On Dunta... I don't remember what station it was, but I want to say KTRK-13 had a clip of Dunta walking off the field after the Titans win saying something like " '09 Texans baby...watch out for the '09 Texans!". If he were thinking about leaving, I don't think he'd be excited about next years team. It's going to take an extreme low-ball offer for him to leave, and Rick Smith is smarter than that.
I want to share your optimism, but he Dunta was pumped after an awesome win. $$$ speaks infinitely louder than "potential".
Dunta is a rare breed. Believe me. Of course he'll want to get paid but he's not just going to go to the highest bidder like some players. He wants to be here and he wants to win. I'm sure Rick will pay him what he's worth and Dunta (ie his agent) will take a reasonable offer. I'm also not sure he's going to get too many crazy offers either, considering he's still not completely back to form yet nor might he ever be. He's still a good corner even in his current state though.
Even a "good" corner will get overpaid on the free agent market, because teams are always desperate to find a good one because there are so few who are truly great corners. Look at the deals Asante Samuel and Nate Clements have gotten in recent years. Would Dunta Robinson take a 7 year, 10 mil per year + roughly 30 mil guaranteed deal to sign with say...the Lions if the Texans offered considerably less? Would you?
i don't think so... not the lions. he's been one of the few texans who have openly worn their displeasure with losing on their sleeves; i don't think he'd take money to play for a losing franchise. but i agree - he'll want to get paid.
Ok, fair enough, maybe he isn't that much of a money-grabber. But you see the point I've made... There are a lot of teams out there that are willing to throw a lot of money at a guy who can cover...
Did you see him play? He's not a walking injury like Schaub. (was that out loud??) It was a freak incident.
Franchise tag may be the best way to go for the Texans. Test his knee/leg out for another year and see how much he is really worth.
Haynesworth should be target #1 if they have the cap space to do it. If the Texans are going to get squishy about dirty reputations, they should let Alex Gibbs go immediately.
I dont think Haynesworth will be worth the money he'll be signed for any team that signs him. I think he'll play like crap after his long-term deal. Probably doesn't have the will to be great and will take the money and run with it.
I'm a Titans fan and I'm willing to let him go-- too much risk associated with injuries and attitudes.
Yeah, as good as Haynseworth is when healthy, he does seem to be injured a lot. I suppose when you are a dirty player you tend to have a target on your back.
In regards to Haynesworth being dirty and all that, maybe that's something the Texans need. Given all the dirty hits that we seem to be a victim of, and the fact that there usually is NO retaliation of any kind on the field, I would not be surprised if the Texans are regarded as being soft by other NFL teams. Maybe other teams would think twice about going low or late on Schaub if they were genuinely scared of us doing the same to them. Haynesworth is a turd, but I would not mind seeing him in a Texans uniform. The chances of that happening are slim to none, but still....it wouldn't hurt to explore.
Yet he is still better than any other CB we have on this team. If he sat out the entire year, then I'd understand your point. But he came back and played pretty well considering the type of injury he had. His play should only improve from here on out. Unless we are in a position to draft one of the elite CBs in this draft (Malcom Jenkins, Vontae Davis), which it doesn't seem like we are; I say we franchise him. It's a lot of money but letting him walk w/o getting a good replacement would be a HUGE loss for this team IMO. But it may not even come down to that, Dunta will wanna get paid but other teams will be just as hesitant, if not more, to give offer big time money.
I've been thinking for a while now that what this team is really missing is more near blindings of opposing players via cleats to the unprotected face.
Im down for toughness, but having douches on the team is another thing. Id rather stick to scrupulous losers than scooping up scumbags like adam jones or plax or jared allen. If we had them on our team, and subsequently started cheering and defending their behavior, well, I guess that's how things started in Utah. That's all I'm gonna say. Look at the Travis Johnson comment after last year's Dolphin's game. I can still find arguments over whether he was right/wrong for saying that.
Well stated. He was wrong. But Green has a reputation for being dirty himself, and Green went for TJ's knees. Dude was overly emotional and responded foolishly. It's just not the same as stomping a guy in the face whilst wearing cleats. Five stars!
