Say what? Asomugha didn't void the contract. The contract was automatically voided because he didn't reach certain performance incentives. Quality of team might make a small difference, but 99% of this is going to be about the money, like it always is.
last i checked, we will be going back to a salary cap next season. if this is the case, we will have limited funds as will other teams. i agree that if we have the ability to offer more than other teams, we should and in this case, would have a strategic advantage. however, i am not holding my breath that we will have more than others. if all things are equal and a playoff team has the same amount of money available as we do, he will simply use us as leverage and sign elsewhere.
An NFL salary cap isn't like an NBA salary cap - unless you're loaded with enormous deals, it's very easy to manipulate. It's how teams like the Redskins routinely make FA splashes year after year. I also don't buy a player simply looking at the playoff teams from this year and using that as a "guide". Of the eight division champions this year, six were different than a season ago. Of the top six teams picking in the 2010 draft, two made the playoffs (KC & Seattle), another won 10 games (Tampa) and another was one game away from the playoffs (St. Louis). Things change on a dime in this league, and everyone in the league knows it. I don't see the "Team X made the playoffs last year" argument being all that convincing. Everyone knows that the Texans with a competent defensive secondary and DC are a good team.
I hope it feels so good to be right. There's nothing more exhilarating than pointing out the shortcomings of others, is there?
It's a message board, I thought the point was to debate our opinions and analyze issues from our own perspective.
Understood. Still think Asomugha will get a certain level of money from a certain kind of team. I don't anticipate money being an issue for him. He will have his pick of teams. Maybe money will be the deciding factor between those on his short list, but the first order of business is to be on that list, just as with Peppers this last offseason.
it's a clerks reference. i could care less, but think your setting an unattainable goal for a misguided franchise and in doing so, will always be frustrated with them. i'm speaking from the history of teams using us as leverage. remember the last time that happened with a corner back? remember last year? while you set your goal of asomghua, i'll settle for them bringing in a more realistic player. if they get asom, then awesome. i won't be dissapointed if they don't because i don't think we have a realistic shot at him.
I agree. I would certainly hope the Texans are interested. But they can't force-sign him; he has to show mutual interest. Running to a vacuum and making Asomugha a standard for the Texans, at the expense of looking at (and reporting) the situation more objectively, is an old newspaper trick; Justice excels at it. No one will disagree with you and it gives everyone a reason to come back to your column/blog and b**** about it when the team "fails."
I don't think limiting choices to playoff teams is a good idea or a good argument. It's better to consider where you think you might win and the cost of playing with that team. That isn't even an argument I'd make. I just, naively apparently, think that players care both about the money and the role and am assuming the money will be there for Asomugha, making other factors more important. But again, at age 30, maybe the money won't be there.
Ah, my bad on missing the reference. For clarification, I don't expect the Texans to sign Asomugha. I do, however, think they should - and would, with competent ownership. I agree that we don't have a realistic shot, because McNair won't pay what it takes. The reason the Texans are used as leverage is because the offers aren't good enough to close the deal. It's that simple. Yes, you have to "overpay". That's how free agency works. Players don't want to uproot their lives, in Bodden's case, when they can stay with their former team and current city for the same money. You have to pay a premium. You can't do it every year, or you'll end up like the Redskins... but if you're a calculated GM, you can make the splurge when they need to. I'm fairly certain the Texans will have the room within the salary cap and their revenue structure to make such a splurge here, and it makes perfect sense for them as a team. The stumbling block is whether McNair will sign the check - and I don't see it happening. Asomugha probably is an unattainable goal, considering this franchise is largely run by braindead morons. Trust me, I get that much. But I do like to play "what if" from time to time under the hypothetical of competent management.
Again, it depends on how the situation goes down. If the Texans make a top (or very near top) offer, and Asomugha goes elsewhere, that's fine. That's his choice. I don't expect it to happen that way. I expect the Texans to leak prior to FA through McClain, like always, that they won't be making any "big splashes" and not to show serious interest. The standard for me is whether the Texans make the effort, not whether Asomugha signs. It's my personal opinion that if they make the effort, he will sign - but I wouldn't blame the team if he doesn't, in that scenario.
under the hypothetical that we have competent management, we are now coached by bill cowher and asomghua is frothing at the mouth for the opportunity to come in. those hypotheticals make me sad. because we now have wary, and no players respect wary. oh they may like wary, how can you not like such a soft and gentle oaf? but you can't respect someone that kisses your ass.
Admittedly, I don't pay close enough attention, but where is the proof of this? Have offers been publicized or is this an outgrowth of the axiom that free agents only care about money? Was Bodden worth overpaying or would signing him have resulted in complaints as in the signings of Weaver, Greenwood, Wade, and Smith? I think they should avoid the overpaying game, like the Pats and Steelers, unless the target is a guy like Asomugha (preferably younger than 30 ).
How do you expect to know what the Texans offered or that they reached out and Aso said no thanks, Teams X, Y, and Z already on my short list with big money deals? How do you expect to know the extent of their effort? If the team doesn't leak it will you assume they failed miserably? Or if they did would you assume it is just PR to cover up for not really trying? Seems with some expectations, this test has already failed before they even have tried.
He was referring to the Bodden case, so I was speaking largely about that. In that case, the Patriots ended up "matching" the offer that the Texans made according to reports, and he stayed in New England. Also, while it wasn't a "leverage" play, Schobel was reportedly set to sign with the Texans - until the Texans offered a lowball deal that was even lower than prior discussions. It's a combination effect for the Texans. Mid-level guys like Weaver, Greenwood, Wade and Smith - those are the type players that you should find for cheap, through competent drafting and/or young free agent signings. Instead, the Texans had to overpay via free agency due to failures from Casserly and Smith. And in my opinion, semi "busts" like those are part of what holds McNair back now, to the point where he's terrified of making any kind of significant move. In general, it's wise not to overpay - but there are exceptions to the rule. Schobel was one - a proven Pro Bowler who was dying to play for the team - and the Texans somehow bungled it. Asomugha, for a team starved for CB talent, is another - but nothing in the Texans' recent history suggests that they'll make the aggressive move needed.
There are entirely too many media sources involved these days for it not to eventually come out if a team makes a serious offer at the top free agent on the market. See the Rockets and Bosh. The Texans, particularly through McClain, have been very transparent with their offseason moves (and attempted moves) throughout their history. It won't be much of a challenge to find out what happened.
I don't think they're even remotely comparable. Schobel had *retired* nd, reportedly *looked* retired, flunking his physical try-out. I think fans have WAAAAAAAAAAAAY overblown Aaron freaking Schobel. We're talking about a now-marginal guy that only looks good to us because, well, the bar is pretty low from a personnel standpoint. Again, if, as you say, it's all about $$, surely a sack-starved team could have made him a nice enough offer to uproot his life for 5 months. No one even called, so far as we know. Frankly, I don't think we have *any* idea how the Texans might handle a big, viable free agency splash, a category that does *not* include Leigh Bodden, btw. (It was smart not to break the bank for him.) If Asomugha expresses interest and the Texans choose to pass, then fair game. But until then, it's probably silly to speculate, and sillier to rip the Texans for something they haven't done yet.
Given that their alternative became fielding the worst defensive backfield I've ever seen, I would argue that it wasn't so smart. Sometimes you're just desperate, and that drives price. The Texans were just too stupid to know how desperate they were....in an uncapped year.
