http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3157956 Payne, Carr view recent moves as business lesson By JOSEPH DUARTE Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle The aftershocks of a busy offseason are being felt, if not heard, at Reliant Park. "This is the first year the team has had to make some very tough decisions," nose tackle Seth Payne said Wednesday night before the inaugural Houston Football Dinner at the JW Marriott. "If there was anybody on this team that didn't realize the reality of life in the NFL, they do now. I don't think (the Texans' front office) was trying to send a message, but a message got sent. No job is safe." In the past six weeks, the defensive unit has endured the brunt of the offseason moves with a drastic makeover that included the departure of four starters from a year ago. Inside linebacker Jay Foreman and strong safety Eric Brown were the first to be released in mid-March, and leading tackler Jamie Sharper was granted his release April 1. The latest casualty was former Pro Bowl cornerback Aaron Glenn, who was released Tuesday and signed a two-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys a day later. The message: the honeymoon is over after the Texans finished 4-12, 5-11 and 7-9 in their first three seasons. Glenn, an 11-year veteran, became expendable after the Texans orchestrated a pre-draft trade to acquire Phillip Buchanon from the Oakland Raiders. More than anything, Texans players attending Wednesday's banquet to honor the area's top high school, college and pro football talent said Glenn's presence as a team leader would be felt the most. "You just can't replace experience like that," quarterback David Carr said. "You can't replace a guy like that. You can try and do the things he did and try and lead by example, but there's no way you can replace him." Carr said this is the business side of the NFL he rarely has seen in his pro career. "(Aaron) told me this happens to everyone," Carr said. "He was really down to earth about it. Just the way he handled things, the class that he showed, didn't shock me at all. Aaron Glenn is one of my good friends. Ever since I've been here he's been great for me as far as a leader. He's been a guy I could look up to and see how to do things." Pro Bowl wide receiver Andre Johnson (Texans' Most Valuable Player), cornerback Dunta Robinson (Texans' Rookie of the Year), Carr (Mickey Herskowitz Award) and Payne (Ed Block Courage Award and the Spirit of the Bull Award) were honored at the banquet, sponsored by EV1.net in conjunction with the Touchdown Club of Houston.
I hope ths moves don't cause too much discontent with the players. If they want to see why teams have to make these tough decisions, just look at the New England Patriots. They make these decisions all the time.
I hope that the players see alot of this for what it is -- Glenn, Sharpier, and Foreman were all released after asking for it when they felt the Texans were no longer enamoured with them. The reason those three aren't with the team has almost as much to do with the players themselves as with the team.
Glenn and Sharper were acquired in the expansion draft. I didn't see them playing long term for the Texans anyway.
'better' is a comparative. As in good, better, best. When has there been a 'good' O-Line in Texans Land?
The O-line is only intact because they can't upgrade it. Remember when they tried to sign Pace? Obviously Casserly wants to upgrade it. But how? He obviously didn't think Barron would be an improvement, or he would've picked him. 2nd-3rd round O-linemen in this year's draft would not have been better than anything we have. The FA/trade market for O-linemen this year has been terrible to say the least. CC's decision is based on his options.
Besides, last year the Texans installed a new blocking scheme with 3 players at new positions. You don't excell in this situation overnight. It may be the middle of next year before we start to reap the benifits.
I read a quote about Alex Barron that said he would play in the league 10yrs but people would be upset with him every one of those days.That may be why all the teams passed on him in the draft.
