aj. said:
I think we've seen the last of the good old days in terms of cap space for the Texans. Carr's base salary jump in '05 alone (5 million) is more than the team cap number increase this year (the number was about 80.6 million last year).
This is Carr's option year. If the Texans choose to exercise the last three years of his contract as I expect they will, he will receive an 8 million bonus and base salaries of 5.25 million in '06 and '07 and 6 million in '08.
Then there's our own FAs that have to be signed as 88 said. Plus Milford Brown, Faggins, Troy Evans and J Wells are all RFAs that will probably be tendered. I would expect that they will make a run at Sears, DeLoach, Simmons, Payne, Norris, and possibly McCree.
I expect Kenny Wright and Bradford to be gone (no cap hit).
Eric Brown and/or Jay Foreman could be released (there would be dead money cap hits involved on both)
Steve McKinney counts nearly 4 million on the cap this year and he seriously needs to rework his deal with something more cap friendly if he wants to stick around (something that is incentive based - not a Wimpy hamburger deal)
Wiegert is about 3.5 million.
Glenn is over 5 million.
Sharper (over 6 million) and Wong (around 4.5) are in the final year of their contracts. The Texans may have to make a choice between the two after this season.
And then there's the huge Walker, Wade and Smith deals from last year. What were they thinking on Walker?
Plus there's the ~3.5 million or so that needs to be there for the rookie pool (for signing the draft choices).
Anyway, the point is that it all adds up.
I may be totally wrong but I'm thinking that we won't go after any Tier 1 UFAs, i.e., Walter Jones or Shaun Alexander this off-season.
Ok.. I can see we are hurting, but let me know what you think of this.
i think people know we are close to a playoff team now. So players might wanna stay 2-3 years to have a good chance to visit the SuperBowl (it could happen).
I can see Since Wong and Sharper are working thier last year now, that they re-up and rework thier deals. It would probably be a 3.5 million this year for Sharper (extended 4 years) and Wong would probably get 3 million (extended 3 years). that move would free up a bit.
I also see Carr re-working the deal... Yes... Carr! Carr is quite tired of being on this back, and I have a feeling he will re-work a 6 year deal (doing a 3.5 million this coming year) so they can bring in some extra help on the OT side. Yep, I think he will be willing to pass on a touch of his pay to stay upright.
Steve... You better be soooooo gone. If you retire, you will leave with some class. In addition, your move will be praised so you dont get the (your fired). Unless you have a comeback from whatever, you will be gone soon.
Walker, Wade, and Smith... Sigh.. Are these 3 good players, Oh yes they are. BUT they are NOT getting better, something you expect from signing peeps to a HUGE contract. They arent worth the price/length we paid. Bad decisions from my Armchair QB chair. They were signed because i really believe peeps in the organization thought we were playoff bound and these peeps could get us there. Didnt work.
Brown and Foreman are probably gone.
Year 2006 and Year 2007 will be Horrible for the team. Caps will be bad... really bad.
Btw - If Carr doesnt re-work his Contract this year for extention and free up a bit of space, he better **** well make to the playoffs next year. If he dont make at LEAST 8 and 8 next, it wont be pretty. Not pretty at all. If he does re-work his contract, I think he (i know, sad to say) will have two or three more years before is job would be in jeapordy. Why you say? I think if he re-works, he is being a team player, and he can 'score points' by dropping a bit of salary to allow for more help on the O-Line and WR Core.