To me it looks like hes taking a shot to the Ravens? (Talking about he never thought he would be in this situation????)
Just waiting for ASidd to go pass that along on twitter or TexansTalk, ha. "My sources say Ed Reed never thought he would be a free agent, but here he is today a free agent." lulz
Unfortunately, the Texans are in a position where they can't really afford to let Reed get away from them. There is really no alternative. Woodson is not an alternative (he's two years older than Reed and looked done last season). All the viable, 1-yr bandaid alternatives, like Kenny Phillips, have already signed with other teams. We can't depend on the draft to cover the need because, although it is a deep safety draft, there's no way to know how our board will read and who will be available when when we're on the clock. You cannot call yourself a legit super bowl contender without a serviceable free safety; not in today's NFL. Paying Reed a guaranteed $10/11 mil over the next two years is probably overpaying (although not drastically), but what choice do we have? For guys like AJ the superbowl window is closing and you only get so many bites at the apple. In my opinion, the Texans season depends on getting Reed at this point.
Plan A is Ed Reed on a 2 year deal. Draft a safety next year to take over in 2015. Plan B is Woodson on a 1 year deal. Draft a safety this year to take over in 2014.
I think we are gonna have to draft a safety with one of our picks in the first three rounds regardless of whether or not we sign Ed Reed. Signing Woodson would be a mistake in my opinion. I'd rather spend the money on a different player. Anyone who saw Packers games last year will tell you that he was a real liability in coverage. He's just not a starting caliber DB anymore.
Ive heard many people mention that he didnt play as well last season...I didnt catch more than a few Packers games last season, so Im not in a position to be able to say one thing or another. However, he was starting in the pro bowl game in 2012...just seems odd that you go from one of the best in your position to a back up in a year's time, regardless of age. That just seems like too big of a drop off. Not sure what happened though.
I have serious doubts that The Texans with Smith and Kubiak will ever rebuild. They can't afford a non playoff year. They miss the playoffs and they lose their jobs. Patchwork is what you'll get to keep this team battle fighting. the smart thing to do is rebuild around those two while they are young but I don't see it happening.
When you're the number 1 starting CB, it usually does though. Making it as a back up or alternate, then I agree, might not be that great of an accomplishment (even though it still means that you got in ahead of about 40 other starting CBs). In any case, Woodson was the top CB in the NFC that season...or at least, one of the best ones, without question.
Yes, the smart thing would absolutely be to rebuild a 12-4 team..... McNair has repeatedly held the Steelers, who've had three head coaches in my lifetime, as the model for his franchise. I think the Texans will be playoff-caliber for a few more years and Kubiak/Smith will have absolutely earned the right to rebuild the team. Love or hate Kubiak, he turned an overrated 2-14 team into a pretty frisky 8-8 team in 2 seasons. At this point in his career, other than guiding them 8 games without Schaub last year, that's probably the highlight of his coaching career. He can rebuild.
I would really like to be a fly on the wall at Reliant. The Texans have done nothing but lose players (I am not saying they should have over paid Casey or Barwin) but they have added no one at all and more and more quality free agents are going for pennies to other organizations. How long do they intend to wait on Reed? This is getting out of hand. At some point you make a deal for a safety, sign one or increase your offer marginally to Reed to get the position solidified to have the ability to move on. Right now the Texans deserve a "D" for this off season (Not an "F" because atleast they didnt resign Barwin).
We're going to need another safety by 2014 either way. Manning's deal is done after this year and he showed clear signs of decline last year.
Everyone needs to relax. They were 12-4! Their losses haven't been significant, nor have they seen their peers in the AFC get appreciably better. Denver had that claim until losing Dumervil. The Patriots lost their best WR, replacing him with an injury-waiting-to-happen; the Ravens are dismantling their team; the Steelers, as usual, are very quiet, the Bengals might be losing Andre Smith... Take as look at the teams making the most noise - they're generally inferior teams: Arizona, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansass City, Miami... Last year, it was Buffalo, Tampa Bay... SF and Seattle are pretty rare exceptions - but then, combined, they're paying what look to be franchise-level QBs pennies so they have a TON of cash.
Is this current team capable of going to the Super Bowl as-is? No. I'm all for making the playoffs, but this team is just like the Falcons/Chargers in that they'll never get over the hump of beating the top tier AFC until they get more weapons/upgrades. Andre's not getting any younger. It's all about winning now. What they do in the post season is what is going to be judged, not regular season records. The Patriots are already proven. The Ravens are already proven. The Steelers are already proven. The Broncos can be regarded as the favorite in the AFC right now with their pieces even with their loss of Dumervil. The Bengals don't matter.