If you are the GM, what are your plans for the Texans next year?

Its easy to go back and say how they should have drafted after the fact. However I did tell my friends at the time that the Texans should get Willie Roaf in the expansion draft and then pick up McKinnie in the first round. I thought Bosselli was done. They were arguing for Carr. I thought he was going to get killed behind a weak O-line and they should draft a worse QB later in the draft.

It seems to happen time and again that bad teams draft skill position player and remain bad teams because their lines suck.

 

I like your post except that Buffalo and the Jets ARE NOT gonna trade for a quarterback. I quit reading it after you said that. Chad Pennington is going NOWHERE, and the Bills seem to be sold on Losman. I know that they definitely aren't going to give up on him after 3 games.

 

I'm getting sick of these calls for the Texans to move, even if they are laced with sarcasm. The Texans are horrible no doubt, and they must clean house but I am still glad to have them. Who was happy when the Oilers left? We wanted another team and we got one, it has been mismanaged and needs to be fixed. But I still want them here.

 

Reggie Bush wouldn't play any better than DD with this team. Hell, you could put Shaun Alexander on this team and we'd still suck.

We have WWAAYY bigger holes to fill than picking up another RB. The Texans would be idiots if they passed up a guy like D. Ferguson for skill players. Look at what Jones did for Seattle lastnight, he manned the OL and physically manhandled anyone that came his way.

 

this is pretty interesting...
http://www.houstonprofootball.com/scout/scout119.html
October 17, 2005
The Philly Loophole
by Keith Weiland
HoustonProFootball.com

The Texans’ fourth season in existence is all but lost. Opening with five losses in as many tries, there are going to be several key members of this staff and front office that will soon find themselves extinct, making Reliant Park look a bit more like Jurassic Park by the end of the year.

Ah, but there is something trapped deep within the DNA code of the salary cap rules of the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Something that can give new life to this franchise.

Something called the Philly Loophole.

But more on that in a minute. I’ve got to set up the backstory first before I let you see what these dinosaurs can do in the climax.

Quarterback and hair model David Carr sits on the brink. A couple years ago, his performance triggered an option in his rookie deal to accelerate his salaries and expedite his contract expiration so it could terminate after the 2005 season.

Of course, the milestone caught no attention in the media because the contract also allowed the Texans to counter Carr’s action with one of two buyback options by the end of this season, one that would trigger an $8 million bonus and a three-year extension at salaries of $5.25 million in 2006 and 2007 and $6 million in 2008. The other, a two-year version, would give Carr a $5.5 million bonus and salaries of $5 million in 2006 and $5.25 million in 2007.

Things were going along as planned with Carr’s contract, much the same way they seemed to have been with the franchise itself through the first three seasons. The decision for the Texans to exercise their buyback option on Carr’s contract was more than just a foregone conclusion before the season. When I asked general manager Charley Casserly about it, he confirmed that he was keeping an extra $2 million in cap space available this season to take advantage of prorating that three-year option bonus across a fourth year.

Then came the horrid start to this season. Despite the losses and the subpar quarterback play on the field, Casserly and the Texans remain adamant to this day that Carr is - and will be - the future of this franchise. There is ample reason to believe him. While the coaches may change over the years, the core of key players often remains.

Yet, the Texans aren’t obligated to exercise that buyback option. Failing a trade before Tuesday’s deadline (don’t count on it), Carr and the Texans could amicably part ways after the season is over. Carr can become an unrestricted free agent and take what the market will give him (which is likely to exceed a three-year contract for an $8 million bonus), and the Texans can absorb exactly $0 in salary cap ramifications.

But here’s an idea if the Texans aren’t willing to say goodbye to Carr and all that hair just yet: renegotiate the buyback option.

Depending on who you ask, the Texans have somewhere in the neighborhood of $4.5 million to $7.8 million of cap space remaining this season, the latter figure reported by ESPN.com a month ago, which ranked the team as having the second-most available cap space in the league. By simply exercising the buyback before the end of the season, the Texans will still have $5.8 million of cap room left unused according to ESPN’s figures.

Restructuring the contract could allow the team to accelerate some of those bonus and/or salary dollars to this year’s cap. It could also allow the team to – big climaxing music here - actually create additional cap space in 2006.

Which brings us back to the Philly loophole.

Here’s how it works: Any incentive bonus added to a contract after the season has started is deemed as “likely to be earned” (“LTBE” in the NFL’s abbreviated nomenclature) no matter how unlikely it is for that bonus to be achieved. And if any of those LTBEs are not earned by the end of the season, those amounts get added as extra cap room for the following season.
[funny pic of laura dern]

If it sounds like a huge freaking loophole, that’s because it is. I told Laura Dern about this a week ago, and she still has this look on her face. Yes, Laura, there is a trick: those LTBEs have to fit under the current year’s cap first, which is why not every team in the league can do this. Ever hear of the saying that “It takes money to make money”? Well, the same applies here, except that it takes cap room this year to make cap room next year.

It’s called the Philly Loophole because the Eagles (who are, not surprisingly, the ONLY team with more cap space right now than the Texans) first took serious advantage of this gap in the salary cap rules a couple years ago by granting a small-time player a new contract after the season had started, one with a multi-million dollar incentive only an every-down player could ever achieve.

Several teams have taken advantage of this loophole since, including the divisional rival Jaguars. They wrote in a $6 million incentive late last season for third-string quarterback Quinn Gray, payable if he were to lead the team in touchdown passes. As if, right?

(And try forgetting for a moment that it was the Texans who first let the Jaguars out of cap hell in the first place to write such an incentive when they took Tony Boselli, Gary Walker, and Seth Payne in the expansion draft, thereby making the Philly Loophole all the more possible for them.)

With the introduction of a few likely to be earned incentives that Carr would have no way of achieving in 2005, the Texans can also create some additional cap room for next season. Carr would agree to it because he still makes the same amount of money (possibly more in a renegotiated deal), and it helps his team at the same time.

So it’s about time for the Texans to spare no expenses before it’s too late. Carr’s buyback option is the perfect opportunity to do it. Adding about $4 million worth of special teams incentives in Carr’s renegotiated deal ought to do the trick. Doing so would allow the team to reap the benefits of a lost season beyond just a high pick in next April’s college draft.

Keith Weiland is simply saying that life finds a way.

 

I don't know how deep you can go at this point but three things are self-evident:
a) Casserly is a poor judge of talent and has done a crappy job of trying to outthink other GM's (ie Buchanon, Greenwood, Babin) while they snooker us into deals with multiple high draft choices
b) He and Capers have not been able to consistently build via the formula that was put into place (the draft, poorly analyzed), nor Capers motivate with his Dale Carnegie approach
c) Since the off-seasson, players have been looking over their shoulders knowing that they will be expendable before the front office (ie Glenn, Sharper, J.J., Miller) to the degree that you couldn't drive a broom straw up their asses with a sledge hammer. They're gripping and will continue to do so.
We have waited four years to contend and they're playing worse than Year One. The only solution is to bring in a staff that can use what's usable and trade for the rest. As much as I hate him and his Cowgirls, it's worked for Parcells.

 

1. Revamp the whole coaching staff... I think we all agree on that one.

2. I'd keep Carr. I like his athleticism, attitude, and gun for an arm. Lets give him a chance behind a good O-Line.

3. Attempt to sign the top O-Lineman in the offseason. I like how we were trying to get Pace, eventhough he was just using us for more money. At least the Texans showed they're trying.

4. Attempt to sign the top linebacker in the offseason. Losing Sharper was huge and a big mistake!

5. Now here's the tricky part. I don't keep up with college football that much, so I don't know much about the talent. But if there's a sure-fire star at offensive tackle (like a Walter Jones, Willie Roaf, or Orlando Pace)... then its a no-brainer. Pick him to be our anchor at left tackle for many years.

If that guy doesn't exist, see what kind of trade value Domanick Davis is. If we can get another 1st rounder or an All-Pro O-lineman, then I say we trade him and draft Reggie Bush. Using the extra 1st rounder for the best OL available.

If no sure-first start at left tackle, or poor value for DD, then attempt to trade down for more picks... I'm sure there are teams looking to move up to grab Leinart or Bush. Then use the top two picks to get the best O-lineman available.

 

People like Reggie Bush don't come around too often -- he's a difference maker, something DD is not. I'd look long and hard at nabbing him if he's available.

 

I agree. And if DD can rush for 130 yards with our offensive line, then Bush can run for 200+ and return kicks/punts.

 

don't do anything until you're convinced you've adequately addressed the OL situation. and then do one more thing to improve it before taking the next step.

and then address the defensive line. and when you think you might be able to force just one fumble next season...or when you think you might pressure a QB more than once a game...then do one more thing to improve it before taking the next step.

and if your offseason ends before you get to the next step. oh, well. you can address the rest later. take care of the trenches first.

 

The good news is that, as bad as the Texans are, their problems are easy to fix.

First, you get the top pick in the draft and then trade down to take the best offensive lineman on the board. Let someone else take a flashy QB or RB. We already have good (though not great) guys locked in at those positions, and depth behind them. An OL may not generate headlines, but he'll control the line of scrimage and make everyone else look better.

Next, I use my 2nd pick to take another OL. Yes, our offensive line is that bad and need that much help. Go out and get you a couple of cornerstones.

Then, I use the rest of my picks, and any cap space I have, to get defensive linemen. The DL line is our next biggest problem after the OL. Besides, you'll need more linemen when we switch to the 4-3 after...

Finally, clear out Capers and the whole front office. Whatever the plan was, it didn't work, so they've got to be held accountable. You are essentially starting over, so why not start fresh?

Hey, you've got Carr, Davis, Johnson, Robinson, Peek - you've got some good pieces, so these past four years haven't been a total loss. And the NFL is all about parity, so I can see the Texans making the playoffs 2 years from now if they get 2 good drafts in a row.