "win now" with Mario and worry about the future when they had to. Good thing Rick and company avoided that nonsense!
 

Norg

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
what about the Ahman green signing LOL whos idea was that ..?????

Or Alex brink .. i know a 7th rounder but dammm that had to be a Kubes pick
 

b0ng

Bad Hombre
what about the Ahman green signing LOL whos idea was that ..?????
I would venture a guess that Mike Sherman had something to do with it

Or Alex brink .. i know a 7th rounder but dammm that had to be a Kubes pick
gotta dig deep in order to find the mythical 7th round bust
 

b0ng

Bad Hombre
LOL

How long has Rick been here?

How many playoff wins? Super Bowls?

Tell me more about the Texans annual cap situation?

What is Rick Smith's actual role with the Texans? Somehow he's managed to keep his job despite being avg at best. That's kinda schrewed I guess.
If an executive/coach is not a success in his first 5 years he will never be a success period.

--steelbtexan
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
He has only had one off season where he went after some help in free agency and it worked out very well, but we haven't seemed to have figured out how to free up cap money since.

Lol at the idea of Rick Smith being shrewd.
Not that I disagree with you about Rick Smith's prowess, but Wade Smith was a good signing, he was excellent his first year, similar to Jjo's first year.

Then Antonio was a mixed bag. I don't think he was the guy we paid him to be, a threatening pass rusher opposite Mario, but recently with Wade, he's been playing lights out.

He got Matt Schaub through trade & he's been as productive as any QB in the league since 2008 (when he's healthy), not exactly free agency, but a decent trade for a starting QB.
 
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