Not to sound alarmed, but we entered the offseason with the 7th best odds to make the SB, with a solid team and solid backups, and now we loss 5 starters, 3 former probowlers, 2 on field captains and yet to fill our need at WR and CB!!!!!! there is only 7 rounds in the draft front office!! and the later rounds are project guys. How can we replace 5 starters!!! This has to reduce our odds of making the big dance. And if the AFC south wasnt so bad again this year i would easily guess we wouldnt win our division.
we're doing it wrong. you're supposed to cut these guys when they're on the verge of turning 32, not in their freaking prime. Come on ricky. should have gotten an eagles capologist in return with a fourth rounder on that demeco trade. =/
the only splash of the offseason that could threaten the manning signing would be if the jets trade for tebow.
You're supposed to cut (or trade, if you're lucky) guys when they're no longer worth what they're being paid. The cap situation this year could not have been foreseen because of the lockout. We had no idea what the cap this year was going to be when we signed all these contracts back in 2008-09-10. Now that we *do* know what we're going to be dealing with next year and beyond, we're positioning ourselves to resign key players in the coming years. This is capology 101.
This, times 1,000. It's not fun but this is less fun: no Matt Schaub, no Duane Brown, no Connor Barwin... Ryans was a great Texan - in a fracnise littered with mediocrity, he stands above with a very select few. But turning him into the 77th and 100th pick in the draft? Not a terrible return for a wildly overpaid guy who is very likely on the downside of his career. I trust Wade Phillips. He brought in Watt and Reed, Joseph and Manning. He successfully moved Quinn and Cushing, plus Williams to new positions. He was right about Cody. He revived Smith's career... If he thinks the defense can live without Ryans, he's earned the benefit of the doubt, IMO.
We already replaced one of them (Williams) last year with Brooks Reed. Vickers and Ryans were part-time players. Casey will resume starting at FB, Sharpton, who filled in for Ryans in 2010, replaces him for 1-2 downs at ILB. And they have able bodies to step in for the OL (Caldwell, Butler and Newton). Through the draft and continued roster tweaking, they should be able to rebuild some of the depth they've lost. Remember, Vickers is one example of a previous late-summer addition; there will be ample bodies to bring into camp. The moves have come in bunches and involved tenured, well-liked Texans... But I don't think the sky is falling. The core of great players is still intact. They're still the favorite to win the AFC South and they'll likely still be a favorite to win the AFC. If they have another productive draft in '12 and find some cheap, available FA talent... they should be OK.
I was super worried about jettisoning good/great players from our 4-3 days in favor of Wade guys, but, so far, that fear has been unfounded. As long as he stays put, we'll be fine. I trust that McNair knows this and is ready to (or already has) back the Brinks truck up to Wade's front door. If Wade bolts next year for a HC gig though, I may lose it.
I have my trust in Wade. But damn.. Kareem is a bust. He's constantly getting blown by and aside from a few spurts, he has been a gaping hole in the secondary. You couldn't really tell last season because of the soft schedule, you'll definitely see it this season when the Texans play the caliber of teams on the schedule.
People always panic when they dont like the moves: 1)people panicked when the texans brought Wade to be the DC. 2)some people panicked when J.J Watt was drafted. so its still not time to panic, we still have a long offseason.
I really feel bad for Jonathan Joseph, Glover Quinn, and Daniel Manning. They're going to have to play with a half-assed CB who they'll have to cover for and make their jobs a lot tougher.
I want to correct something. People keep saying that "People panicked when the Texans hired Wade Phillips." I don't believe this is true. I don't think anyone but Hillboy said Wade was a bad DC. The complaint was that the fix was in. Bob and Bum did press released during the season and then brought in Wade without a real dc search. The problem was that we wanted Gary fired. The other issue was that many feared that Wade was going to take over as HC when Gary eventually got fired anyway. It was never about thinking Wade was a bad defensive coordinator.
I was convinced it was just a cheap attempt by McNair to revive the old Luv Ya Blue days. Man, was I wrong....
