The guys I'm seeing that could be cut and give cap room for Harvin are: Schaub Brown Shaun Cody Schaub isn't getting cut. Brown isn't getting cut. Harvin is way better than Cody, but if you cut Cody....you have to get a new nose guard. Cody is actually really cheap as NG's go so any replacement nose guard is going to cost the same as him and probably be completely horrible as the crappy and better NG's already all have teams. Most likely, a NG will cost a lot more. The Texans could just go with Mitchell for every down and pray that he doesn't get hurt/worn down because if Mitchell get hurt/worn down....Superbowl chance goes bye as there is no next man up for him. Maybe, I am missing someone that makes about 2 million that the Texans keep around that is expendable and without any prorated signing bonuses left on future years. I like Schaub and Brown and I am unwilling to risk losing them for a one year rental of Harvin. Rick Smith has done a great job for the Texans and packed a lot of talent under the cap. There just is not a lot of wiggle room. The wiggle room the Texans do have needs to be saved to get Schaub and Brown extended.
No, I'm just being realistic about what I'd expect the Texans to do with him. Would 2A & 2B sound better to you? Even as WR3, I'd expect Harvin to catch 50 balls or so (maybe even 60). Pretty much. Walter has a lot of cache built up with Kubiak, and our running game utilizes blocking WRs more than most. Not saying Harvin couldn't beat out Walter eventually, but it's not a shoo-in kind of deal. Between special teams, passing downs, and injury fill-ins (lord knows we'll have those), Harvin would get plenty of reps to contribute significantly. After this year, it would be an ideal time to cut Walter and have Harvin take over full-time. But I wouldn't expect that to happen immediately.
No offense but it doesn't sound like you're very familiar with Kubiak or the Texans, so, we'll just agree to disagree.
Harvin really poured it on the 2nd half of last season as a WR. He went from being a regular Peter Warrick into more a Santana Moss type. All his receiving TDS came after week 9 after he got healthy and they got rid of McNabb. His stats after week 9: 56 rec, 633 yds 11.3 avg, 6 TDS then 32 rushes, 160 yds, 5.0 avg, 1 TD He'd be like getting Kevin Walter, Jacoby Jones AND Derrick Ward I don't like his ego how he finally became their best WR1, now he thinks he's some hot sh** kicking some weight around. But no doubt he'd be worth it as a 2 year rental with a 3rd round pick (in NFL value). I'm sure the Vikings would RATHER NOT trade him.
And very likely starting. KW had an injury last year (week 2 in Miami, IIRC) that initially was thought to be season-ending. Just sayin'... And while yes, he did look a step slower to me last year - and his best days are unquestionably behind him - he's been pretty reliable/productive: 51, 53, 60 and 65 receptions the four prior years. And everyone needs to (finally) realize (pretty please?) that he is - even with Andre Johnson hurt - at best, this offense's third option; most often 4th. At no time has he been expected, or considered good enough, to catch 95 balls and be a playmaking beast. He's a big, thick possession receiver who blocks like a fiend (for a WR). *That's* who you're trying to replace. And they're not going to do it with Percy Harvin.
I don't want Harvin to replace Walter. I want him to make the offense even better than it already is...meanwhile, giving it the ability to have as little drop off as possible should AJ get hurt again. I fully understand the value of Walter and think he's an important piece. I just don't believe the team can go another season w/o AJ or someone to competently back him up, and expect to be a contender.
Kevin Walter is a bum , there is no sugar coating that. Never could get separation aka product of AJ. Percy Harvin blocked for the best Adrian Peterson. Yea....that guy.
Too smart for me unfortunately. Can you go over the cap in the NFL? They're not going to trade for Harvin, but just learning here. If they did have a way to trade for Harvin, do they have to cut someone to get under the cap?
Both of these comments scream, "I very clearly don't know the first thing about Kubiak's system!" really, really loudly.
The Texans' offense showed zero drop-off after AJ got hurt last year; in fact, they posted their two biggest point totals of the season without him. I say this not to denigrate AJ - but to try and shift everyone's perspective. This is no longer 2008; Andre Johnson is no longer the most important offensive player we have. If Schaub and Foster are healthy, Kubiak's system will adequately replace Andre Johnson and they'll roll to 10-11 wins.
As expected, Vikings GM says team has "no interest at all" in trading Harvin. They have absolutely nothing at WR and Harvin is young and cheap. No way he gets dealt.
Never understood why people get worked up about "possible" trades in the NFL. You can usually count the number of non draft day trades in the NFL on one hand. And when they do happen it's usually out of a team's ABSOLUTE necessity or to unload a coveted backup QB.
NFL is a hard cap. No signing own free agents over a cap. No mid level exceptions. No going over. Period. Contracts are not guaranteed and a player can be waived at any time. NFL players tend to sign for large signing bonuses which get prorated for first five years of a contract. Every cent actually paid to player must count against a hard cap. So player X signs 10 million deal for five years with 1 million dollar annual salary and 5 million signing bonus to Team A. 5 million signing bonus is spread throughout the 5 year deal. Player X counts 2 million against cap every year. When a player is traded or cut after year 2 for instance, the signing bonus that was prorated to future years now hits Team A. So in year 3, Player X costs Team A 3 million dollars (this term is called dead money as a team's cap is impacted while not actually having the player) for not playing, but would only cost 2 million if he was still under contract in year 3. If the player is cut after June 1st of year 2 (this part I am not completely sure about), Team A can pick to apply future years prorated signing bonus to the year he is cut or the following year. Year 3 has begun so Team A has to apply 1 million of signing bonus to their cap for the year three amount and can include all three million on Year 3 if they choose. Team A has the option to shift all or a portion of the prorated signing bonus allocated to years 4 and 5 to year 4 for a post June 1st cut. Players are rarely cut with 3 years left on their contract due to the prorated signing bonuses hitting immediately or to the next year preventing them from offering any real savings in the current cap year. Teams tend to wait until last two years to cut a player. Draft picks have a rookie pool (basically a hard cap inside a hard cap) that forces rookies to sign way less than their actual value. Having a lot of guys under their initial rookie contracts allows a team to pay more quality veterans. So if you trade a draft pick, you are losing his services at a cheap price, say 500,000 and the draft pick would be a NG. Well, the Team needs a NG so they have to sign a scrub one for 2,000,000. That extra 1.5 million has to be made up somewhere else so instead of having that shiny 3.5 mil WR you have settle for a 2 mil WR in FA. Basically, having a lot of guys on rookie contracts allows teams to afford shiny WRs and stay out of cap hell. Teams have to keep a steady flow of young guys to balance the cap. The Texans have been real good about drafting and have too many guys that are towards end of rookie deals. The Texans will try to keep the best ones and trade the ones that don't fit team to some sucker team for draft picks. One trick that teams do to stay under cap is to renegotiate contracts. Can't change what a player has already been paid in salary, but annual salaries are fair game. For instance, say you have quarterback on 50 mil deal for 5 years with a 25 million signing bonus. 5 mil annual salaries. You need an extra million after year 3 to help pay for a FA CB. You ask your QB, hey do you mind if we make your annual salary this year a signing bonus in a reworked contract. So basically in year 4, the QBs 5 mil from initial signing bonus counts and 2.5 million from reworked signing bonus count 7.5 mil against cap. In year 5, he would have the 5 million annual salary, 5 mil for initial bonus, and 2.5 million from second signing bonus for total of 12.5 mil against cap. Hope that is clear as mud. That is my understanding, but it has been a while since I really read about NFL CBA.
AJ is not the most important part of offense. Schaub is with Foster a close second, but I would disagree about zero drop off. The Texans averaged 30 ppg with AJ healthy and Schaub. The Texans scored 30 only three times when AJ was out. Granted, you could use the games that AJ was back in recovering without his QB to make his stats look less impressive, but the Texans came out scoring in the first three games.
So if I follow you correctly. AP is the best RB. Foster has more rushing yards than him the past two years. Walter is a vastly superior blocker to Harvin.
