As Donny said, there's obviously a great deal of (well-earned) impatience and frustration right now threatening to engulf the Texans - but this isn't terribly difficult to understand, and us taking time to explain it shouldn’t be confused with us absolving the Texans. The Texans had an appreciably better roster than Denver; and what good players the Broncos did have (Cutler, Marshall), they traded before their rookie deals were up. The Texans were good enough to make the playoffs in 2009 (but blew it) and invested in keeping that nucleus intact while adding to it (Joseph and Manning). And now the bill has come due. And FYI, the same thing is going to happen to Denver in a year or two. What people don’t seem to understand about the cap: it’s designed to punish good teams. The only way to sustain success is to constantly draft really, really well, so that when it’s time to pay your good players, you can cut them instead and have a viable replacement ready. *That’s* been the Texans’ greatest failure; not cap management. They haven’t found and/or developed enough players to avoid having to go out and sign Antonio Smith or Jonathan Joseph or Daniel Manning. They didn’t have someone waiting to take over for Demeco Ryans or Eric Winston... The draft is sooooooooo freaking important right now. You have to hit - and I mean really hit - on at least 40% of your picks each and every year.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>I'm reading where Chronicle reporting Schaub returns "next season." Not accurate. In saying he remains on team for now!</p>— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/McClain_on_NFL/statuses/444122596481564672">March 13, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>I wrote Schaub could be cut later, including before season. They won't carry his $10 mil salary next season. No reason 2 cut him now.</p>— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/McClain_on_NFL/statuses/444122910383276032">March 13, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>It's a three-year deal for Graham, who remains in Houston. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Texans&src=hash">#Texans</a></p>— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/DZangaro/statuses/444146966961086464">March 13, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Thank you for articulating that. I forgot about Brandon Marshall too, good catch. The Texans spent money in that era, and got some decent talent (moreso than the Broncos for sure), but ended up with not a damn thing to show for it. I don't think the Texans have done a particularly bad job with contracts (outside of Schaub, whose deal was extremely poorly timed), otherwise most of the underperformance in terms of big money has resulted from injuries, which you really can't predict. What I really criticize the Texans for is doubling-down on Kubiak, who was clearly incapable, and to a lesser extent Wade Phillips, who was clearly a Band-Aid. So much talent and time wasted by rigid, old-guard coaches who got smoked by their innovative, new-age counterparts. Did I enjoy the winning seasons? Sure. But if you had told me the wheels were going to fall off this badly in 2013, I would never have accepted that for the results of 2011-2012. Kubiak should have been fired in 2010. I wanted him gone, but I kept an open mind after they added Wade. Le sigh. Save us, Bill.
They extended Schaub during the 2012 season? I don't begrudge that move at all. It didn't work out - but it was worth the risk, IMO: you get a very good QB at a relatively cheap price for what would have been at least two prime playoff years (conceding that his deal jumped considerably in year 3). The downside if you wait is Schaub (who we all thought was the difference between losing to Baltimore and winning the AFC in '11) goes on a Flacco roll and then you have to pay him appreciably more, complicated if the roll turns out to be an anomaly (as is happening in Baltimore). Foster, I think, is the move more ripe for questioning - they didn't have to extend him when they did (IIRC), and had they been in better touch with his workload and potential for breaking down (something even fans were acutely aware of), could have potentially managed him better (ie tagging him two years in a row so that he's essentially signing one-year deals). Having said that... hard to argue with their decision to lock him up. When I "defend" Smith, re: cap management, it's because he wasn't being irresponsible. The Foster deal was risky (as was Schaub's) but wholly defensible. It's not like Foster rushed for 120 yards in a game and they threw a five year contract at him.
They extended Schaub after the first week of the 2012 season. Which means they basically had the deal drawn up all offseason, and waited to see if his foot would explode week 1. When it didn't, they signed him. It was unnecessary. To that point, Schaub had not proven his mettle. You don't throw a deal like that to a guy who hasn't put some playoff skins on the wall. When Schaub got to the big stage, he thoroughly pooped his pants. If Schaub got through 2012 and took the Texans on a deep playoff run, then yeah he'd be owed more money, but he'd also be worth it. There's a reason no one is calling the Ravens idiots for not having signed Flacco before their Superbowl run... unlike the Schaub deal.
Playoff winning QB... Organizations can be judged by their GM, HC, and QB. Depending on the team, the Texans were behind all the top organizations in probably 2 of the 3 categories. Today, Rick Smith seems to be under-qualified and somehow saved his job, BO'B is an unknown (hope he works out!), and the QB position is very much unsettled. Really sucks that they squandered much of their window by not having a credible defense and then had it slam shut so dramatically last year.
I don't necessarily disagree; I just think the course they did take was defensible and I don't want people to think there was ZERO risk waiting. There was. But therein lies the fundamental difference: if Flacco doesn't go unexpectedly Joe Montana in 2012 and their season ends the way we all thought it was going to as late as Christmas... there's a good chance they let him walk. I don't think there was ever a chance the Texans were going to let Schaub walk because he had been an appreciably better QB than Flacco and no one - no one - could have predicted he'd melt down *that* badly.
Ifs, butts, candy, nuts, and so forth. The Ravens may have overpaid Flacco because of their inaction, but the bottom line is the Ravens have a Superbowl, and we suck ballz. I agree no one saw it coming, and I don't think they were going to let him walk after 2012 either, but they certainly wouldn't have given him as favorable of a contract after the epic fail that was the tail-end of 2012.
Dude, i get everything you are saying. I just don't agree with it. It's comical to argue that the Texans had a way better roster when they were only 6 games better than the broncos during that time frame. And yes, the draft is "soooo freaking important"... LMAOOOOOO
so you don't understand that coaching impacts teams winning? Or schedule and strength of division impacts it?
This should be engraved on the side of the stadium (whatever it is called now). McNair's stubborn "stick it to the fans" attitude regarding Kubiak and Schaub has put this franchise in another hole. As an average fan of the game, I knew both weren't going to work out years ago. Many on this board did. How can it have been so obvious to us and such a mystery to McNair?
But the contract *was* pretty favorable and creatively structured to not pay him franchise money until he had proven himself worthy - I'm going completely off memeory here, but I believe he was paid $8MM and $10MM the past two seasons; he jumps to $15MM this year - so in theory, they would have had *two* postseasons ('12 and '13) to evaluate him at a relatively decent salary and an out before the big bucks kicked in (which is what they're likely to exercise this summer).
Uh, i didnt realize the broncos had vince lombardi running the show, lol. Your excuses are great though, a common theme among the texans contingency.. The bottomline is denver has a boatload of $ to spend, while the texans are waiting like a dog for cold leftovers. I don't even know what there is to argue, it is what it is. But i do know coming up with lame excuses and explanations for the texans poor salary cap situation is extremely delusional.
You don't even know what I am trying to say and which points of yours I am actually trying to refute. oh well
Sticking your head in the sand is not an acceptable style of debate. Denver has a boatload of $$ not because they properly managed their cap but because their roster wasn't very good, and among the few good players they did have (Cutler, Marshall) - they dealt them before having to pay them. This really and truly isn't difficult. Let's agree to meet back in 2-3 years and check-in on Denver's cap situation, OK? Their bill is coming due... No one is making excuses, and no one is denying they have cap issues (though not terribly egrgeious) - we're just trying to clarify a misconception: the Texans didn't spend money irresponsibly and screw their cap; they drafted and developed players terribly and had to spend money to cover up for it. Again, you're so invested in your lazy, pre-sold yelling points, you can't even recognize when someone is criticizing the Texans. "But, but, but SALARY CAP!!!!!!!"
Uh excuse me? You're telling me Matt Schaub's unnecessary contract extension was not "irresponsible"? How about Arian Foster's? Oh, what about Brian Cushing's? Dude, you need to get your personal feelings and emotions out of your contract analysis. It's a BUSINESS!!! Handing new fat contracts to Schaub and Cushing as they were returning from serious injury was as irresponsible as it gets. I can somewhat understand paying Foster, but it's still boneheaded because they literally ran him into the ground for 2 straight seasons prior to paying him.
