Is this article legit on our cap situation?

I've heard the same. There's just no way to know who is cutting cut at this point. But $25 million is not out of the question.

 

The cap got raised to 132m

 

I hope it is true and that the team signs a vet RT to replace Newton. Then they can focus on drafting Clowney; and then either explore moving up for a QB that falls into the late first or if no one does fall taking the BP(QB)A in the second.

Being able to sign a vet means you don't need to draft one in the first two or three rounds. Would love Veldheer from Oakland.

 

And hopefully address safety with a FA as well.

 

Cap space based on $132M
Although, there is speculation it could go up to $135M

Houston Texans $8,003,210

Oakland Raiders $66,387,920
Jacksonville Jaguars $55,128,123
Cleveland Browns $51,227,168
Indianapolis Colts $40,014,750
Miami Dolphins $38,181,273
Green Bay Packers $34,197,930
Minnesota Vikings $30,733,489
Cincinnati Bengals $29,362,957
Washington Redskins $28,684,986
New York Jets $25,744,558
Philadelphia Eagles $25,674,804
Buffalo Bills $24,709,541
Baltimore Ravens $22,179,100
Denver Broncos $18,471,763
Atlanta Falcons $18,448,129
New York Giants $18,288,183
Tampa Bay Buccaneers $17,791,539
Arizona Cardinals $15,295,087
Carolina Panthers $13,929,714
Tennessee Titans $12,006,952
San Francisco 49ers $11,844,974
Detroit Lions $10,010,130
Chicago Bears $9,789,726
New England Patriots $9,591,420
Kansas City Chiefs $8,626,444
Houston Texans $8,003,210
New Orleans Saints $7,172,992
St. Louis Rams $6,317,232
San Diego Chargers $4,863,830
Seattle Seahawks $4,776,224
Pittsburgh Steelers -$6,748,066
Dallas Cowboys -$18,920,690​

 

If the Texans can cut those players and save some cap space, they first need to resign JJ Watt to a new deal and save money to sign the rookies we draft. If they do not extend JJ before or during this season, I believe he will leave the team. Going into the draft, if we go with Clowney I think the Texans will look to take Mettenberger at the top of the 2nd round. He is a pro style passer with a cannon and played against tough competition in the SEC. He is also tall and a bigger QB like O'Brien likes. This would give us two solid players in this draft class as to drafting Bortles who wont be ready for another 2 years, Bridgewater who I just dont trust, and Manziel who may be the second coming of Tim Tebow in the league.

 

Cutting Joseph would be a mistake IMO.

You think you can get a CB as good as him for the 3.5 million you'll save by getting rid of him?

Yeah right.

Daniels is a no-brainer cut. Manning is a bubble cut, but I would keep him and let him walk next year... only because we really have no one capable of starting in his place.

Schaub is probably a goner if we draft a QB with a high pick. If not, BOB might ask McNair to keep him as insurance.

Foster will get this year to audition in BOB's system. If he can't hack it, he's absolutely gone in 2015.

 

Settle down, Francis - they'll franchise him. He's not going anywhere.

 

Cutting him would be more about saving 12.25 million next year than the 3.5 this year.

 

Depending on cuts of course. But keep in mind that NFL cap numbers can be very deceiving. Because it may not account for a lot of minimum backups that every team put on their rosters. Having 20 guys making 500K each is $10mil in capspace for example. So even if the Texans do show $20mil in capspace after making some cuts/restructuring, it doesn't mean they can just go out and sign 2 players for $8mil apiece.

I think some sources account for cap holds and some do not. Regardless, it's clear the Texans don't have much capspace this offseason.

 

Thanks JR. If we factor in the cap impact from our 2014 draft pick signings, that brings our cap room down about $4 or $5 mil. So we really only have about $3 or $4 mil in available cap room without restructuring or making some cuts.

Personally i think that our most over paid player on defense is Daniel Manning. He's being paid $6 mil (basically top flight safety money) but he's average at best at this point in his career. Cutting Manning frees up $4.5 mil. We should be able to either draft a better safety or sign a better one for less money.

Likewise, cutting Schaub saves us about $3.5 mil

...so we can be close to $12 mil under the cap, having accounted for all draft pick signings, by making just those two moves (cutting Schaub and Manning)

I think we probably keep JJo at this point because we wouldn't find a better corner for the $3.75 mil we'd get by releasing him. Likewise, i don't think you find a better TE than OD for the $4.75 mil you'd get by releasing him. It certainly makes more sense than Joseph, but keep in mind that BOB likes to use TEs and we only have a 6th round virtual rookie at that position in Griffen on our roster. So i actually think we need to hold OD for one more year.

I'd add that we should cut Derek Newton as save $1.3 mil (he's one of the worst tackles in the league); bringing our total to around $13 mil under the cap.

Lastly, a couple of things to keep in mind:

-We should be able to restructure Andre's contract to provide additional cap relief (he currently counts $15.6 mil against our cap)

-it will likely make financial sense to cut JJo next offseason, and we also may lose Kareem Jackson to free agency (we have no one behind them worth a damn), so signing or drafting DBs likely needs to be more of a priority than people realize.

 

and your feeling that Watt is going to leave the team is based on what again?

 

You have to factor in Texan free agents - Graham, Tate, Smith (2), Harris, Mays, Sharpton and Mitchell - you can't let 'em all walk.

 

Why not? I mean I could see offering contracts to Harris Mays and maybe Graham, but they'd be very minimum type of contracts. I wouldn't even bother offering contracts to the rest.

 

There are people who'll be renegotiated and you won't hear about it, which will free up more money.

 

Because they have to field a 53-man roster. And those "minimum" contracts last year cost you $2.5MM, BTW.

People seem to have this idea that we can just slice and dice the roster and, viola! $12MM in cap space. Sure, maybe you can. But the vast majority of that space is then going to be used on finding replacements for all the players you released/let walk.

If they cut Schaub and Manning, possibly Daniels and Joseph, and let their free agents walk, you're down seven starters and four contributors on top of the holes at RT, DT, OLB, FS, not to mention the lack of quality depth at RB, TE, OL, ST...

Seven draft picks and $12MM ain't gonna cover up all those holes.

 

And that's the thing about letting some of these players walk. Yeah, some aren't that good we really wouldn't have a problem seeing them leave. But you have to ask who we can get to replace them that's better that won't command more money and/or won't screw up our cap situation. For every player you cut or don't re-sign, that's another player you have to figure out how to replace in some manner.

 

In some cases, you are cutting them now, and even if you end up paying as much this year, it puts you in a better situation for future years. Schaub would be the first example that comes to mind.

 

I think he sees how Andre's loyalty to this team has hurt his success as far as post season and SBs. The franchise has had 1.5 good seasons and if they screw up this draft you have to feel like they will not right the ship in your time in the league.

If I am JJ what does that say if they draft Clowney? The defense had injuries, but it wasn't terrible. On the other hand there was a game of musical chairs at QB, they bring in the QB guru coach, and then take a defensive player? Seems like more of the same disconnect between coach and GM.