It's official!
A trade that has been speculated on for over a year is now completed.
By day's end, the Atlanta Falcons will trade backup quarterback Matt Schaub to the Houston Texans, according to NFL sources. The Texans will surrender a second-round draft pick, and there could be other compensation involved.
The trade has massive ramifications. The Texans have their quarterback of the future, which David Carr no longer is. The Falcons are reaffirming their faith in Michael Vick, who now also needs a new backup. And the Texans are out of the Brady Quinn derby, leaving the Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins as possible landing spots.
The trade, once officially completed, validates the Falcons' commitment to Vick, whom new Atlanta head coach Bobby Petrino told the first time they met, "You're my guy."
Since then, Petrino and Vick have been working together closely on an almost daily basis, prepping for the coming season.
The Falcons, who quietly had been entertaining offers for Schaub this offseason, had tendered their backup quarterback a $2 million offer, meaning that any team that signed him to an offer sheet would have to surrender first- and third-round draft choices to the Falcons. Of course, the Falcons also could always trade Schaub, and that is the course of action the team has pursued.
The Texans will be acquiring a quarterback that has thrown only 161 career passes, 81 of which were completed, with six touchdown passes and six interceptions. But Schaub long has been considered a quarterback worthy of starting, and he was the top bargaining chip the Falcons have.
Now they've decided to cash it in.
http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story/10078226