Just heard Lance Z on the twitch say that a GM out there (who is potentially going to interview) has the Texans job as the worse GM job available (including Jets, Lions, Falcons, Jags). He brought up the problem of no cap, no 1st or 2nd round pick, but worse is that they only got 3 year deals out of Watson and Tunsil while paying them at the top of the market. At a minimum, should have been a 5 year deal.
Watson signed a 4 year deal which puts him under contract for the next 5. Outside of Mahomes, I don’t know of any QB that is currently under contract for longer than that. I like Zurlein but he’s been pushing this story for quite some time now. Maybe it’s true but don’t see a potential GM candidate truly griping about having Watson for 5 years instead of 6. Also for the money, I’m not entirely sure I would want to committed to Tunsil for that long. He is good and as important as the position is, think we have overinflated value based on the horrid OL coaching under Devlin. We currently have three 1st round picks (2 for Tunsil, 1 for Howard), two 2nd round picks (Martin, Sharping), and a Top 20 paid OG invested in the OL. And we are still dead last in rushing yards and will give have given up 40+ sacks for the 4th year in a row. Our ROI on OL has been absolute garbage under Devlin.
Especially since he's flat-out ignoring it's the length of the contract + 2 franchise tags, at minimum. So they will have him at least five years, right? The Texans' GM job is not optimal: you're going to be under intense pressure to build around Watson immediately with limited resources. But it's essentially, like, one year of probation. After this year, you'll have your full compliment of picks and, likely, a normal cap. And you have assets that might fetch some draft capital this year. GM and head coach are evaluated differently - a head coach is immediately tied to the franchise QB; the GM not as directly (though building around a bust of a QB is nearly impossible). And that's what generally sinks a GM - drafting the wrong QB. Maybe the Jets + Lawrence is a lay-up for the GM and, thus, a better job. But inheriting Watson buys that GM a TON of space because they can't f up the most important part of their job.
I was listening to Charlie Pallilo and Joel Blank yesterday talk about this subject and they made an interesting observation. Their point was that while 2020 is a (yet) another "lost" season for the Texans, they don't expect 2021 to be any better and that will be another year flushed down the crapper that is Houston pro football. In 2021, you'll have a new coaching staff and GM and front office (save for the evil Easter Bunny behind the scenes) but they'll have very little in the way of quality players (sayonara JJ) to improve this team's performance on the field. Thanks to the actions of ol' Butt Chin, the evil EB and the Bob & Cal Show, this roster is in critical need of a major overhaul just to be competitive in their division let alone the AFC. Unfortunately, that won't be possible in 2021 given their CAP status, lack of draft picks (Miami says "thanks again") and player issues (i.e. bunch of dudes who can't play). That is simply too much to overcome for a new coaching staff given the limited resources at their disposal. So they expect more of the same with Watson doing all he can to keep the team afloat only to fall short and experience another wasted year.
Lance knows what he’s talking about. Deshaun can opt out in 3 years, which he will likely do, and get a new deal. I believe under the new CBA, once Deshaun signed his new deal, he is no longer eligible to be franchise tagged.
I am. Purely because he has been on record saying Saleh, Bienemy, and Daboll are the top coaching candidates and I trust his input to at least help get the coaching hire right. He has a lot of connections and every time I’ve heard him speak he is very insightful about talent evaluation during the draft and seems like a guy who won’t give out contracts to “S.T.D” (smart, tough, dependable) players just to reward them for practicing hard and showing up for meetings. The mercilus contract is disgusting, Cobb contract makes me sick to my stomach, Eric Murray? Wtf. Oh and of course the hopkins trade. Louis Riddick would be a great hire imo and would bring in the right people to get this franchise headed in the right direction
Hiring from the saints organization could be a x-factor. Ive have really liked Pete Carmichael for years but doubt it.
