given how many players will need to get paid soon (Watson, Fuller, Merc, Cunningham), we were never going to be able to afford Clowney
I’m not surprised that Bill O’Brien is stupid enough to tell Clowney he was going to trade him before reporting. Also not shocked to hear that Clowney was lazy enough to not realize he needs to put in extra work.
Consider the outrage if he didn't. This is a dumb take, there is no reason to NOT tell him and good reasons TO tell him if that were the case.
What? You think it was a good idea to tell Clowney he was going to be traded before he reported to camp? The Texans have a GM opening with your name written all over it.
I believe it could have been. Clowney priced himself out of the team's plans, so it would be in the best interest of Clowney for the team to tell him that and it appears that they did. I see nothing stupid there. What is stupid was Clowney reacting the way he did. All this is faux outrage that would have come regardless of what was said prior to the trade. Fans here love to complain.
It doesn't matter. They still will rid themselves of the salary. They can do a lot with the cap space No player of Clowney's caliber was on the market
Of course it was in the best interest of Clowney to tell him he was going to be traded. Was it in the best interest of the team? Not really. Not if you wanted to control the destination of where you traded him. Or you end up taking a third round pick for him and shuttle him off to Seattle. Regardless of whether or not there would have been better offers, I don’t think O’Brien knew what he was doing. As far as faux outrage, I’d have to care enough to begin with to be outraged by anything the Texans do. The Texans have been a mediocre franchise since inception. Complaining is warranted.
Unless you think that treating players with respect is in the best interest of the team, and then it is. You're assuming that the crappy trade value was a result of the team doing right by the player when it was not. The trade value was destroyed because Clowney was a childish a-hole after being treated with respect by the team. Clowney destroyed his own trade value and did so deliberately, then people buy into his BS spin on what transpired. That is purely hindsight analysis motivated by a typical forum agenda. Had the team shipped Clowney without first telling him, the knee-jerk would have been far worse and would have been justified. Well you don't care enough to think about it objectively, that much is clear.