Ryan Mallett named the Texans starting quarterback

If we get 9 to 10 wins and he plays well you've got to pay him. It's a QB driven league and if we don't pay him somebody else will.

 

well, a nice example is Matt Flynn that only needed 1 game before getting a bigger contract.

or even kevin kolb only needed 4 or 5 nice games with the eagles, to get a starting job.

im glad keenum played more than 3 games, if not the texans could have gave him a contract extension.

 

Correct... all examples of mistakes as well.

Not saying that if the Texans don't franchise him, that they should hand him a blank check... just saying that giving a guy $18 million dollar guaranteed deal for 1 year, just to "further evaluate him" is likely not going to be necessary to keep him.

And if they get into a "bidding war" with another team desperate enough to throw stupid guaranteed money at somebody after only 7 games... let him go and go groom Savage or a drafted QB to take over.

 

I'm not very savvy with NFL's salary cap machinations, but what happens if we franchise him? Doesn't it buy us time to evaluate him for a year without committing long term? What are the negative repercussions?

 

That would make really overpaid for one season. It would be the avg of the top 5 QB salaries in the league, which is a lot obviously.

I didn't think we could franchise him anyway.

 

Seems a little early to make any declarative statements. If his next six weeks look like his first week, the Texans are going to have a very difficult decision to make - and Ryan Mallett, a 26-year old QB with a solid seven weeks to sell to 31 other teams, is going to hold all the cards.

 

Let him.

If its "this" easy to get an all-world QB up to speed and have him excel, perhaps they can get somebody else via the draft, or get Savage up to that level.

My point is that they'll likely be able to not only hang on to him, but not be tied into a long-term cap crippling deal... all while not having to commit $18 million dollars of guaranteed money via the franchise tag.

 

assuming he continues to impress then it wasn't easy at all. he sat for 3 years behind tom brady and worked under his current head coach for a couple of those years. there are no shortcuts for that type of development. if that is the formula then savage will be good in 3 or 4 years. of course he isn't sitting behind brady and who knows if BOB will still be here in 3 or 4 years. plus savage is kinda old for a rookie.

best point i can make is there isn't a formula for finding a great qb. colts and seahawks were lucky, one lucky they tanked the year luck came out and the other straight luck that wilson is the player he is. brady in the 6th and the countless other examples of both hits and misses proves there is no formula. since there is no formula, if you find a good/great qb you don't let them go.

All that said it's still to early to tell. My hope is either Mallet is a huge hit or huge bust, nothing in between. I don't want QB Purgatory Hell...

 

Why wouldn't we be able to franchise him? And for one year, I don't see the issue. Franchising him wouldn't even hold us back from drafting a QB early next year. By franchising him, you'd limit your cap space for one season, but that's literally the most important position on the field, and if you have a chance at assessing a potential franchise QB, you take it.

 

Finding a good QB is not easy, as evidenced by the number of teams that spin their wheels for years or decades looking for one. $18MM for one year is a small, low-risk price to pay if they believe - but are not sure - that they have found one. If they decide he is their solution, then signing him to a big LT deal the following year is not cap crippling because every good long-term team will have a QB on that type of contract.

 

If a player is slapped with the franchise tag does it count against the cap...?

 

That would be a pretty big cap hit, I'm not sure we'd want to go that route.

 

What are your alternatives? You're not going to win without a good QB, so unless you have a Plan B for getting a good, cheap QB, there's nothing else that you can spend that money on next year that will help the team any more than a good QB would. It would be a concern to commit long term money to a relative unknown, but one year? That's arguably the smartest route to go to evaluate someone.

 

For a team with a lot of needs, you pretty much cripple flexibility for next year with his salary. (in addition to virtually assuring that you have to cut Johnson, likely cut Foster, likely cut Cushing...). I don't believe having Mallett, but getting worse everywhere else, makes this team a for-sure contender.

You can count on one hand the number of QB's that received either mega deals or were franchised after just half a season (or less).. and you cannot name a situation where it worked out for either party long term.

I'm not saying to just simply let him go... just that its highly likely he'll be able to be retained (if he is the solution) at a non franchise QB rate, and with a contract that is flexible enough to still allow the team to fill other needs.

 

Yes... but you can exceed the cap if you have the initial space.

IOW, they'd still have to make some cuts to accommodate him... and likely lose other players that they "could" franchise if they didn't have to franchise him (Kareem Jackson, for example).

 

There's no way that anyone will pay nearly $20 million just to evaluate an unknown for one season. There's nothong at all smart about that.

 

What would the team have to give up to create that space though?

 

They got him for virtually nothing... and it happened to coincide that he came into a system he already had experience in.

That's what I was referring to as it was "easy"... I'm not saying he's lucky, or a flash in the pan, or doesn't have a great pedigree to lead to success. He does.

At the same time, however, the Texans cannot commit stupid guaranteed money to him if they get into some sort of mythical bidding war (which I still don't think will happen).... it would be equivalent (or worse) to them extending Schaub after a season ending injury. Its NEVER WORKED... despite several examples of this exact situation happening.

If they're satisfied with him being their future QB, I'm sure they'll be able to work out something non cap-crippling and with a degree of flexibility to continue to address the other needs.... and if they can't, move on (hell, Hoyer will be available... has had experience in the system.... and they're not both going to go for stupid money, are they?... and there's still Savage, and there's still the draft).

 

I think you're right here - and that's a good option for the Texans if it presents itself. I was more coming from the situation where someone else is willing to offer a big deal, in which case the Texans' options are franchising him or letting him go and starting over again.

I don't disagree with this either. But I think without Mallett (assuming he's any good), the Texans will not be good regardless unless there's a good, cheap QB option out there. So for a one-year deal, it would be between maybe contending vs definitely not contending.

Given 3 more games against Jax/Tenn, the Texans don't appear like they'll be in the mix for any top-tier QBs next year, so any draft option that's available will probably be a work-in-progress, and any free agent would probably be Fitz quality.

 

Again, if your alternative is to suck, what is the harm? If Savage is any good, or if there is some magic FA out there, or if a great QB somehow falls to the middle of the 1st round, that's a different story. But if your alternative is to waste another year with a middling QB, why not spend the money on a 1-yr QB deal? Nothing else you can spend the money on will have as big an impact as a good QB vs a Fitz QB.