The offensive line is an important part to any team but the line is only as strong as its weakest link. The Texans have a shot at Bosselli, Roaf, and Mathews in the expansion draft. I'd take all three hoping Mathews can give you one or two years before being talked into coaching the line. Convert Roaf (my choice) or Bosselli to left guard. Get a couple of top flite guards/center thru FA/trade. Trade down to #5 and pick up Mike Williams if need be. The Texans should be able to afford a high priced OL since they wouldn't have any vets at other positions. If allowed, I'd pick high priced vets, if another team wanted them, in the expansion draft at other positions and trade them for picks and keep the good talent per dollar players. I'd have concerns trying to develop a QB without a line, but the Texans have the opputunity to have the best line when healthy next year. Running is easier. Passing is easier. It takes time and a lot of good picks or the luck of the Irish to develop a good line quickly. After the first pick which I'd use for an OL, the next 6 or 7 picks (2nd rd, 3rd rd and 4th rd picks) could be used to build a defense. It will be very dificult to become the Rams next year, but the Texans have the chance to grind people next year with a reliable OL and talented defense.
I like your thinking, Joe Joe. That sounds like a good plan to me. I think the O-line is very important to the Texans' future. Let's look at the costs. Cap hit for 2002: LT Tony Boselli - $8,949,332 OT Willie Roaf - $5,004,123 C Bruce Matthews - $5,491,666 That would be $19,445,121 right there for 3 players. That's pretty steep, IMO. I would rather pick up Boselli or Roaf and trade them for more picks (Boselli = easy 1st rounder or possibly more). Then, I'd still take Bryant McKinnie in the draft (he would come much cheaper). Perhaps someone like Buffalo would trade for him. We could use their 1st round pick on John Henderson or Quentin Jammer. Imagine a first round haul of McKinnie and Henderson. Scary.
I know the Bronco board I post on was drooling over the fact that Boselli was available. Without a doubt, almost all of us would give up our first rounder for Boselli. A talent like that is tough to find.
It would be nice to get Mathews but he's a real gamble. No one is certain he is going to play next year. And if he does, how effective will a 19 year veteran be? If he wants to retire in Houston then we should work something out with the Titans. I don't want to waste a pick on Mathews.
trading is easier said than done. now, i'm no cap expert, and i don't know the details of boselli's deal beyond 2002, but as i understand it, if we draft him, we assume his contract in full, as if we gave it to him. so if we were to turnaround and trade him, we'd take the cap hit. that's risky and difficult to do. plus, you have to find a team with $9M to spare -- not too many of them around. another caveat: i think -- think -- boselli only has a year left on his deal. jacksonville's exposing him because they are desperate to get under the cap by march 1 (they're $24M over). if they can't unload salary and/or have to start eating dead money... they'll be in a hole for years. and don't forget: they'll be in our division next year. with all that in mind, do you help them out and then run the risk of boselli walking after only a year (if i'm right about his contract)? i don't know that you do... i only draft boselli if i know he'll be here 3-4 years. the only guy on the list i'm 100-and-10% behind them drafting is sharper, who has 3 or 4 years left for about $11-15M, which is a no-brainer. and they're drafting david carr. at this point, they way they're talking, i would be "crying game" shocked if they didn't.
smokey, doesn't Bruce still live in Houston? Ric, drafting Carr #1? Surely they could trade down and get him?
well, hosuton has to draft either 30 players or 38% of their 2002 salary cap, so there will be some wasted picks. if matthews really does retire, then you can wipe his salary off your cap, so it's win-win for the texans. they get to bring him home, have him retire in houston, then remove his salary from the books. admitedly, i'm a bit a cap moron, but i think i'm right on that.
I think a lot of the old Oilers still own homes in Houston. I heard about the Texans interest in Carr on Fox Sports X-tra on Sunday. He went through I think some psychological testing in the Texans' hotel in Mobile. He said he immediately started clicking with Chris Palmer. If its a QB, I bet its Carr. Unfortunately, I'd rather have Harrington for some reason.
Vecseysux, Mathews isn't a longhaul player so his 5-6 million should be gone in a year or two. His salary slot would then be filled by next year's 1st rd pick making end of the year salary decisions easier. Nuggets4, The question is what would Denver need in return to give up an inexpensive, but tested RB and their pick? Bosseli+???? Gary or Anderson running behind Roaf, Mathews, Mckinnie, +two more talented OL would be a highly effective running game. Get a cheap QB (Major, Blake?) and deep threats and you have a play action passing game. Spend the money on defense. With the Denver pick, I'd take Jammer and move him back to safety. This way you have three corners on the field for a three wideout set.
Ric, If we draft someone to trade, I think it needs to be a "done deal" if possible before the expansion draft.
I have this feeling that Harrington will be a very exciting player. I haven't seen enough of Carr to judge him, but he did light up the MSU defense. Maybe he is good? Joe Joe, I think Jammer will be a top ten pick. Many have speculated Jammer to Dallas at #6. Denver's pick is a mid-first, so I don't think jammer would be there. Now, if Roy Williams were there......
Ric, it might be worth it to pick up Boselli and trade him (yes, taking the cap hit). He would be excellent trade bait. However, we'd 1) have to find a team to trade him to (like you said, not many teams have cap space) and 2) get our money's worth from the trade. If the deal was right, I could see the Texans doing it. Joe Joe, I'd love to pry Olandis Gary and a 1st rounder from Denver... Then again, is Gary just a product of the Denver system? I still say Buffalo (who has the #4 pick) could use Boselli. I'd love to get Henderson or Jammer with that pick. Questions: Are you sure about Carr? How do you know this? What about Harrington? Is McKinnie definitely out as the #1 pick? Why? What about trading down for Carr? In earlier threads, I was advocating taking Keenan McCardell if he was left unprotected. However, after seeing his cap hit for 2002 ($5,315,000), I'm not so sure anymore. That money could be better spent. Besides, Derrick Alexander, who makes $388,750 more, is also available (although he really fell off this year in production). I'd rather have Alexander than McCardell. Then again, this draft is pretty deep in wide receiver, and there are some interesting players available via free agency (like Hines Ward and Germane Crowell)... I can see the Texans picking up some or all of the following players: Boselli ($8,949,332), Roaf ($5,004,123), Sharper ($2,875,000), Kavika Pittman ($2,500,000), Bruce Matthews (great P.R. move - $5,491,666), Jessie Armstead ($5,565,369), Derrick Alexander (possibly - $5,703,750), Freddie Jones (possibly - $4,018,750), Bernardo Harris ($2,656,250), Randall McDaniel (possibly - $2,666,666), and Jamal Anderson (doubtful, but possible - $4,000,000). Reggie McGrew ($1,099,342) is another possibility.
DEFENSE I concur Sharper is a steal and would be a long term fixture-biggest no brainer on the whole list. Darrin Smith or E. Alexander can be had a lower price and isn't bad. Armstead is more but if you got these 3 you would have a fine linebacking core for around 9 mil. Armstead has been a very good player the last 4 years, the question on him is does he have another 3-4 in him, I think he does and might be worth it. Barardo Harris is starting quality for less many money than Armstead and a couple years younger. I think I would take Sharper, Armstead and Alexander and have this the nucleaus of the defense. On the DL, there are some good players but they all seem to start at 3 mil and up. Bringing Kenny Holmes back would seem reasonable considering age/quality. Pittman would be servicable for many years but isn't special, probably worth it though. I don't see any good DT at a decent price/age. When in doubt go with the relative unknown DTs that are for 1.5 mil and less and try to draft heavy on the whole DL. Dave Thomas (steal at 800K, but old) and Robert Tate could be a starting corners for a few years for around 3.5 mil for the pair. Bryant is younger and cheaper than Tate but not as good. Ah, what the heck, take all 3 for a little over 4 mil. Add Teague for less than 1 mil himself and you have a complete secondary now and can work on phasing out Teague and Thomas over the next few years with late 2nd to 3rd+ round picks. ON OFFENSE: There is a lot of potential OL help. Roaf costs half as much as Boselli. I would be inclined to keep only 1 of them (have them physically checked out), perhaps trade the other. There are lots of other OL at more bargan prices to consider (Fricke, Jackson (old but really cheap), McDaniel (old, but maybe), Parker (nay, way too old), and others I haven't heard of but nonetheless are less than 1mil and come off NFL rosters), I can't seem them signing Mathews or Stepnoski at their age/price. I star tackle (Boselli or Roaf) plus quality serviable guys you start replacing in your draft over time would be fine. Detron Smith as a starting FB (800K) is a steal. He is gone. I would like to see if Zeroue or the Rams backup TB become available before picking a tailback to run behind Smith, likewise NE I would think would make available on of their guys (Faulk & Redmon are servicable quick guys, maybe Smith if they don't like his contract). Thus thinking about Jamal or Biak. or JJJ can wait until I see the final options. As for WR/TE, Jones (especially) and McCardell (especially consider because he is good and plays for your direct comp, I also personally think he is a better player than Alexander) are good options. Despite like McCardell playing on a future rival, Sanders is not worth his price. Lockett is a much better deal than Sanders and Walters is very cheap, can be the 4th receiver, and can also play special teams. That leaves you with drafting the 3rd receiver and hopfully having the guy push Lockett to the 3rd slot quickly. Those are my first thoughts anyway.
we'd be taking (at least) a $9M cap hit in 2002; doable, but risky. i'd rather keep boselli if we drafted him, assuming we could have some assurance he'd be around for a few years (ie slapping the franchise tag on him next year, if permissable). boselli should enjoy five more really productive years in this league. OL generally have longer careers and he could move to guard once he lost his step at tackle. am i sure? no, but casserly and palmer are in love with the guy and mcnair has said if they keep the #1 pick, they're taking a QB. i've never thought harrington was as good as carr, never. in fact, i think harrington's a reach in the first round. carr, to me anyway, seems to have it; don't know why, but i just think he's going to be really special. i should probably mention at this point that in 1991, i thought the exact same thing about david klinger after watching him take a beating at a&m. we all thought, "this kid has balls the size of john jenkins' ego." a&m kept hitting him, and he kept getting up and trying again. so, grain of salt warning when i talk about carr. mckinnie has rarely been mentioned; i don't think he's a possibility. carr's having a monster week in mobile and really drawinga lot of attention; i doubt he falls out of the top 5 at this point, possibly not past detroit at 3 (remember, the lions are exposing batch in the expansion draft). the texans' public fetish for carr could be a ploy to force some team to overpay to get the top pick, but i don't think it is. i think they'll sign dilfer (carr's buddy and a fellow bulldog) to mentor carr and to take the pounding the first year or two while carr gets ready.
Is anybody else beginning to feel like this team might actually be good enough to make the playoffs and have a bright future. I am beginning to think that things are falling into place perfectly. It will be very interesting to see what develops over the next couple of months.
PSJ, I am too. I never expected the Texans would get anything from the expansion draft except overpaid backups that would start for the Texans.
