True but I have a hard time believing that they restructured deals in such a way that would almost cripple the 2012 FA season.
As long as the Cowboys (unlikely now that they tagged Anthony Spencer) or the Titans/Jaguars (still a scary possibility) don't get him, I'll be content. It sucks to lose him, but it's already getting increasingly hard to keep this current squad together.
They just talked about Mario Williams on NFL live right now saying that 3 top likely places for Mario were Houston, New England, and Dallas. Then one of the guys said New England would be the best fit. I would be sick to my stomach if we lost Mario to the Cowboys or Patriots.
Very surprised TB and Seattle weren't mentioned. I can buy that he wants nothing to do with Buffalo, but I understand that Dallas is not that anxious to bid on him and the Patriots aren't so flush that they could win a bidding war.
I think New England would be good for Mario. He could go to a contender, and still get paid (not as much as other teams could offer though). The Texans travel to New England this year too, it would be weird seeing him lining up against us.
Mario can be great, but his motor is inconsistent, the Texans actually replaced him with high motor guys and got better. Good move by them to not franchise him, if they can get him for a good price, you keep him, but if not, you give him a gold watch, thank him and move on, his loss will not hurt this team or effect it in any way. DD
The defense played at a high level with and without Mario. To say they "got better" because he got replaced in the lineup is ignoring the fact that the defensive players got more time and reps to grow into their new system as the season progressed, something they couldn't do with the shortened off season. Brooks Reed had 1 more sack than Mario and he played since game 1 while Mario only played in 4 1/3 games.
very true. They steadily improved all year which i think is a combination of them getting more familiar with the system and the confidence they built on. Mario was playing exceptionally well in those first few games. To think the defense would not have benefited from that level of play for the remainder of the season is a stretch. He and Barwin on the edges will/would have been a complete nightmare for teams.
