http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1612411 Tight end Billy Miller has reached a verbal agreement with the Texans on a new four-year contract, agent Carl Poston told a Houston television station Tuesday night. Poston wouldn't disclose the value of the contract, KRIV said. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Poston by telephone Tuesday night were unsuccessful. The station quoted league sources as saying the contract was worth $4 million, with a $1 million signing bonus. Miller led the Texans in receptions last year, and caught three passes for 20 yards in the season-opening win over Miami. Texans general manager Charley Casserly declined to comment and Miller was not immediately available.
should i be surprised? i kinda am...they were touting joppru as the TE of the future...do they plan on running 2 TE sets some? neither one is a superb blocker, as i understand it. i don't recall seeing joppru play, though.
Miller may not be a good blocker, and Joppru may be the TE of the future, but everyone forgets that this guy was the leading receiver last year. He is quite a significant cog in the Texans offense, even if he is primarily a receiving TE and not a blocker. It doesn't hurt Carr to have another target to throw to. And having Miller there will only help Joppru's development, IMHO. Way to go Texans!
don't get me wrong...i like billy miller a lot! i mean, he scored the first TD ever...i guess i'm just confused given the talk about joppru.
I think Joppru is out for the year. He got hurt in training camp and had to have surgery. I like Miller as a pass-catching TE. Sort of like a poor mans Shannon Sharpe. He should have caught that TD in Miami though...
Glad to see our first ever 6 point scoring reciever get signed for 4 years! And that should be plenty of "insurance" time for Joppru to heal, and if he pans out, get in some good tutorin' years under Miller... As for Winslow, I think that would change matters entirely in Joppru's case. But, do we really want the prodigy of Shockey in a Texans uni? And, is Winslow all that he's touted to be on the field? I saw him miss a few in that game vs. Miami (Hurricanes) this past weekend. (He definitely is "Junior" from what I've seen.) If our o-line remains as stunningly stellar and perfect in protection of Carr as they were Sunday against Miami (Fins), then maybe some picks we had figured to be used on line could be re-routed to the reciever, or d-back core. Good news though... I'm sure we'll all know when it's been officially inked.
Kellen Winslow, though a good athlete, won't measure up to what his dad was. He's still a little kid who thinks the world owes him a professional sports career. He takes it for granted. Too arrogant, IMHO. I think the Texans would do best to stay away from him and draft in the secondary. After all, Miller is a good TE and from what I've heard, Joppru is pretty good too.
He really dosen't seem arrogant to me. I think he will be a pro bowl tight end. Tommy Harris, Frank Gore, or Sean Taylor would be the best pick for the Texans IMO.
I know that they've said that they intended to run alot more 2 TE sets this year entering camp. Given the salary and his strentgths, I think that Miller is slated as an H-Back/recieving type TE, sort of the TE equivilent of a slot WR. I don't think they expect him to be a starting inline TE in the long run. Keep in mind, 4 year $5mil isn't really all that much as these things go.
Signing Miller to a low contract like this is great. He has the ability to test linebackers. He'll go out a run routes and a linebacker will be there to cover him. This would be great for draw plays and thus, good for the run game. A TE doesn't have to be a great blocker to help the running game. And for the arguments that defenses will just cover him with a safty, I say, "THANK YOU." Our recievers will do great things with one-on-one coverage.