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That Move Out of Nowhere

At the end of last season the majority of us were confident that David Carr would no longer be our starting QB come 2007. Still, nobody was sure what exactly would happen at the position. Some thought we would draft Brady Quinn, some thought we would sign Jake Plummer, and some thought Sage would win the job. Out of left field Rick Smith made a trade to bring in our franchise QB, RFA Matt Schaub.

We enter this offseason with LT, CB, and RB as our most pressings areas of need. Everyone has their own ideas how they want these positions addressed, whether it involves the draft, trades, or free agency. Listening to the radio the other day I heard a guy call in who claimed to know a girl who was friends with DeMeco Ryans. He said she said (yea, one of those) that word around the organization is that we are trying to make a trade with Tampa Bay for Cadillac Williams.

Now, the purpose of this thread isn't to analyze the validity of this rumor or its implications. Instead, I want to see what people think could be the Texans' "out of left field move" for the 2008 offseason. Whether it is an unexpected signing, a trade, or something in the draft.
 

HoustonFrog

Dallas Frog
Well I'm not sure what it is but I hope it isn't the Caddy move. Another oft hurt RB. No thanks. I think if we make a splash it will be to a top CB.
 

badboy

Hall of Fame
At the end of last season the majority of us were confident that David Carr would no longer be our starting QB come 2007. Still, nobody was sure what exactly would happen at the position. Some thought we would draft Brady Quinn, some thought we would sign Jake Plummer, and some thought Sage would win the job. Out of left field Rick Smith made a trade to bring in our franchise QB, RFA Matt Schaub.

We enter this offseason with LT, CB, and RB as our most pressings areas of need. Everyone has their own ideas how they want these positions addressed, whether it involves the draft, trades, or free agency. Listening to the radio the other day I heard a guy call in who claimed to know a girl who was friends with DeMeco Ryans. He said she said (yea, one of those) that word around the organization is that we are trying to make a trade with Tampa Bay for Cadillac Williams.

Now, the purpose of this thread isn't to analyze the validity of this rumor or its implications. Instead, I want to see what people think could be the Texans' "out of left field move" for the 2008 offseason. Whether it is an unexpected signing, a trade, or something in the draft.
Good question. First, I don't think Cadillac gets us down the road. I don't think we have the ammo to shoot at another impact player by trade. I think our OOLFM would be to splurge on Samuel CB in free agency and get him. If a stud LT or RB is not available at #18, I saw a post saying Miami might trade their two 2nds for our first. I'd be interested in that but not sure that meets your criteria.
 

Second Honeymoon

Hall of Fame
Sounds like a good find from the grapevine. I think this might actually hold water. It makes sense, to be honest.

He is making pretty big $$ and the Bucs may have found their guy in Earnest Graham and at a much better price. The Bucs could use our need at RB to jettison his contract away and get something in return. If all the other teams are scared away by the money and injuries, the price may be less than you think. It wouldn't be anything like a 1st Round or 2nd Round pick for sure but I could see us giving up a 4th Rounder for him and taking over his contract. The deal makes sense in a lot of ways for both parties. The Texans take the financial risk of another oft-injured running back and attempt to reap the rewards with maybe him serving in more of a running back by committee role to preserve him and keep him healthy.

Make that deal and then try and lure Samuel to Houston. We would have to let Weary go but his price may be lower since he is coming off an injury. Its an interesting offseason, that is for sure. Cadillac's are expensive but this one might be just what we are looking for.
 

Double Barrel

Texans Talk Admin
Staff member
Contributor's Club
Well I'm not sure what it is but I hope it isn't the Caddy move. Another oft hurt RB. No thanks. I think if we make a splash it will be to a top CB.
It would be too much to ask for them to snag Asante Samuel, wouldn't it?

I'm sure he wants more money than we can afford, especially considering our needs in so many other critical areas. But man, that would be a sweet addition to our defensive backs.

They were discussing Julius Jones on the radio, but I'm just not sold on him being an answer for us. We need a solid offensive line, by which even decent RBs can make an impact.

It should be an interesting...and quite long...off-season.
 

Lucky

Ride, Captain, Ride!
Staff member
Well I'm not sure what it is but I hope it isn't the Caddy move.
Sounds like a good find from the grapevine. I think this might actually hold water. It makes sense, to be honest.

He is making pretty big $$
Cadillac is making around $2 million per season, not enough to trade him for contact reasons. Unless he can't play any longer. The Texans can't afford to trade draft choices seeing that they are already short the 2nd round pick via the Schaub trade. Don't see it happening.
 

eriadoc

Texan-American
They were discussing Julius Jones on the radio, but I'm just not sold on him being an answer for us. We need a solid offensive line, by which even decent RBs can make an impact.
But by addressing RB in free agency, that frees us up to go after a LT in the draft. Julius Jones would be a good pickup, if the contract was reasonable. I think his skills surpass his production over the past couple years, because Barber has come on, and was more of a Parcells guy. I think Jones can be pretty good, and we could get him relatively cheap.

I'm not sold on Asante Samuel, for the record. I think he's a product of the Patriots and he's going to command far more than what he'll compensate for on the field over the next few years. I know he has posted a lot of INTs, and I am not saying he's a bad payer, and I could be wrong, but I'll go on record as saying I think it would be a bad move for us, both from a contract status as well as from a performance standpoint.
 

Second Honeymoon

Hall of Fame
Cadillac is making around $2 million per season, not enough to trade him for contact reasons. Unless he can't play any longer. The Texans can't afford to trade draft choices seeing that they are already short the 2nd round pick via the Schaub trade. Don't see it happening.
wow? only 2 million a year? he was the 5th pick overall wasnt he? I thought his rookie contract would be around 3.5-4 million per all said and done.

well 2million is enough reason to jettison him for a 4th then. they would want more or just go into next season with both Graham and Cadillac.
 

Dallas_Texan

Waterboy
But by addressing RB in free agency, that frees us up to go after a LT in the draft. Julius Jones would be a good pickup, if the contract was reasonable. I think his skills surpass his production over the past couple years, because Barber has come on, and was more of a Parcells guy. I think Jones can be pretty good, and we could get him relatively cheap.

I'm not sold on Asante Samuel, for the record. I think he's a product of the Patriots and he's going to command far more than what he'll compensate for on the field over the next few years. I know he has posted a lot of INTs, and I am not saying he's a bad payer, and I could be wrong, but I'll go on record as saying I think it would be a bad move for us, both from a contract status as well as from a performance standpoint.
I'll rep that one! :cool:
 

tulexan

Hall of Fame
I don't think Kubiak is going to go after any running backs with a history of major injuries. Cadillac has yet to finish a season and hasn't even been that impressive either.
 

Lucky

Ride, Captain, Ride!
Staff member
More info on Cadillac:

Cadillac Williams says doctors have told him he'll need nine-to-twelve months of rehab after undergoing surgery for a torn patellar tendon.

On that schedule, he would miss all of the Bucs' offseason activities and 2008 training camp. However, Cadillac is young without a history of knee trouble and could recover more quickly than anticipated. We might not have a good idea of his progress until the Bucs begin hitting drills late next summer.
Williams will miss all of the offseason mini camps, and possibly training camp. His contract numbers:

2008: $2.15725 million
2009: $2.594 million
2010: $2.244 million

Maybe if Casserly returns, we can get Cadillac for a 1st & a 3rd?
 

edo783

Hall of Fame
More info on Cadillac:

Williams will miss all of the offseason mini camps, and possibly training camp. His contract numbers:

2008: $2.15725 million
2009: $2.594 million
2010: $2.244 million

Maybe if Casserly returns, we can get Cadillac for a 1st & a 3rd?
His contract isn't horrible, but another injured RB? We have a pretty good supply of those I think, so I doubt it. John McLain addressed it today and said no way we would be doing it. Not sure how much he is in the know these days.
 

b0ng

Bad Hombre
His contract isn't horrible, but another injured RB? We have a pretty good supply of those I think, so I doubt it. John McLain addressed it today and said no way we would be doing it. Not sure how much he is in the know these days.
Honestly, I don't think you have to be "in the know" to realize that most teams wouldn't trade anything for an injured Cadillac.
 

WesmanTexanfan

SeNior Smack
At the end of last season the majority of us were confident that David Carr would no longer be our starting QB come 2007. Still, nobody was sure what exactly would happen at the position. Some thought we would draft Brady Quinn, some thought we would sign Jake Plummer, and some thought Sage would win the job. Out of left field Rick Smith made a trade to bring in our franchise QB, RFA Matt Schaub.

We enter this offseason with LT, CB, and RB as our most pressings areas of need. Everyone has their own ideas how they want these positions addressed, whether it involves the draft, trades, or free agency. Listening to the radio the other day I heard a guy call in who claimed to know a girl who was friends with DeMeco Ryans. He said she said (yea, one of those) that word around the organization is that we are trying to make a trade with Tampa Bay for Cadillac Williams.

Now, the purpose of this thread isn't to analyze the validity of this rumor or its implications. Instead, I want to see what people think could be the Texans' "out of left field move" for the 2008 offseason. Whether it is an unexpected signing, a trade, or something in the draft.



WE DONT NEED A RB, IS EVERYONE BLIND OR JUST DUMB, WE NEED O LINE, CHRIS TAYLOR AND D WALKER ARE BALLERS
 

TexanSam

Hall of Fame
WE DONT NEED A RB, IS EVERYONE BLIND OR JUST DUMB, WE NEED O LINE, CHRIS TAYLOR AND D WALKER ARE BALLERS
Chris Taylor played one game. He rushed for 99 yards the very last game of the season in 2006 against a bad Browns team. He was on the practice squad for almost the entire season except for about 2 or 3 games. He was injured all of this season. I still don't get why people think he'll be the answer at RB. Because Kubes was high on him during the pre-season in 2006? If he'd shown enough he would have gotten to play.

As far as Darius Walker, if we go into next season with him as our #1 RB, I'm not going to have confidence in our running game. He went undrafted last year, he was also on the practice squad for about half the season, etc... I'm tired of having this carousel of running backs. I want a solid, young back to be our #1. Neither Walker, Taylor, or Dayne show me that.
 

b0ng

Bad Hombre
Chris Taylor played one game. He rushed for 99 yards the very last game of the season in 2006 against a bad Browns team. He was on the practice squad for almost the entire season except for about 2 or 3 games. He was injured all of this season. I still don't get why people think he'll be the answer at RB. Because Kubes was high on him during the pre-season in 2006? If he'd shown enough he would have gotten to play.

As far as Darius Walker, if we go into next season with him as our #1 RB, I'm not going to have confidence in our running game. He went undrafted last year, he was also on the practice squad for about half the season, etc... I'm tired of having this carousel of running backs. I want a solid, young back to be our #1. Neither Walker, Taylor, or Dayne show me that.
While I don't think Darius Walker's position in the draft should affect his playing time, I honestly don't think he's going to be much more than either a pretty good change of pace back or a mediocre at best feature back. Chris Taylor tearing his knee up could've easily screwed him out of an NFL career, as I don't know how people come back after tearing the meniscus in their knee's.

I think that this year they are not going to pick an RB with any day 1 draft pick, and probably not until the tail end of the draft if at all. I think they are confident that the competition between Dayne, Walker, possibly Taylor, and probably a few UDFA along with Ahman Green will get us by for the year. I'm also willing to bet that they work on the O-line's run blocking play quite a bit to make sure that everything is kosher before they blow their wads on either a high priced FA, or a top draft pick.

(at least that's what I'm hoping for)
 

Grid

All Pro
How much are yall expecting Samual to ask for? I mean 30 million in cap space is not exactly "poor".

I mean.. if we really wanted him.. we could sign him to a big contract and eat a large chunk of it this year.

And that 30 million under the cap..I think that is BEFORE they raise it.. so we will probably be closer to 40+ under the cap.
 

The Pencil Neck

Hall of Fame
How much are yall expecting Samual to ask for? I mean 30 million in cap space is not exactly "poor".

I mean.. if we really wanted him.. we could sign him to a big contract and eat a large chunk of it this year.

And that 30 million under the cap..I think that is BEFORE they raise it.. so we will probably be closer to 40+ under the cap.
But at this point, we're still sitting at about 22nd in the league in terms of cap space (iirc). So, yeah, we've got some room, but there are a lot of teams out there with more cap space that might be more attractive to him for one reason or another.
 

PapaL

Loose Screw
Our projected cap space isn't in the top 10; link:

Team
Signed Players 2008 cap room

1. Tennessee
39 $40.85 million
2. San Diego
44 $33.03 million
3. Jacksonville
43 $32.69 million
4. Buffalo
49 $32.05 million
5. New Orleans
39 $31.69 million
6. Cincinnati
48 $31.45 million
7. San Francisco
48 $30.91 million
8. Cleveland
42 $30.31 million
9. Arizona 3
4 $30.27 million
10.N.Y. Jets
45 $27.72 million
11.Oakland
40 $25.98 million
12.Tampa Bay
48 $25.90 million
13.Miami
48 $25.56 million
14.N.Y. Giants
49 $24.47 million
15.Detroit
42 $23.50 million
16.Houston
43 $22.91 million

17.Dallas
40 $20.61 million
18.Kansas City
44 $20.27 million
19.Chicago
52 $19.80 million
20.Pittsburgh
43 $18.61 million
21.Green Bay
48 $18.37 million
22.Philadelphia
49 $17.17 million
23.Denver
49 $16.77 million
24.Minnesota
49 $14.88 million
25.New England
41 $10.93 million
26.St. Louis
45 $9.61 million
27.Seattle
44 $9.55 million
28.Indianapolis
48 $8.49 million
29.Carolina
35 $6.05 million
30.Atlanta
52 $5.79 million*
31.Baltimore
42 $5.00 million
32.Washington
45 -$20.72 million

* Not including unspecified potential rebate from contested return of Michael Vick's pro-rated signing bonus.
Plus we will probably pick up an option on Mario's contract so that'll bump us down some.
 

b0ng

Bad Hombre
Now that I think about it, the left field move. . . hmmmm.

We sign, ugh, this is tough. . . DEREK ANDERSON!

See it's perfect! Then we have the awesome 3 headed QB monster that will totally crush all comers and goers. We trade Sage for a 7th round pick that we immediately draft, uh, hmmm. . . uh. . . Okay I can't even think of somebody to draft in the seventh round that anybody would know of.

I think the reason it's called a "out of left field" is because nobody see's it coming.

(BTW if we sign Derek Anderson and give up draft picks for him, I'm quitting. Screw you guys, I'm goin home quitting)
 

Maddict5

Hall of Fame
sigh at us having the same cap space as the boys..... and less than the jags and CLE (especially)- having they spent big on FA the last two yrs?
 

281

Veteran
no caddy for the texans. we already have ahman green... the idea is to get someone to PLAY.
 

BSofA04

Veteran
Julius Peppers to the Texans for a 3rd Round pick in 2008 and 2009 and Anthony Weaver. Panthers claim that they are in a rebuilding phase and Peppers had a dramatic drop-off in performance. They don't want to pay him a large salary after his contract year in 2008.

Hey, this does classify as a move out of nowhere....
 
1st off we sign Michael turner

We Draft Jeff Otah

We would be totally greedy to expect Samuel but i expect Dunta to come back healthy and and Bennet showed he can hang with the big boys the biggest move i would like the texans to make is hire a big time DC:fans:
 

ATRAIN

ATX TEXANS FAN
I still don't know what we were thinking getting Green. Yes I will admit I was excited about it at first, but I knew I was just showing my support because what else was I supposed to do. I already knew he wasn't going to play half the season even before it started :(. Now we are stuck with him.
 

Hook'er

Waterboy
I still don't know what we were thinking getting Green. Yes I will admit I was excited about it at first, but I knew I was just showing my support because what else was I supposed to do. I already knew he wasn't going to play half the season even before it started :(. Now we are stuck with him.
I think it had something to do with Sherman, he's gone now!:texflag:
 

dalemurphy

Hall of Fame
I still don't know what we were thinking getting Green. Yes I will admit I was excited about it at first, but I knew I was just showing my support because what else was I supposed to do. I already knew he wasn't going to play half the season even before it started :(. Now we are stuck with him.

How would you have attempted to upgrade at RB last year with very limited cap space and without a 2nd round pick?
 

Corrosion

Idealist
Staff member
To all those who are wanting a huge splash via FA (A.Samuel or someone in the same price range) .... I got one thing to say ...... Putting that much cash into one player when this team has several other holes to fill is not a sound decision .
If this team were a great corner or LB (Lance Briggs) away from being a Superbowl contender then it makes more sense to throw that much money at a guy who can be the missing piece ..... But this team is missing a lot more than either of those guy's can bring . Thats only asking to be in cap hell in a year or two .


Get close to the prize before you fire all your bullets . :gun:
 

Mr. White

Retired OLine Coach
Dunno if anyone else noticed, but it seems like Kubes and Gruden have a pipeline similar to the one he has/did have with Shanahan.
 

BigBull17

Hall of Fame
Julius Peppers to the Texans for a 3rd Round pick in 2008 and 2009 and Anthony Weaver. Panthers claim that they are in a rebuilding phase and Peppers had a dramatic drop-off in performance. They don't want to pay him a large salary after his contract year in 2008.

Hey, this does classify as a move out of nowhere....
The key is to rebuilb by getting rid of money. Weaver makes to much for it to be profitable to trade Peppers for him.
 

infantrycak

Hall of Fame
The key is to rebuilb by getting rid of money. Weaver makes to much for it to be profitable to trade Peppers for him.
Trade will never happen, but the details are:

Peppers has a $6.5 mil salary next year (the last of his contract). The Panthers sucked up his bonus as a roster bonus this year so they could get rid of him with no dead money.

Weaver has a $3.5 mil base salary next year and a total cap hit if he stays of $6 mil. Problem is if the Texans were to trade him they would get stuck with four years of prorated signing bonus which is $10 mil. Not happening.
 

Lucky

Ride, Captain, Ride!
Staff member
Don't know if this qualifies as "out of nowhere", but how about signing Boss Bailey as strong side OLB? He played for both Richard Smith & Johnny Holland at Detroit. In '07, Bailey had his best season since his rookie year with 4 sacks as a blitzer. And, Boss would bring some much needed speed to the Texans LB corps.
 

badboy

Hall of Fame
Trade will never happen, but the details are:

Peppers has a $6.5 mil salary next year (the last of his contract). The Panthers sucked up his bonus as a roster bonus this year so they could get rid of him with no dead money.

Weaver has a $3.5 mil base salary next year and a total cap hit if he stays of $6 mil. Problem is if the Texans were to trade him they would get stuck with four years of prorated signing bonus which is $10 mil. Not happening.
On Weaver, what about cutting him and saving $2.5m and replacing him with Earl Cochran?
 

Specnatz

Hall of Fame
WE DONT NEED A RB, IS EVERYONE BLIND OR JUST DUMB, WE NEED O LINE, CHRIS TAYLOR AND D WALKER ARE BALLERS
Yeah I have watch taylor tear it up the last two years and he is a proven commodity at RB and that he is going to be the work horse we have all dreamed of.

The$22.91 mil projected seems a bit small I thought it was closer to $30 mil especially after all the dead money is gone.

I have noticed that some people complain about the lack of talent in certain positions but when names like Asante Samual or Michael Turner are brought up it is said that making a big splash and putting so much money into one person or just a few people is not a good idea. So if you do not want to spend the money we have available to secure a position with one of the better talents available and a young player to boot then we are just not going to get any better. Look at the titans and how much they had to spend last year and they spent nothing, and even lost some free agents. Now I am all for not over spending just to spend on players, like last years crop of lineman (I.E. Leonard Davis).

If you want to spend the money on tier 2 or 3 players then please do not complain about not having the talent because if that is how you want to spend then you will have a roster filled with guys like Faggins and Flanagan and we would be no closer to reaching the playoffs. I guess Faggins is not a good examble because he is more like 5th tier rate of talent.
 

badboy

Hall of Fame
This was the key portion of infantrycak's post as to why Weaver won't be cut or traded.
Thanks but your post did not address my issue. I know that a trade speeds up the pro rated bonus, but could not remember if a cut works the same? I think this was addressed on other thread recently but I can't locate it. That post indicated a cut would save the $2.5m and I was hoping I'cak could clarify or you if you are certain. Appreciate any info.
 

infantrycak

Hall of Fame
Thanks but your post did not address my issue. I know that a trade speeds up the pro rated bonus, but could not remember if a cut works the same? I think this was addressed on other thread recently but I can't locate it. That post indicated a cut would save the $2.5m and I was hoping I'cak could clarify or you if you are certain. Appreciate any info.
A trade or release of a player accelerates the remaining prorated bonus money. Cutting Weaver will not save cap space this offseason.
 

badboy

Hall of Fame
Yeah I have watch taylor tear it up the last two years and he is a proven commodity at RB and that he is going to be the work horse we have all dreamed of.

The$22.91 mil projected seems a bit small I thought it was closer to $30 mil especially after all the dead money is gone.

I have noticed that some people complain about the lack of talent in certain positions but when names like Asante Samual or Michael Turner are brought up it is said that making a big splash and putting so much money into one person or just a few people is not a good idea. So if you do not want to spend the money we have available to secure a position with one of the better talents available and a young player to boot then we are just not going to get any better. Look at the titans and how much they had to spend last year and they spent nothing, and even lost some free agents. Now I am all for not over spending just to spend on players, like last years crop of lineman (I.E. Leonard Davis).

If you want to spend the money on tier 2 or 3 players then please do not complain about not having the talent because if that is how you want to spend then you will have a roster filled with guys like Faggins and Flanagan and we would be no closer to reaching the playoffs. I guess Faggins is not a good examble because he is more like 5th tier rate of talent.
http://www.houstonprofootball.com/cap2008.html

This shows 2008 cap with projected increase. $35m unless team does it thing with Mario. The best I understand it is by offering him $12m before 2008 season, team adjusts his base salary and adds 2011 @ $3.725m. I'm all for adding a year and lowering his base BUT not at giving up cap space. Mario can void the last two years (if incentatives are met) but team can then buy back those two voided years (2010 & 11) for $8.5m. The figures listed on this site seem ridiculously cheap for what we got this year and what Mario may be doing in future. Personally, I hope Smith can wait and see what can be landed in free agency before committing $12 million to Williams.
 

badboy

Hall of Fame
A trade or release of a player accelerates the remaining prorated bonus money. Cutting Weaver will not save cap space this offseason.
Thanks. That is what I was afraid of. Am I evaluating Weaver to harshly? I know he is over paid, but is he holding his own? I think 2-3 sacks would have been nice or at least some hurries.
 

infantrycak

Hall of Fame
[I'm all for adding a year and lowering his base BUT not at giving up cap space.
If they exercise the option bonus it will be prorated across the remaining four years of the contract so the impact taken together with the reduced base salary will not be significant on the 2008 cap.

Thanks. That is what I was afraid of. Am I evaluating Weaver to harshly? I know he is over paid, but is he holding his own? I think 2-3 sacks would have been nice or at least some hurries.
I think Weaver's play was off this season because of his injury. He definitely needs to up his game to justify his salary--at least get back to the 4 or 5 sack a season guy he was in Baltimore. It did seem like they dropped him into coverage a fair amount which of course lowered his opportunities to get after the QB along with bringing Kalu in on obvious passing downs.
 

badboy

Hall of Fame
If they exercise the option bonus it will be prorated across the remaining four years of the contract so the impact taken together with the reduced base salary will not be significant on the 2008 cap.
Ok, now I am really confused. What you are saying is exactly what I thought when someone pointed out this wrinkle that Kubes had mentioned. Why on the pro football site does it indicate a drop on cap from $35m to apprx $23m? Looks like it is coming out all at once.

Edit:I read again the info on web site and it does not say there would be a $12m loss of cap. I have seen that mentioned by others. We could still have about $30 m or so for off season.
 

infantrycak

Hall of Fame
Ok, now I am really confused. What you are saying is exactly what I thought when someone pointed out this wrinkle that Kubes had mentioned. Why on the pro football site does it indicate a drop on cap from $35m to apprx $23m? Looks like it is coming out all at once.
I don't see where they say it will drop to $23 mil. In any event, it is possible the Texans have the contract written so the option bonus will be paid akin to a roster bonus and all be charged in this year.
 
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