antonio could easily be let go next year. hes getting old, his production is down, and he makes a whole lot of money. jamison just got extended so he can be that guy they look to takeover or through the draft. demeco was let go with even less of a clear cut guy who would takeover. winston and briesel were cap casualties and with guys like cushing, barwin and quin becoming FA's, the texans will need to make room.. idk if antonio is eligible to restructure, but something will be done..
Production dow, where? He is on pace to meet up with his normal career if not surpass career highs in tackles and sacks. Cushing really isn't going to be up until after next season, Barwin, Casey and Quin are concerns but I doubt they let Smith go. Crick and Jaimson are good but I can't see either of them ready yet to replace Smith's production and leadership.
Antonio provides valuable leadership and superbowl experience to our team. And people forget that he draws double teams on the line too, he's perfect for what we do defensively. So i do think we keep antonio and infact i think he'd be willing to restructure and take a pay cut so we can add/keep some players in future seasons. Good 4-3 ends are hard to come by. You can replace a linebacker and get adequate production on our team but if watt or smith went down our defense will be in some deep trouble.
