silvrhand
All Pro
Exactly, he's missed 14 games in the last two seasons, and you drop 13% of your cap on him.. wow just wow..
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Mario movement rumors (MERGED) Signs with Buffalo $100 million
- Thread starter gafftop
- Start date
Exactly, he's missed 14 games in the last two seasons, and you drop 13% of your cap on him.. wow just wow..
MEGA SWATT
All Pro
agree.
I shudder to think of what the payday would've been if Mario HAD been all about the money. I'm very, very thankful that Smith didn't get him resigned anywhere near the neighborhood of this contract.
Mario is a good, above average player, but Reggie White has to be spinning at 3600rpm's in his grave right now with these comparisons.
Mario is a good, above average player, but Reggie White has to be spinning at 3600rpm's in his grave right now with these comparisons.
fiasco west
All Pro
Rep your way.
This is exactly what is happening. The media is selling a story. It's nothing against the Texans, it just makes for a good story. "Freakish athlete, one of the best DEs going to a small market and to a below average team."
Last year Mario was the best player on our defense according to ESPN. why? Because last season the Texans were the underdog, the team that kept chugging along despite their injuries. This was the story connected to the Texans. How many times did we hear "And they are doing all this without Mario Williams!?!?" I heard it a ton last season. Everyone here knows that even when Mario was on the team our best players on D were Jjo and Cushing. But the Texans were the underdog team, they even ran features on our team I was shocked as hell when during a SNF game Bob Costas spends the halftime talking about the Texans and their injury problems.
Don't worry anti-Mario folks. Because if Mario doesn't produce as a Bill for whatever reason trust me the story will be "What are the Bills going to do about Mario?" and that train will turn quickly.
leebigeztx
Keep it Movin!
The only thing holding mario back is health and even then he's played injured. Dennis green once said you're worth what the market says you're worth. The market said 50m guaranteed. He's a high end player and will make the bills front 7 a force. No need to hate, just keep it moving.
welsh texan
You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one
Good point. I don't want the inferiority complex thats surrounded Mario's tenure as a Texan to continue to haunt us now that he's been paid somewhere else. The franchise made its contingency plans 12 months ago, and pretty much moved on from him then, so we need to do exactly the same.
Lets worry a little less about what the media are saying and how suddenly Mario has gone from being the 'worst #1 pick in history' to 'probably the right choice after all' to the 'most dominant pass rusher in the league' over the past 6 years, with that last jump being made as soon as he moved to us.
What about JoJo who went from being a decent CB in Cincy to being a lockdown guy as soon as he signed for Houston.
The OP makes a fair point as far as what's being said, but really, why should we care?
Showtime100
Got JJ?
First of all, good thread El Tejano. I was watching this stuff wondering what was going on myself.
As for Brisco, great post. Maybe I've seen this too many times or maybe I'm whining here, but I strongly suspect if the teams were turned around many would be laughing at Houston for dropping a pot of gold on an injury riddled defensive lineman who hasn't shown he is worthy of such a contract.
Instead it's, "Buffalo's message to the league" they are are playing for real. It's suddenly Super Mario where before it was that guy the Texans took over Reggie and Vince.
A lot of sports media simply doesn't care or even dislikes the city of Houston, IMO. I especially loved seeing butterbrain Skip Bayless' take on the Manning story. In short he blasted Houston for not "being interested" in Peyton when we have that bum Schaub on our team. Houston is on the way up and didn't think in this situation Peyton was a good gamble, that if it didn't work out it could seriously derail all the Texans have worked for......a fact that Steven A. Smith understood backwards and forwards. Then Skip said the last thing Denver should ever do is take that injured gamble Peyton because after all, they already have Tebow The Great.
I was just cheering Stephan A. to just reach across and strangle Skip and I'm not really much of a Stephen A fan, but in this case he understood Houston's position perfectly.
I know, I know, Bayless has a seriously disturbing thing for Tebow, thanks for listening. Rant over.
TheMatrix31
Hall of Fame
You know what's the problem? You guys are watching ESPN and especially those idiots Skip & Co. By giving them ratings and attention, you're keeping their bull**** flowing and their damn show on the air!
I agree though. Mario is a great player, but best defensive player? No. Best OLB? No. Best DE? No. It is important for Buffalo, though. No matter how "misrepresented" he is in the media and such, he's still a big-time player, and him going to Buffalo means wonders for the franchise and those fans, not to mention their defense.
I agree though. Mario is a great player, but best defensive player? No. Best OLB? No. Best DE? No. It is important for Buffalo, though. No matter how "misrepresented" he is in the media and such, he's still a big-time player, and him going to Buffalo means wonders for the franchise and those fans, not to mention their defense.
Showtime100
Got JJ?
Given the alternatives....I watch. Amazingly, shows I don't watch sometimes manage to stay on the air.
Thorn
Dirty Old Man
Amazingly, shows I don't watch sometimes manage to stay on the air.
I got that same problem as well with shows I don't like. I haven't figured it out yet...
SCOTTexans
Rookie
Also with media attention come the big head syndrome, Chris Myers after he got 1 year into the Probowl he tries to get a deal that is way above his performance. and age... 
Glad the one that this didn't work on was Foster, If he would have tested free market we would have been in alot more trouble
Glad the one that this didn't work on was Foster, If he would have tested free market we would have been in alot more trouble
dalemurphy
Hall of Fame
Also with media attention come the big head syndrome, Chris Myers after he got 1 year into the Probowl he tries to get a deal that is way above his performance. and age...
Glad the one that this didn't work on was Foster, If he would have tested free market we would have been in alot more trouble
This is why it is smart to re-sign players you believe in when you still have bargaining power in the form of restricted tags, franchise tags, or they are still playing through the final years of a moderate contract.
This is why I thought Mario was gone. If the Texans knew they wanted him, they wouldn't have allowed him to get to this point as a UFA without the franchise tag option... In other words, they would've worked out a restructure and extension last season.
This is also why I want the Texans to get, at least, one of Duane Brown and Barwin signed this off-season. That way, the other can be franchised if needed. We still will also have other important, to be, free agents that I would like to see extended this off-season... players like: Quin, McCain, Casey, whom have played with very minimal deals, agents don't expect to clean up in free agency on, and yet are valuable commodities to the team and could have good years in 2012 accelerating their value as they hit UFA.
SCOTTexans
Rookie
I agree 100%, so either the FO f--ed up or this was part of there plan...
I think the plan was tell the free agents what we can pay them, and they can take it or try the market. It looks like the offers weren't enough for the "top offense line in the league" or the "best DE in the league" at this point
TheCD
Rookie
The only thing that leaves me bitter about this whole situation is defending Mario for all these years. I (I should probably say we) was ridiculed and laughed at for 3-4 years before people finally conceded Mario was the right choice. Finally...when the media truly gets on board with that fact...Mario is a Buffalo Bill.
I like Mario, wish him the best and understand he was doing what any of us would do if we were to put our career up for sale in its prime. But I would be lying if I said I wasn't completely pissed off at him for defending him and him never even giving us so much as a token "thanks Houston for everything" press conference or anything to that effect.
I like Mario, wish him the best and understand he was doing what any of us would do if we were to put our career up for sale in its prime. But I would be lying if I said I wasn't completely pissed off at him for defending him and him never even giving us so much as a token "thanks Houston for everything" press conference or anything to that effect.
ChampionTexan
Hall of Fame
Couple of interesting tweets from Darren Rovell:
Showtime100
Got JJ?
I have a black alternate Chicago Blackhawks jersey with my last name on it and I took more crap from people who couldn't get over why I put my name on it. Oh well, I guess if we don't do what the herd does we are evil.
I'll say this, I never had to switch names on it.
Coming from an owner that knows how to build a championship team, that says a lot. I'm sure he's delighted that a division rival just blew 13% of their cap on one player who is not an elite QB.
michaelm
vox nihili
Barwin, Reed + Player #1, Player #2 and Player #3 (made possible with the money saved by not having Mario) is better than Barwin, Reed and Mario.
So in Mario's case, when would have been a good time to resign him? I don't think we could have done a new deal for him before the season started, because we just paid him $13M-$16M (I don't know the actual number, but it was something stupid like that) & he was looking at making $18M in 2011. Why would he redo those numbers?
Again, since we didn't pay up front, with a signing bonus, his contract did not pay off until the final two years of the deal. If I were his agent, there was no way I would allow a new contract once we made it to those final years.
I totally missed this one. I figured if we offered him Peppers' money, he would have stayed in Houston, understanding what he was paid in 2010 & 2011 vs his production.
Now, one thing I did think about, why did we IR him right away, but not Casey? Not Schaub? Did the Texans act out of frustration, considering his injury history? Was Mario upset about that? Because that was the only reason he didn't play in the play-offs, he was healthy enough.
Depending on their contracts. If they are indeed UFAs after next season, it may be too late for guys like Brown & Barwin who know they'll be sought after in FA. Those guys are going to want to test & the only way to "win" in FA is to overpay.
drs23
Veteran
And you're spot on. That's exactly what he was saying. Who can blame him?
Texan_Bill
Hall of Fame
Blake
MMQB
I dont understand why Mario tries to play the "I want to help this franchise get better" card, and then goes on to get a 100 million dollar contract.
Apparently it was just as much about the money as it was building a championship, because they damn sure aint gonna be able to bring in talent each year.
Apparently it was just as much about the money as it was building a championship, because they damn sure aint gonna be able to bring in talent each year.
Trap_Star
SiteContributor
HoustonFrog
Dallas Frog
Didn't see this in here but LZ did a breakdown for Buffalot fans today. I didn't realize how less of an impact he really had sack wise the last few years. Personal story in there too. Strengths and weaknesses
http://blog.chron.com/fantasyfootball/2012/03/for-bills-fans-a-scouting-report-on-mario-williams/
http://blog.chron.com/fantasyfootball/2012/03/for-bills-fans-a-scouting-report-on-mario-williams/
Dutchrudder
Hall of Fame
I really hope the Bills game against the Texans is late in the season so we don't have to play him.
Ole Miss Texan
Hall of Fame
Can you quote it? I don't have twitter
Mario was responding to a fan.
https://twitter.com/#!/bbwolf90/status/180701602611601408
"@bbwolf90 Mario, I respect your descion going to buffalo. Sorry Houston couldn't offer you what buffalo did. Best of luck! #texansloyalfan"
Mario's response
"@HoustonTexans81 big dawg it was nvr about them matching. The point was THEY NVR OFFERED"
Goldensilence
hipster elite
Question: how big is the jump from #2 to #1 defense? Is it worth the kind of contract we likely would have shelled out to Williams?
Truth is this if this was a team like the Pats and they saw the kind of production they got WITHOUT Williams... they wouldn't have even blinked at letting him walk. Period.
How did last year's pass rush improve dramatically? Having an actual scheme and a HC with a track record of success with a system he runs. We at least have our starters set at OLB with Reed and Barwin, we'll just have to look in either FA or the draft to find a guy we can rotate in and might start if needed.
In other words we have a d-coord who can identify talent unlike past ones. Without Mario this defense established an identity and I think strangely JJ Watt really helped set the new tone, high energy and high motor guys are what this defense is about now. Some might disagree, but I don't think either could be said about Mario.
Pretty much echoes my thoughts. We need to start thinking about also locking up players that might hit the market next year with cap friendly deals regardless of how much the cap opens up next year.
My target would be Brown for the extension first. IMO its easier to find quality pass rushers at OLB than it is damn good LTs.
Blake
MMQB
Im sorry but I still dont get it. Dude tweeted no more than 5 times on his superjit90 account as a Texan, and now he has tweeted 26 times in 3 days?
I know the account says verified, but it just doesnt add up.
On another note, his tweets responding to others about what number he will be simply means he is currently trying to buy #90 from his new teammate. Bank on it.
:mariopalm:
Dutchrudder
Hall of Fame
Barwin tweeted yesterday that he spoke with Mario and verified that it was him.
Blake
MMQB
Yeah I saw that too, but I figured the person tweeting on his account was a drunk cousin or something.
He sounds like a 13 year old girl truncating nvr and, ur, super geeked? WTF!
TheMatrix31
Hall of Fame
I read last night (can't remember where) that we DID offer him a contract and he WAS willing to take a discount to stay here but not 6m/yr discount.
Blake
MMQB
Ole Miss Texan
Hall of Fame
I'm thinking this way as well. I'm very thankful we didn't shell out big bucks for Mario. What I'm hoping from here on out is that Myers and Brisiel find out they're not going to be getting the payday their agents told them they would and the Texans can sign them to reasonable contracts. The rest of FA we pick up some decent guys that improve our roster but nothing too serious as far as high $ guys go. Let's go into the draft and kickass like last year.
If everybody thinks this year is tough cap-wise... just wait until next offseason. Some of our guys' cap-hits increase significantly next year. Plus Schaub and Brown are going to command big time contracts. Barwin's isn't going to be chump change. If we can manage it this year, I'd like to see us go ahead and extend Duane Brown another 5+ years.
Next year the cap isn't gonna skyrocket. I think the earlier we can extend these guys, the better it is. Once the TV revenue starts coming in and the cap starts increasing... players are going to be demanding more. The earlier we can get them under contract the better IMO.
It will be interesting to me what we do with Demeco and OD next season.
Dutchrudder
Hall of Fame
It is possible to gauge his interest without making a formal offer. 6 mill a year less would be about 6 years 64 million, or about 10m a year average. Sounds about right as to what the Texans could offer. We are cash strapped due to our spending last year, but the thing is, had we not signed Daniel Manning, we probably would have retained Mario. Add 5 million a year to Mario's offer and the difference of ~1-2 million a year is negligible on his end.
80tothezone
Veteran
I know I'm a little late but he can now do this on someone else's sidelines.
Ole Miss Texan
Hall of Fame
Just guessing but I completely see something like that happening. It happens all the time at virtually every business.
You've been banking with Texans Bank for the past 6 years and really like them a lot. It's time to buy a house and they say, "We can start underwriting your mortgage but assuming you fall under xyz criteria we can likely offer you somewhere around 4.5-5.0% interest rate." Further discussions reveal that's all they can do and can't go any lower.
Meanwhile, you've gone out to get an idea of what market rates are. Buffalo Bank has already quoted and offered in writing a 2.99% interest rate.
While Texans Bank never officially offered you the mortgage, you found out enough to save everybody's time. No need to have prolonged negotiations for nothing. I suspect that's exactly what happened in the case of Mario Williams.
Goldensilence
hipster elite
I don't know if it's as much as he prolonged negotiations or that the FO held out hope that long. I am leaning towards the later. The moment he said he was going to test FA, they should have just assumed he was good as gone and moved on accordingly.
If the twitter feed is correct and the Texans offered in the 10 million a year range....well thats what they had to offer and whether it was a fair offer or not we'll prolly never know what other teams were offering as well.
What we do know is how big the contract he signed is and why. I'm not upset about him signing to contract or signing elsewhere period. The production we've gotten out of the past just doesn't justify it.
What I do know is this: Brooks Reed as a rookie gave great production, considering he didn't play all 16 games and, then stepped it up in the post season with 3.5 sacks in 2 games.
GP
Go Texans!
Boo hoo, Mario Williams!
See? This is where I get cranky about ex-Texans doing what I think is pure "amateur hour" on social media accounts like this.
Chances are they DID offer, but for the sake of the argument let's say they did NOT offer you a contract, Mr. Williams. Why would they not offer you a contract, Mario? Answer: It would be insulting to even TRY it.
But if, for the other half of the sake of this argument, we find out that the best we could do was $6m less than Buffalo...then there's not a snowball's chance in hell that we could offer you that with a straight face. And you shouldn't have to decline THAT large of a difference, either.
Whether it was offered or not is not the topic. The topic, Mario, is that everybody knew you were THE top of the FA class and somebody was going to give you insane money. THAT is the only underlying topic of value here.
Face it, Mario, you are not the victim of the Texans disrespecting you. You played out your contract here. You got your money from the Texans. And you are onto a bigger payday with the Bills. So why don't you just take the right approach and keep it classy? I guess $100 million doesn't buy common courtesy anymore.
This is why I don't care for how Bob tries to be so over and beyond in the area of honoring his players. Eff them. Every player you've tried to honor has left and acted like you are a POS low-life. Do you get that, Bob? Despite your best efforts to be these guys' granddaddy and help shape them...none of them, at the end of the day, will pay you back with the same level of courtesy. So just hardball their asses and stop the coddling...you just end up with egg on your face at the end of the day.
Carr, Dunta, Mario...all three of these "Faces of the Franchise" did the same thing when they left here--They acted like ass clowns to the media as if Houston was a harsh place to be and NOW they are getting the respect they needed.
You know what I think? I think those guys pretended they were disrespected so that it would make them feel motivated or it would come off like they're better and above the idea of being cut or tagged or "not offered a contract." In the end, they're trying to come up with a fantasy story that makes them feel better about themselves. As if all that FUGGING money is not enough to soother their pains at the end of the day.
Petulant children.
I could be wrong. I get the feeling that Mario is a good 'ol boy from North Carolina (I honestly don't know where he is from). But I get the feeling Mario Williams is one of the most self-less people we'd ever meet (if we were to actually meet him).
Generally, I take people at their word until I have reason to believe otherwise. In this case, I do not. If it were about the money, I think he would have signed early the first day. But he took what, 3 days? to make up his mind.
He brought his fiance up there, showed here around.
What really got me, was when he said he wanted to help Buffalo get over the hump. I know it sounds strange, but I can understand it. I imagine Kubiak has been feeding our team this "goal" for the last 6 years & there is no doubt Mario fell for it, hook line & sinker.
Well, we know when the team got over the hump, Mario wasn't here (not really). & he might have that nagging desire. I think I would. The probability of winning a Super Bowl in Houston is only slightly better than him winning one in Buffalo.
GP
Go Texans!
I guess this is the **** we're going to deal with if/when other guys leave.
Can't wait until the day some guy like Cushing leaves and acts like an ass to the media (or on his own media account).
I guess they're all like that. Maybe Schaub isn't. He seems like a guy who would eat three pounds of **** and smile while doing it if it was the right thing to do at the time.
You just never know the character of these guys until you see them walk away. When the squeeze is on, you see what comes out of them.
Mario, eff you. You're the LeBron of the NFL now. A fan tweeted you with kind words and you had to hugging defecate on him/her with that trash about not being offered a contract. You classless piece of refuse. /rant.
Can't wait until the day some guy like Cushing leaves and acts like an ass to the media (or on his own media account).
I guess they're all like that. Maybe Schaub isn't. He seems like a guy who would eat three pounds of **** and smile while doing it if it was the right thing to do at the time.
You just never know the character of these guys until you see them walk away. When the squeeze is on, you see what comes out of them.
Mario, eff you. You're the LeBron of the NFL now. A fan tweeted you with kind words and you had to hugging defecate on him/her with that trash about not being offered a contract. You classless piece of refuse. /rant.
GP
Go Texans!
You just Keep Hope Alive, TK.
Actions, brother. Actions.
He comes across as a jerk, IMO. Good riddance. Look at his tweets, he's being an ass hat deluxe. Fans wishing him well in tweets and he has to blast the organization. Truth is truth, but no sense in him doing it THAT way.
Texecutioner
Hall of Fame
I love how so many in here are all bashing Mario now and acting like they're so glad he was gone, yet for months many of you same people bashed and insulted "Dale Murphy" for pointing out this guy's flaws and why it would be a BAD SIGNING to bring this guy back. Hell, a few of us talked about it for over a year and advocated to have Mario traded so we could get value for him while his value was still high.
Now he all of a sudden leaves and becomes the highest paid defensive player in history, and so many of you guys totally flip flop on these assertions and act like it would have been a move that wasn't smart for the Texans. Lol! Hell, you'd think the majority of this board would be depressed all week at how many folks were bringing out their claws to defend this guy over the last year.
I'm stoked he is gone, because Mario will certainly not meet expectations.
Now he all of a sudden leaves and becomes the highest paid defensive player in history, and so many of you guys totally flip flop on these assertions and act like it would have been a move that wasn't smart for the Texans. Lol! Hell, you'd think the majority of this board would be depressed all week at how many folks were bringing out their claws to defend this guy over the last year.
I'm stoked he is gone, because Mario will certainly not meet expectations.
Playing for a winning team was really important to MW. LOL
I've been telling you (TK/SAM/Mr. Tex) MW was all about the $$$$.
I'm pretty sure the harshest critic would say that the Buffalo signing shows what MW is all about.
Enjoy the MW experience Bills fans.
I've been telling you (TK/SAM/Mr. Tex) MW was all about the $$$$.
I'm pretty sure the harshest critic would say that the Buffalo signing shows what MW is all about.
Enjoy the MW experience Bills fans.
Anyone could have said that. No one could have really known until he finally picked a team. There was no evidence one way or another prior to his signing for the biggest bucks.
infantrycak
Hall of Fame
Whatever. Dale's endless campaign against Mario was and remains ridiculous. His video demonstrated how far he would go to perceive Mario as bad. Very few people said keep Mario no matter what the cost.
And it is very telling that Mario sucked so bad, it was so easy for folks to see his low effort - I mean it just jumped off the film so much to even amateur observers it was so easy to see that teams full of professionals were tripping over themselves to make him the highest paid defensive player.
Now honestly, I wanted him back but not at this kind of price (as I have said before, every player has a max price). But let's not get all back patty on this one.