I’m very interested to see what we do with our cap space. We have 50 million projected cap space I think? Not an absolute ton like the Bears but a lot of room to sign some solid guys. We’ll have to overpay for decent free agents but at low publicity positions like center and Defensive tackle you’ll be able to get solid starters without breaking the bank. Very hopeful to see some moves made in free agency we haven’t had cap space like this in a while.
Death to Google Ads! Texans Talk Tip Jar! 🍺😎👍
Thanks for your support!
Nick Caserio - New GM
- Thread starter gwallaia
- Start date
I'm not going to disagree. Q looked like he might have missed a block here or there, but I didn't see him get worked (over powered, out-quicked) by anyone like Green, McCray, & McCormick.
I assume he graded highest of the interior linemen.
I understand Green is a rookie & hope he plays better & more consistent in the future.
Agreed, although I dont think that Lovie's the long term answer. I mean how does a guy with the 2nd worst defense get a HC job and does it surprise you that they have the worst defense this yr?
Lovie is perfect for the rebuild if you want high picks. I do wonder about his thinking on IDL.
Lovies scheme for run defense is for the DL to stop the run on the way to the QB and for small, fast LB's to fill gaps. It's a problem when your DL can't get to the QB AND can't tackle AND your LB's are small but not fast OR good tacklers. Lovie's scheme sucks when there is no talent
Not only they don't know, they don't have the talent
I was talking about this with Steelbtexan and MrTexan last year when NC brought in Cannon and Britt.
I said I was against this. There were a few younger guys at roughly the same salary to 25% higher.
I was also against the Mills pick for the same reason; there were a few Olinemen and Dlinemen (big body) available, but NC had to waste a pick on a backup QB.
Oddly, they like Mills to various degree while saying the Texans should build a team first before drafting a QB in 2024.
They said they don't want the rookie QB to be ruined, but still hope that Mills will turn around.
What contradiction.
Not if they're giving up 200+ ypg
Texian
Hall of Fame
Yes
Texian
Hall of Fame
I was against Mills pick when I heard his head coach on say on national TV that Mills was somewhat accurate.I was talking about this with Steelbtexan and MrTexan last year when NC brought in Cannon and Britt.
I said I was against this. There were a few younger guys at roughly the same salary to 25% higher.
I was also against the Mills pick for the same reason; there were a few Olinemen and Dlinemen (big body) available, but NC had to waste a pick on a backup QB.
Oddly, they like Mills to various degree while saying the Texans should build a team first before drafting a QB in 2024.
They said they don't want the rookie QB to be ruined, but still hope that Mills will turn around.
What contradiction.
I'm actually hoping that they draft the top DT and DE. Then add Tartt from the Titans and Street from the Saints to go with Collins and Lopez. There are many other IDL options that would be upgrades at fairly cheap prices. I also like Malik Reed as an edge quite a bit.
Then use the rest of the draft to add weapons and a C. I would add LB's Rashaaun Evans and another LB like Kyzir White in FA.
Adding these 5 guys in FA would be very affordable and add them to Harris/Nelson/Pitre/Thomas/King/Stingley. Plus draft picks like Anderson and Carter. I guarantee you that what happened Sunday wouldn't happen next yr.
Particularly after spending high draft capital on the defensive side of the ball.
Just remember Lovie's son said there's nothing wrong with the scheme.
True when you have Tommie Harris/Urlacher/Briggs/Tillman etc....
Texian
Hall of Fame
Thinks for reading and remembering. Bortles is still the better option than what the Texans put on the field for 5 years. Never was for Manziel, even said he would be a bad pro. Told you to watch the LSU games to see why. How did Mantai Teo and Louis Nix work out for you? I understand why you’re still butthurt after I tried to convince you you did not want to draft them.
Texansballer74
The Marine
Of course Lovie isn’t the long term answer. The problem is Caserio and the control factor. A lot of these Head Coaches wants to hand pick their own staff. Caserio wants to pick his own staff.
Texansballer74
The Marine
Not going to happen. But hey keep dreaming
I’d be interested to see that source
And that's why we will be back here again next yr at this time having this same discussion. Funny thing is it wouldn't really cost that much in FA money to do it.
Texansballer74
The Marine
Again we have 11 draft picks and Caserio has been pretty darn good with his selections. You yourself said he was doing good. Now it seems as if you’re questioning his ability to do what’s best for this team. With that what’s crap he kept McNair at bay.
Nope, I question how much the McNair's will ever let Caserio be a player in FA. Why do you say it's not going to happen?
Texansballer74
The Marine
Why he’s been doing it for three years now without any interference from Cal. Have you not been paying attention?
The Texans have never been shy about spending.
There's that cap thing anyway.
Teams can't spend under a certain figure for long.
Cheap FA's yes. Let's see when he wants to spend big money on a FA like Smith if the McNair's are on board. Their history says they won't be.
LMAO, how long has it been since they brought in JoJo/Manning?
Like Lee Big says the cap is a traffic cone in the road if you really want to sign a big ticket FA. Look at the Rams last year as an example. They were up against the cap and were still able to bring in OBJ and Miller in the middle of the year. How were they able to do that. You've bought into what the McNair's have been selling for the last 2 decades.
Texansballer74
The Marine
Ummm you do know it takes two to tangle? Right
Man no top free agent doesn’t want to come here.
And dude stop with the cheap crap. That is straight up wrong. Because this team have spent money on free agents.
vtech9
All Pro
That's the whole crux of the issue. It's true we didn't have the cap space to bring in top flight free agents, but even if we did have the cap space, who would want to come to this dumpster fire? The only guys coming here are mediocre guys that wouldn't start anywhere else, but have a chance to start here. Also, old guys that are looking to extend their playing careers for another season or two.
Maybe I’m delusional but I’m hopeful with some stability returning to the franchise and Easterby out we could be a landing spot for legit starters. Not the blue chips but actual starting caliber players. Yeah we’ll have to overpay still but overpaying for a decent center or decent defensive tackle means you overspend by a few million instead of 15 million for a top WR.
vtech9
All Pro
Hope is all we have at this point. If Lovie and Pep are still here next season, how many starting caliber players are going to want to come here and be a part of this, when they have the option to go to a better team? We're simply going to have to build through the draft, and hope we can get a few guys to fill the holes until the young guys are ready, and that's going to cost. I can already hear people complaining because Caserio spent too much money on some guy.
An extra 2-3 million a year to a guy making 6 million a year can make up for stuff like that. Obviously some players will be motivated more by winning now and those guys are probably off the table but I think it looks more attractive here than it did even just 6 months ago regardless of the record.
Like everyone else we’ll be doing most of our building through the draft for sure but I would be disappointed if we didn’t try and fill a hole or two in free agency.
It will be a lot easier to give Caserio the benefit of the doubt when he actually makes a good signing.
Texian
Hall of Fame
Watch Caserio's first couple of interviews immediately following the hiring of Lovie Smith, you will immediately see a change in Caserio's actions, manners, and persona. He stops using Me and I and starts using we and us. Then there is the episode where Lovie kicks Caserio out of the press box and takes away his headphones. If Nick was truly in charge, he would be in the press box wearing his headphones.
Caserio hired all of Culley's assistant coaches and was trying to do the exact same thing in his process of hiring his 2nd head coach this year. That is why some coaches withdrew from being the Texans' Head Coach. Lovie hired all of his assistant coaches and did so without any input from Nick Caserio and Jack Easterby. That change happened the moment Lovie agreed to be the next Texans head coach.
Watch the Caserio interview immediately after RD 1 of the draft and you will hear Nick explain how Lovie and his coaches were debating back and forth on which player to draft right up until the pick and Nick didn't think Lovie would've been upset if the pick had gone in another direction. If you listen carefully, Caserio was telling you that Lovie and his coaches were in charge of which players would be drafted and Nick was only there to facilitate and do what the coaches needed to make the coach's decisions and picks happen.
When you watch and compare a Caserio interview in 2021 with a Caserio interview in 2022 you can easily see he is a different person. In 2022 it stops being all about Nick. Even to the casual observer, one can clearly see this is Lovie Smith's team NOT Nick Caserio's.
Texian
Hall of Fame
Ever since they were in salary cap hell which was not long after they signed JoJo and Manning.
Texian
Hall of Fame
You're correct, Lovie is not the long-term answer but he will be here for the 2023 season. So that will be 3 years wasted on a rebuild and wasting away the DW4 ransom. Back to square one in 2024 with new a New GM, New HC, and New system who will all want their players, NOT Caserio's and Lovie's. It's the McNair way of doing things.
Good Smart GMs and HCs start their REBUILD from the inside out. That's why the Texans are 32nd against the run.
The Texans will have to overpay to get any high-profile FA player to come to Houston. The player will underperform because they based their decision strictly on money. That's how it has always worked.
To be honest, the Houston Texans will not get any high-profile successful GM or HC to agree to come to Houston as long as the McNairs own this team. It's possible they could get someone at the end of their career who is only doing it for the money and that too will turn out to be another Houston Texans disappointment.
See Steel if they can find a starting center in the third round, then they should have been able to do the same about a starting left guard which is why I was disappointed in them using such a high pick on Kenyon Green. What say you ?
It has to start with someone that is like the CEO over football. Basically, Cal's job. Move Cal strictly into the ownership group. This CEO would need a massive contract and stock in the team to ensure he's not going anywhere. I would want a BIG name that immediately has respect throughout the organization and the league. With someone like that in place, coaches and personnel guys would flock to Houston.
That's the only way I see a turnaround here, with the McNairs maintaining ownership. And they're not selling the golden goose.
Green will come around. I always like investing in the ol/DL. The higher the picks usually means more talented players and I'm on board with that.
Like I said before, if I was in charge my draft would have looked like this and the team would still be bad but they would be a tougher team.
1. Neal
1. Davis
1. After trading up, Linderbaum
That's what they said they were going to do with Caserio. The McNair's actions say otherwise.
I disagree with Tex saying the Derrick haul will be wasted. I think Caserio drafted players that will fit any scheme in this last draft. Even though it's not how I would have drafted.
This is where the GM makes his money.
Look at the Buccaneers.
They were bad for a long time, but they were able to lure in Brady. And then, all the chips fall.
Nick Caserio has nothing to sell because he has no vision.
You do realize there's another way of doing business if you're a contender. Look at how the Rams do business as an example.
Mr teX
Hall of Fame
I'll just say too that gap integrity in the tampa 2 is dependent on those guys being able to win quickly and be able to bend back into their gaps. We used to see JJ be able to do this all the time in our system even though it wasn't tampa 2... Donald is excellent at that too. Problem is, our guys not only can't win quickly, they can't hold the point of attack either so they wind up getting washed down opening up gaping holes. The scheme as Lovie likes to play it is heavily dependent on at least 1 Sapp/Donald type and another anchor next to him that can be game wreckers up front that forces the OL to pay more attention to them as opposed to getting up on the 2nd level to the LBs. He was only successful in Chicago with it b/c he had Tommy Harris wreaking havoc in the middle with a capable but rather lazy Tank Johnson next to him.
The iteration of it TB won the SB they had Vita Vea and Suh wreaking havoc in the middle..which let Devin White fly to the ball and/or roam and destroy. Now that Suh isn't there Vea can't do it by himself & White has been having issues getting free.
Legion of Boom did it differently where the secondary was the anchor, but they still had Mebane in the middle with Avril, Clemons and later Bennett winning fast coming off the edges.
Someone of Caserio's status is not what I have in mind.
In 2 decades if you can't learn to tango you should sell the team. This isn't about the tango. This is about money and there's a reason McNair said he learned a lot from Bud when it came to the business side of football. He said this on Channel 13 after Buds funeral. It was like I saw a light and knew that I had been taken when I thought this team was serious about putting a winner on the field.
Texian
Hall of Fame
Cal is always going to do things the way his Daddy did, (the Kirby Boardroom Roundtable) that's all he knows, and his Mama will approve. Therefore Cal is not going to take his Gameboy to the otherside of the stadium. I agree with your CEO analysis. My half century of observing the NFL the biggest successes always seem to come from those teams who have the equivilant of a drill sargeant in charge, whether that be a GM or HC.
Texian
Hall of Fame
Yes I know, but we are talking about the McNairs and the Texans. Look the only hope for the Texans is for the other McNair siblings putting pressure on Mama Janice to sell the team so they can get their $500,000,000 in cash. That's about it.
I can't argue against that. But I would float the possibilities that a) Cal is not happy running the Texans, and b) the siblings are not happy with how Cal is running the Texans. There is where my hope lies.
Agreed
Although we disagree on Caserio. I think Cal got lucky when he hired Caserio
I get that you don't feel this way.
Even by your own admission, Cal has been stepping on Nick's...feet. So what's the point? This team must be run by someone that won't let Cal interfere. That's not Caserio.
You’re inferring a lot from a little there. Nothing wrong with forming your own opinion but I was expecting something more concrete than speculation from a fan given how certain you sounded.
Also GM’s league wide use the same language. No GM is out there saying I, they all say we came to this decision, they all mention coaching input (Caserio himself mentioned coaching input post 2021 draft if I recall correctly). I’m sure every team goes about it slightly differently but more and more this is starting to seem like you guessing.
The person you're describing will never be hired by the McNair's, or they don't exist.