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Bob McNair open to trading No. 1 pick

Hookem Horns

Hookem Horns

Texans Talk Bartender
Staff member
New article on ESPN.com. Didn't see this posted yet, not that this is really news. Of course McNair would be open if the right deal came around.

HOUSTON -- Texans owner Bob McNair is open to trading out of the No. 1 overall selection in this year's NFL draft.

"Maybe we'll trade down and still get a quarterback that can do the job and get an outstanding defensive player," McNair said Friday. "It's an exciting time. Everything's a moving target. Lot of different pieces."

More From ESPN.com
GanguliAfter this season's mess at quarterback, the Texans are smart to keep all options open with the No. 1 pick in the draft, writes Tania Ganguli. Blog

The Texans secured the top pick with a league-worst 2-14 record this season. They fired coach Gary Kubiak on Dec. 6 and officially announced the hiring of Bill O'Brien on Friday to be the franchise's third head coach.

Houston needs a quarterback with the likely departure of veteran Matt Schaub and the struggles of young quarterback Case Keenum, who started eight games and didn't win any of them.

"I don't think you take a particular position just because you need a particular position at any point in the draft, especially the first pick," Texans general manager Rick Smith said. "So we'll rank it, we'll value it, and we'll make good choices if the opportunity presents itself to move back because it is a very valuable pick, and we'll entertain those as well."

This is the third time the Texans have had the No. 1 overall pick, and each time it has coincided with a new head coach. With their first No. 1 overall pick, the expansion Texans selected quarterback David Carr in 2002. With their second in 2006, the Texans took pass-rusher Mario Williams.

Unfortunately, both suffered losing seasons in those years, combining to go 10-22.

"The defensive player worked out better than the offensive player," McNair said with a chuckle. "That won't lock us into anything."
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http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10238006/houston-texans-owner-bob-mcnair-open-trading-no-1-pick
 
"Maybe we'll trade down and still get a quarterback that can do the job and get an outstanding defensive player,"
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Sooo, what it sounds like to me is the first plan is to draft a QB at No. 1.

Teddy, Teddy, Teddy...
 
Errant Hothy said:
This is a non-story of the highest order.
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Au Contraire; this is big. Let it be known that Texans should receive any offers that might have gone to the Rams at number two if everyone thinks we are locked in to one player or one position, Make it known that we have the prime trade position, not the Rams.

Trade with the Rams and take a chance that your trade will not bring the player you covet. I'd take a deal for Minnesota's 1st and second in 2014 and 2015 so they can leapfrog other QB hungry teams. At 8, we could still get a prime player, but closer to where they should be drafted rather than overpriced. But Minnesota would have to have made a different analysis than us.

Even better would be trades with St Louis or Cleveland if the price is right and we think our guy will fall to us later.

My dream would be to trade down one slot at a time while picking up draft choices until we reach the point our guy is next up.
 
Marshall said:
Au Contraire; this is big. Let it be known that Texans should receive any offers that might have gone to the Rams at number two if everyone thinks we are locked in to one player or one position, Make it known that we have the prime trade position, not the Rams.

Trade with the Rams and take a chance that your trade will not bring the player you covet. I'd take a deal for Minnesota's 1st and second in 2014 and 2015 so they can leapfrog other QB hungry teams. At 8, we could still get a prime player, but closer to where they should be drafted rather than overpriced. But Minnesota would have to have made a different analysis than us.

Even better would be trades with St Louis or Cleveland if the price is right and we think our guy will fall to us later.

My dream would be to trade down one slot at a time while picking up draft choices until we reach the point our guy is next up.
Click to expand...

If it takes the owner saying this in public for trade offers to be made than the front office here, and a bunch of other places, are in serious disarray.

NFL GMs are fully capable of doing their due diligence without McNair advertising the pick is available.
 
Marshall said:
Au Contraire; this is big. Let it be known that Texans should receive any offers that might have gone to the Rams at number two if everyone thinks we are locked in to one player or one position, Make it known that we have the prime trade position, not the Rams.

Trade with the Rams and take a chance that your trade will not bring the player you covet. I'd take a deal for Minnesota's 1st and second in 2014 and 2015 so they can leapfrog other QB hungry teams. At 8, we could still get a prime player, but closer to where they should be drafted rather than overpriced. But Minnesota would have to have made a different analysis than us.

Even better would be trades with St Louis or Cleveland if the price is right and we think our guy will fall to us later.

My dream would be to trade down one slot at a time while picking up draft choices until we reach the point our guy is next up.
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Bolded could possibly happen. Trade with Browns then maybe to Minnie or Oakland or both. I think the key is not to get greedy and expect RG3 type deal.
 
Errant Hothy said:
If it takes the owner saying this in public for trade offers to be made than the front office here, and a bunch of other places, are in serious disarray.

NFL GMs are fully capable of doing their due diligence without McNair advertising the pick is available.
Click to expand...

Plus the fact that the top picks are shopped every single year so this is the ultimate non-news.
 
Errant Hothy said:
If it takes the owner saying this in public for trade offers to be made than the front office here, and a bunch of other places, are in serious disarray.

NFL GMs are fully capable of doing their due diligence without McNair advertising the pick is available.
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Then why did St Louis do it so quickly?
 
Marshall said:
Au Contraire; this is big. Let it be known that Texans should receive any offers that might have gone to the Rams at number two if everyone thinks we are locked in to one player or one position, Make it known that we have the prime trade position, not the Rams.

Trade with the Rams and take a chance that your trade will not bring the player you covet. I'd take a deal for Minnesota's 1st and second in 2014 and 2015 so they can leapfrog other QB hungry teams. At 8, we could still get a prime player, but closer to where they should be drafted rather than overpriced. But Minnesota would have to have made a different analysis than us.

Even better would be trades with St Louis or Cleveland if the price is right and we think our guy will fall to us later.

My dream would be to trade down one slot at a time while picking up draft choices until we reach the point our guy is next up.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that'd be really cool. The coup of all times, but alas, a dream. Has that ever happened before?
 
Errant Hothy said:
NFL GMs are fully capable of doing their due diligence without McNair advertising the pick is available.
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Don't be so cynically melodramatic. The same thing is said every year.

That said, if they trade down multiple times, all the way out of the first round, I'd be one happy camper. The team is very overrated in the overall talent department.
 
Errant Hothy said:
If it takes the owner saying this in public for trade offers to be made than the front office here, and a bunch of other places, are in serious disarray.

NFL GMs are fully capable of doing their due diligence without McNair advertising the pick is available.
Click to expand...

There are never enough sales pitches. Where did you learn marketing?
 
Marcus said:
Don't be so cynically melodramatic. The same thing is said every year.

That said, if they trade down multiple times, all the way out of the first round, I'd be one happy camper. The team is very overrated in the overall talent department.
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I know. Which is why my first post called this whole announcement a non-story.
 
OMG THIS NEWS IS LIKE.....a preacher saying he might go to church sunday.

Man i hate the off season, this one specifically is going to suck more so than previous ones IMO.
 
Marshall said:
Au Contraire; this is big. Let it be known that Texans should receive any offers that might have gone to the Rams at number two if everyone thinks we are locked in to one player or one position, Make it known that we have the prime trade position, not the Rams.

Trade with the Rams and take a chance that your trade will not bring the player you covet. I'd take a deal for Minnesota's 1st and second in 2014 and 2015 so they can leapfrog other QB hungry teams. At 8, we could still get a prime player, but closer to where they should be drafted rather than overpriced. But Minnesota would have to have made a different analysis than us.

Even better would be trades with St Louis or Cleveland if the price is right and we think our guy will fall to us later.

My dream would be to trade down one slot at a time while picking up draft choices until we reach the point our guy is next up.
Click to expand...

I take it this is your first offseason watching professional football. This is not news. In other news, I might eat carrots this week, I might not.
 
I'm starting to feel like this is one off-season I'm going to want to skip. I can't wait until the draft gets here.
 
NastyNate said:
I take it this is your first offseason watching professional football. This is not news. In other news, I might eat carrots this week, I might not.
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~I've only had 50 years watching the off season and I guess I need a little more seasoning.~

By the way, it's said every year for a reason. Talking heads like to take away options and GMs and Owners like to keep them. It's like marketing any other product. There can't be too much as long as it doesn't cost any more.
 
A man asks a woman if she would be willing to sleep with him if he pays her an exorbitant sum. She replies affirmatively.

He then names a paltry amount and asks if she would still be willing to sleep with him for the revised fee. The woman is greatly offended and replies as follows:

She: What kind of woman do you think I am?

He: We’ve already established that. Now we’re just haggling over the price.



Tough crowd.
 
I had a sales manager, gazillion years ago who reminded us daily, "Don't be afraid to address the obvious." in my mind that's all McNair and Smith did when "announcing" that the number one pick could be had in a trade. I did like the idea of McNair going some version of its up for trade and smith coming back sort of saying but we are not giving it away.

Fans and media both talk about top picks being traded way more than it actually functionally happens. the last time the 1st pick was traded was when whined Eli whined his way out San Diego to New York so that was not even a normal trade.

The RGIII was the last true blockbuster in my mind near the top of the draft although there have been a handful of lesser trades in the top 5 in the last ten or so years if my memory is working.

There is around a 10% percent chance that some team bites in my mind, but I see nothing wrong with McSmith stating what everybody already should have known just so there is no confusion.
 
I'd like the Texans to trade down so the mention from McNair that they would consider a trade down sounds good to me.

Admittedly it has no significance at this time. It's just a comment.
 
Hervoyel said:
I'd like the Texans to trade down so the mention from McNair that they would consider a trade down sounds good to me.

Admittedly it has no significance at this time. It's just a comment.
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Agreed.

While it isn't earth-shattering news and does not actually indicate a likelihood of a trade, he rejected the alternative option of saying, "we like where we are at. we are only a couple players away and think the value is there for us to go get a QB... "

While that may seem an unwise thing to say, owners and GMs have been known to do it. I remember when the Redskins actually traded into late round one a couple weeks before the draft and announced, at that point, they intended to take Jason Campbell with the pick.

Beyond Dan Snyder and Vinnie Cerratta buffoonery, though, the manner/tone by which McNair answered the question indicated clear willingness to move down and not simply lip service... It seems to me that they've already had discussions about it, which is a good thing.
 
Playoffs said:
A man asks a woman if she would be willing to sleep with him if he pays her an exorbitant sum. She replies affirmatively.

He then names a paltry amount and asks if she would still be willing to sleep with him for the revised fee. The woman is greatly offended and replies as follows:

She: What kind of woman do you think I am?

He: We’ve already established that. Now we’re just haggling over the price.



Tough crowd.
Click to expand...

Jillian Boardman "What do you think I am?"

Ben Caxton "We settled that, we're dickering over the price. A hundred and fifty?"


Wonder if anyone will get the reference. I don't think they will. Stranger in a strange land.
 
Marshall is correct. We should make sure everyone knows our pick is available & the price is reasonable. We're not itching to get rid of it, we're not expecting more than fair value.

Now we need the draft machine to settle on who the best player in the draft is. If one player emerges & he happens to be someone the Rams wants & we handle our business in Free Agency, we'll get more & more trade partners, & may have to weed through several trade offers.
 
NastyNate said:
Jillian Boardman "What do you think I am?"

Ben Caxton "We settled that, we're dickering over the price. A hundred and fifty?"


Wonder if anyone will get the reference. I don't think they will. Stranger in a strange land.
Click to expand...

When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be Jubal Harshaw.
 
Playoffs said:
A man asks a woman if she would be willing to sleep with him if he pays her an exorbitant sum. She replies affirmatively.

He then names a paltry amount and asks if she would still be willing to sleep with him for the revised fee. The woman is greatly offended and replies as follows:

She: What kind of woman do you think I am?

He: We’ve already established that. Now we’re just haggling over the price.



Tough crowd.
Click to expand...

That's almost a George Bernard Shaw quote. He was in a carriage in London with a high-society lady. As they passed Soho and saw prostitutes soliciting customers, the woman was digusted and asked George how could these women debase themselves to this level? George asked the woman, "Suppose you had no money and your child was ill with an illness that only an expensive operation could cure. Would you do it?" The woman said, "Well perhaps under those circumstances." George then said, " Well, we already have established what you are, and now are just dickering about the price."
 
Texans trade for Ryan Mallet, already knows O'Brien's system, trade down from the #1 pick for more picks and stock pile to fill greater holes....
 
BullNation4Life said:
Texans trade for Ryan Mallet, already knows O'Brien's system, trade down from the #1 pick for more picks and stock pile to fill greater holes....
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But then you'd cry about us being "Patriots 2.0.". I really wonder why anyone really wants Mallett at starter, he's dumb as hell and if he was such a hot commodity, someone would've traded for him by now.
 
TheIronDuke said:
But then you'd cry about us being "Patriots 2.0.". I really wonder why anyone really wants Mallett at starter, he's dumb as hell and if he was such a hot commodity, someone would've traded for him by now.
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Well hell if you are gonna go, go all in! You think he is dumb or that teams saw what happened when Matt Cassell left the Patriots system and was an ultimate fail, so why even bother?

If Mallet is running the same system under O'Brien, shouldn't he flourish, in theory?
 
steelbtexan said:
^^^^
This
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This... is the loser mindset that we must get away from. Ryan is a back up quarterback for a team that has a franchise qb. We are not trying to be the junior varsity version of the New England Patriots... we are building a team to beat them and everyone else to win the superbowl.
 
steelbtexan said:
Why?
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The suspense and uncertainty of it all. We have barely gotten into the debate of Bridgewater vs. Clowney at #1 and I'm already getting tired of it. I'm ready for them to make a decision and it's not going to come for another five months. Thank God there is playoff football, the Winter Olympics, March Madness & baseball to get me through until the NFL draft gets here...
 
BullNation4Life said:
Texans trade for Ryan Mallet, already knows O'Brien's system, trade down from the #1 pick for more picks and stock pile to fill greater holes....
Click to expand...

I hope Smith and O'Brien stay as far as humanly possible from this mindset. Names like the following should be all the reason anybody needs as evidence against this. Kolb, Cassell, Flynn and to aaa lesser extent Schaub. A team needs star level talent to win in the NFL and Mallett ain't that.
 
Errant Hothy said:
I hope Smith and O'Brien stay as far as humanly possible from this mindset. Names like the following should be all the reason anybody needs as evidence against this. Kolb, Cassell, Flynn and to aaa lesser extent Schaub. A team needs star level talent to win in the NFL and Mallett ain't that.
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Getting a player like Mallet (depending on what you have to give up) only allows us more flexibility in the draft. It allows us the ability to trade out of the first spot, picking up more picks (early picks) & acquiring more talented players.

It also gives us the ability to take the best non-QB available, then get a talented "star" level QB later in the draft..... Bortles, Manziel, Hundley, Mettenberger, even if we have to trade back into the first to do it.

Then of course if we draft a QB with the #1 overall, we don't have to just give him the job. Let him earn it
 
Errant Hothy said:
I hope Smith and O'Brien stay as far as humanly possible from this mindset. Names like the following should be all the reason anybody needs as evidence against this. Kolb, Cassell, Flynn and to aaa lesser extent Schaub. A team needs star level talent to win in the NFL and Mallett ain't that.
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Drew Brees
Tom Brady
Kaepernick
Russell Wilson
Nick Foles
Alex Smith
Andy Dalton

All are starting QBs in these playoffs: None of those guys were drafted or signed as free agents with a widely held belief that they would be "star talent".

If O'brien believes in Mallett and can get him at a good price, then I am for it. To your point, though: I don't want our organization to look for a serviceable QB that could work well-enough.
 
thunderkyss said:
Getting a player like Mallet (depending on what you have to give up) only allows us more flexibility in the draft. It allows us the ability to trade out of the first spot, picking up more picks (early picks) & acquiring more talented players.

It also gives us the ability to take the best non-QB available, then get a talented "star" level QB later in the draft..... Bortles, Manziel, Hundley, Mettenberger, even if we have to trade back into the first to do it.

Then of course if we draft a QB with the #1 overall, we don't have to just give him the job. Let him earn it
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What has Mallet shown so far? I don`t think he can be the long term solution for us - and he would come at a price. So basically we would give up picks to get QB that probably won`t be the long term solution.

I´d say sign a veteran FA QB and draft a QB with one of our first two picks...
 
dalemurphy said:
Drew Brees
Tom Brady
Kaepernick
Russell Wilson
Nick Foles
Alex Smith
Andy Dalton

All are starting QBs in these playoffs: None of those guys were drafted or signed as free agents with a widely held belief that they would be "star talent".

If O'brien believes in Mallett and can get him at a good price, then I am for it. To your point, though: I don't want our organization to look for a serviceable QB that could work well-enough.
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Smith and Dalton are both 1st round picks and Bress was a star coming off an injury. And none of the rest were traded for I have no problems drafting a QB outside of pick 1.1, but trading for one hardly ever works out. Especially when trading for the likes of Mallet.
 
Errant Hothy said:
Smith and Dalton are both 1st round picks and Bress was a star coming off an injury. And none of the rest were traded for I have no problems drafting a QB outside of pick 1.1, but trading for one hardly ever works out. Especially when trading for the likes of Mallet.
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Smith was not just a 1st rounder, but the #1 pick overall. The #24 pick overall was a serviceable QB named Aaron Rodgers.
 
thunderkyss said:
Dalton was not a 1st round pick.
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You are right. Doesn't change the fact that only one of the 12 starting playoff QBS was traded for, and the one that was traded for had playoff experience. Something Mallet does not.

Also 25% of the starting playoff QBs were 1st overall picks Cam, Luck, Manning and Smith.
 
Errant Hothy said:
Smith and Dalton are both 1st round picks and Bress was a star coming off an injury. And none of the rest were traded for I have no problems drafting a QB outside of pick 1.1, but trading for one hardly ever works out. Especially when trading for the likes of Mallet.
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Smith was not drafted by KC though... How did they acquire him?
 
infantrycak said:
Way underplaying your hand EA. How about - started an NFL game? Smith 75 starts plus 2 in playoffs v. 0 for Mallett.

Mallett does have one up on Smith. 50% of his NFL completions have been to the Texans.
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I'm not saying that Mallet is better, nor was I even part of that argument Cak. The fact is that Mallet is this big "unknown" that had a lot of potential when he was drafted. A lot of people assume that he is this great QB in waiting because he plays on the Patriots, but really none of us has a clue what Mallet can do.

I was just commenting on the idea that Smith's playoff experience prior to this season was some big deal. It really wasn't. He went to the playoffs one year where he played in two games. FOr the record he played pretty well though.
 
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Errant Hothy said:
You are right. Doesn't change the fact that only one of the 12 starting playoff QBS was traded for, and the one that was traded for had playoff experience. Something Mallet does not.

Also 25% of the starting playoff QBs were 1st overall picks Cam, Luck, Manning and Smith.
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Trading for Mallet doesn't mean we don't take a first round QB.
 
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