You mean the Bears, who don't have to pay a first round or second round player salaries this year nor the Gaines Adams 6yr/42 million dollar contract due to his tragic death? Or the Lions, probably the worst case of mismanagement in the NFL and their splash signings of KVB and Nate Burleson?! And if there is a potential of a highly probable lockout in 2011 with no football, do you think owners are really going to want to front load a contract paying guys like Michael Jordan for 25 million for one season? This is officially DAY THREE of free agency. How long did it take Morey to pull off that Kevin Martin deal? They were at that for weeks IIRC. Just because nothing is official doesnt mean they aren't working. Were there reports of the Boldin trade or the Cromartie trade days before they happened? No...they basically came out of nowhere. Did those deals formulate an hour before they happened? No...the teams were working behind the scenes, and that could have been for weeks. If you want a list of the guys that are left, scroll up at one of my previous posts. A couple more names that have been tied to the Texans, CB Leigh Bodden and OL Wade Smith both need positions.
We lost Chester Pitts and Dunta Robinson so we need to add some depth to one of these positions during free agency. If not we're just spinning our wheels drafting replacements. Drafting players to fill needs due to players you lost in free agency is good if you're a 12-4 team, but when you're 9-7 it sucks.
I guess we didn't get the memo that the season starts tomorrow. OL Wade Smith was suppose to have a press conference yesterday at noon and that didn't happen, so he may not have signed and still could come in for a visit. Cornerback Leigh Bodden is meeting with the Texans today. Its the only team he will have met with so far, hopefully he doesnt leave Houston without a contract
Wade Smith met with the Bills yesterday but did not sign with them. He flew to Houston yesterday afternoon. I think the Texans are meeting with him today.
nevermind i found it. the chronicle is reporting that smith is flying in today and meeting with the texans tomorrow. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/6901465.html
Quote: It's something that would seem like a good idea at first, but there's drawbacks that keep some balance in contracts. Teams don't want a player to flame out or eat himself out of the league after already paying 75% of the money in the first year. A front loaded contract takes away the cash incentive for a player to really keep his heart in and even though the player already made his money early he won't remember 4 years into the contract and his agent will be wispering in his ear to holdout. It's sad but many players are very concerned about making theirs and the money is important to them. Since the NFL doesn't have guaranteed contracts, a contract can be pretty well balanced to be in line with a player's performance, if the player falters, the team can cut the player not having to pay for unmet expectations. Pay as you go you could call it. Now for guaranteed money, the players/agents are the ones who would want it spread out while the team would like the guaranted money up front. The agent wants to make sure his client keeps his roster spot and making sure the player is promised money throughout the contract increases the chances of the player seeing most of the contract's total value.
No Bodden now so back to complaining. WTF Texans. This was supposed to be the year to take that final step. Add one additional piece to get us over the hump. We suck again.
I don't understand all the outrage and quite frankly, the idea that the texans are doing "nothing" is ridiculous. Do you honestly think that the texans are just sitting around reliant and twidling their thumbs? They tried to jump on a CB early and although it seems that fell through, you really have no idea if he was ever really interested in signing here...it could have just been a negotiating tool.
that could certainly be argued. that said, not doing well and "doing nothing" are mutually exclusive.
FTW! Air: No one is saying that the Texans have done great in free ageny...they havent done very good at all. But for people to say that the texans arent doing anything is just over the top. Especially since there was a guy just in town negotiating a contract.
Heck, there were 2 guys here. I can think of 25 teams that havent "done anything" so far in free agency.
I'd like to clarify my position in all this: I don't make "oh no" threads or posts regarding activity on the GARM - because I've come to trust that Morey (and Dawson before) knows what he's doing. There's a track record. Sometimes things didn't work out, but for the past two decades, Les and his front office made things happen. Then I look at the Astros, throwing idiotic money around and making dumb moves like they were blindfolded (Tejada, Jennings, trading Wheeler instead of Lidge and then moving Lidge for no value, etc). I look at the Texans, even past the Casserly era, and likewise see spinning wheels - Myers, Molden, Barber, Orlovsky + Grossman, Okoye, Ferguson, Bennett, Weaver, Reeves, Green, Chris Brown, etc. There have been several hits (Schaub, Walter, Ryans, Cushing, etc) but it's been 50-50 or so (which beats the pants of Casserly era's 10-90 ratio). I don't care about Pitts walking. I don't mind Dunta walking at all if we had to match the Falcon's offer. I have very little faith in our successfully signing a free agent that will make our team better as opposed to simply being a warm body. Walter and Pollard remain the only real wins in that category, in my book. Schaub as the only good trade I'm aware of. I'm sorry, I'm cynical. The Texans may bang out a home run this offseason. But In my opinion, that hinges almost entirely upon the quality of their draft.
If any fanbase is gonna complain about the offseason, it is certainly Charger fans. What's going on out there?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We have realeased: Jamal Williams (who signed with the Donkeys), Ladainian Tomlinson, Michael Bennett, Kassim Osgood (ST) traded Cromartie for practically nothing (i was all for it though). That's five (yes count em') past pro bowlers who add to 13 pro bowl appearances.. and yesterday we signed Marcus Mason....
