If The Texans let Mario Williams walk . . . Where does he go?

Jacksonville Jaguars

 

As good as he was at OLB, I think Mario would be best as a 3-4 DE. He's the best bull-rusher in the league, he's plenty good against the run, and his weakness (lack of moves) would be minimized.
So, that being said, I think a team with an owner with a penchant for the big splashy free agent hires would pick him up. Namely, the Dallas Cowboys.

 

Unless I read the new CBA wrong, I believe it's no longer the 20% raise when it comes to the franchise tag, but simply the average of top player over the past 5 years.

In which case, I see no situation in which the Texans don't franchise Mario or Foster. While outright resign the other. Whoever's left will then be traded away from likely a 1st round pick if not more. Personally, I think Mario gets the tag and the sign&trade or however the NFL work this. Save money, get a pick, and use extra cap space to get a top receiver. There will be plenty of big name FA receivers next year. Many IMO will not get franchised.

 

I think you read the CBA wrong. You can download a pdf of the cba at nflplayers.com, and on page 49 it says a one year salary of the "cap percentage average of the five largest prior year salaries for players at the position" or "120% of the player's prior year salary", whichever is greater.

 

I would like to see the Texans run a 3-4 with:

Smith Watt Mario
Reed Cushing Ryans Barwin

For a game or two. Reed has made it beyond obvious he needs to start. Resign Mario and put the best 7 guys out there.

 

Okay. Nevermind. Then I'm curious if the Texans have enough workable cap or flexible enough to tag him. Otherwise, it would make more sense for him to resign and Foster to get the tag. Both players have capable backups. And I'm not sure it's a good idea to keep both when there are plenty of holes elsewhere.

 

Foster deserves the raise. Williams will be coming off an injury and will have only shown a few quarters as a 3-4 OLB. As far as flexibility, they might cut Ryans.

 

Work out a 4-5 year deal with Foster that is cap friendly the first year, and relies on the expected revenue/cap jump in the near future.

Franchise Mario, with the intention of keeping him....but if an NFC team comes knocking with two good first rounders........well......

I wear a #90 jersey to the games (happily splurged on an authentic #99 this year), I like him, you like him.

Mario has demonstrated that he is a 50 tackle, 10 sack per year man, that has been hampered by minor injuries off and own during his career.

Reed, starting with the Raiders game, is on a 66 tackle, 13 sack full season pace. Barwin is on a 38 tackle, 7 sack pace.

It'd be great to keep Mario....but he isn't the beginning and end of this defense. I want him to stay...but two first rounders from a below average team is tough to turn down. No way to anyone in the AFC, and not worth it for poor first rounders (say, from SF or NYG).

I saw the blurb whispering that Wade's staff wasn't keen on Ryans as a ILB in their system....but I have the worst time seeing them cut a guy of his caliber. His chemistry with Cushing is as good as it gets, his nose for the ball is first rate, and the depth behind him is non-existent.

Wade won't have the luxury of having 7 draft choices and a pot of gold for FAs this upcoming offseason. He's spent his start up funds. If you need to rework his contract, okay, but cutting Ryans would be foolish, IMO.

 

Lance had an interview with SI's Peter King and one of the topics discussed was signing Arian and Mario in the offseason. It was King's opinion to sign Mario first and let Arian walk if he demands too much (>8.5M). His reasoning being Mario's talents are harder to find than Arian's. No mentioning of franchise tags or Mario's injury history, though I don't know why.

Lance and King Starts at the 12:30 mark.

Nice, where'd you get an authentic Watt jersey? Customized?