I'm sure my timing is off here as the Texans are about to take on the Fins in just a bit. But I just can't help but wonder. Are we really better off? Even though I've been a loyal fan and also have been just as critical of Schaub as everybody else I ALSO DO REALIZE he is a top end QB and am very pleased with his productivity. BUT with that being said FOR THIS team would it have been better if: -We signed Peyton Manning the offseason he wanted to be here and clear our hands of Schaub OR -Resigned Mario Williams -Kept Demeco Ryans -Kept Eric Winston -Perhaps kept Mike Brisel -Perhaps kept Connor Barwin -Perhaps kept James Casey -And if we kept all these guys and had not signed Peyton Manning have T.J Yates / Case Keenum as the starting / backup combo Again please hear my point out completely. Are these guys better than Schaub? Probably not. But we see now how Mario Williams is performing in Buffalo (typical Mario production), Connor Barwin was solid for us and when paired with Mario had a VERY dominant year, we all saw what happened to the right side of line soon as Winston and Brisel left, Demeco WAS OUR CAPTAIN and I DO PUT STOCK IN INTANGIBLES, James Casey was incredibly versatile and Kubiak should've used him more. All this being said my question is very simple. What do you all think would've been the potential of this team if we didn't keep Schaub, started T.J Yates and kept all the rest of those players (because salary savings of not resigning Schaub and keeping T.J would have been night and day financially). Do you think we would have been better off? And I'm not even going to ask about the Peyton Manning instead of Schaub thing as we all know the answer would've been Superbowl had we made that decision. Your thoughts and opinions however please.
Wait a minute. Are you suggesting the team would be better with one of the best QBs of all time? Are you sure? You might want to rethink that. We could not sign Peyton Manning. He signed for an ENORMOUS contract that the Texans had no way to offer.
having peyton just guarantees us a first round exit, even more so the way the defense was playing. rewind my broken cassette.
Majority of the stuff in the original post are from 2 offseasons ago and everything with Peyton is speculation, especially given the fact that to sign him, we risk not retaining Duane Brown, getting the best punter in the NFL or having the necessary space to retain Watt, Cushing or Jackson in coming seasons. So with all that in mind, I will say something about the offseason decisions recently... I was wrong about the draft. I really didn't like a lot of our picks nor understand why after getting Ed Reed, we went for a safety with our 2nd round pick or why we used two picks on offensive tackles or two on OLB. Looking at how injuries have hit us, I now know why and owe Rick Smith an apology for thinking he goofed in selecting those types of players. Time will tell if he made the decision with the right players but obviously there was indeed need at those positions and not as much as I thought in regards to the DT/NT position.
You do realize at the time of he was coming off neck surgery and WANTED to come here first and foremost. You do realize when a player wants to WIN they are willing to make some concessions. You do realize ridding ourselves of Matt Schaub at that time would have cleared that cap space right? You do realize I already made sure to mention that making that decision would've been the right decision already. And finally what you may not know is though everybody has the opportunity to see everything in hindsight as the correct move or not BUT I was an advocate at the time of to make Peyton Manning happen and generating a handsome reward to whichever team could use the services of Matt Schaub earning us back draft picks. And then finally. I know you know best that if QB's take up the bulk of the cap and if we have a QB at the helm that is on a rookie 5th/6th round draft slotted money and undrafted rookie money we could have afforded to keep all of our other players. I know many of y'alls initial reactions are to attempt to down and make fun of people for thinking out of the box but please do try and assess the entire post before doing that please.
Getting rid of your starter and signing one of the best players ever at the position is not "thinking outside the box." That's typical AM radio caller thinking. It isn't necessarily WRONG, but it certainly isn't "out of the box." As for the contract, find me an example of a player passing on MEGA millions to sign with a team he thought would win more. Schaub was not a free agent. You couldn't just replace him. His cap hold still existed, even if you traded him.
Realistically? We wouldn't have been able to keep those players even if Schaubs contract was off the books, and that is his old contract which was less than what it is now. Every one of our former FA's was drastically overpaid. I mean EVERY single one. The only guy I hated to see go was Ryans. They said it was a scheme/fit move when they traded him, but it was clearly about future cap space. He would of fit fine in this system and we would have been better off last year if he was still here. That being said, Barwin and Casey are guys you can replace quite easily. Graham was a better TE and Greg Jones is leaps and bounds better as our FB. No loss there. Barwin wasn't even solid last year. He broke out the year before because no one knew who he was and got nearly half of his sacks in a single game against the worst team in football. He was completely expendable. Winston/Brisel were pure scheme fits, and as we saw were great here but couldn't hold there own once they left. I unerstand the cap casualties they were and that we needed to get younger at some point on the OLine. Mario is Mario. Underachieving cry baby that is constantly "hurt" so his lack of production isn't blamed for his lack of work ethic. He was overpaid by about 50 million. He could have been great here for us, but I don't miss him. Last but not least, TJ. If here was our 2011 starting QB we wouldn't have even sniffed the playoffs. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have even made it last year. Depending on what his probably development could have been as a starter we might be looking at a 10-6 season this year. And I mean MIGHT. He's been in this system a year longer than Case Keenum and that undrafted dude seems to get our system much better than Yates. What I believe is that we've got Schaub for 3 more years, Unless we fail miserably over the next couple of season and McNair finally gets rid of him and Kubes. I see us drafting a QB in next years glut of a QB class and having our young guns fight it out to be Schaubs replacement. I see them going total youth movement unless Schaub finally proves he's worth the roster spot and takes us all the way, instead of just a hold over so we're "competitive" even though we haven't a chance at glory. I think Yates isn't our future QB, I see him as a trade chip for future picks. From what's been debated and what has come from inside the team HQ he doesn't have "it" like they believe Keenum does, and if he doesn't then at least gain something from his inevitable departure. One thing I could see happening is we trade for Kirk Cousins. That dude looks like a legit future starter and has the arm strength Schaub dreams for. Would be a perfect fit for us considering where he's been and their system.
Every single one of those lost free agents you named are overpaid and or overrated. As for Yates, I do view him as a quality back up, but that's it. Lets not sit back and act like we would have sniffed the playoffs with Yates as our starter in 2011. The love fest with Yates really puzzles me, I like him, but he would arguably be the worst starter in the NFL, and in a QB run league you can't afford to have that to your name if a superbowl is your goal. What does it say about Yates that he's on the verge of being replaced by a guy who was undrafted and has a year less experience studying the IHOP menu? Don't forget ppl.... 3-4, with 4 TD's and 6 INT's as a starter in 11'... come on.
Peyton Manning got a BOAT LOAD of money in Denver. There was never ANY PROOF he wanted to come to Houston. People speculating is not PROOF. You couldnt have sign all those players you listed anyway. All those players got OVERPAID in FA market, except Demeco, who was overpaid by the Texans. If Eric Winston was SO GOOD, then why did it take him til the end of July to get a job with the Cardinals for minimal money?
The threadstarter seems to have no idea how the NFL salary cap works. Almost every "what if" scenario that was posted virtually ignores the Texans' salary cap predicament when the team made those player decisions at the time.
