I decided to move this post over here since the Offseason Thread was closed. First look at the cap situation: Dead money - players that were cut from the team but are still getting paid 2014: 21 million (Schaub, Reed, Daniels, Manning, etc.) 2015: 600,000 at the moment Potential Major Drops/Trades Brian Cushing Jonathan Joseph Andre Johnson Projected cap: 140,000,000 Projected spending: 129,346,000 + 600,000 dead money Projected space: 10,000,000 Top 5 Needs QB WR OT TE CB 2015 Free Agents (Consider resigning those in Bold) Kareem Jackson - could ask for 6-9 million Kendrick Lewis Brooks Reed Derek Newton Ryan Mallett Case Keenum Danieal Manning Damaris Johnson Tim Jamison Akeem Dent Ryan Pickett Jeff Tarpinian Jerrell Powe Potential Free Agent Targets Ryan Odrick DT Dolphins Jeremy Maclin WR Eagles Brandon Flowers CB Chargers Julius Thomas TE Broncos Mark Sanchez QB Eagles
Salary cap, are we in the process of scrwing it up or recovering form past screw ups? Thanks GM Rick. Thanks owner Bob.
Recovering. Schaub, Ed Reed, Owen Daniels all off the book after this season, thus we should have more cap flexibility moving forward. If we let Cushing and/or Reed go, we could possibly pick up a major FA.
Definitely cut: Cushing Johnson Possibly cut: Joseph Myers Definitely resign: Jackson Newton Possibly resign: Johnson
Julius Thomas is an interesting option. I don't like the idea of cutting any of those 3 listed for cap purposes.
foster will be back next season. i doubt he has to take a pay cut. he's an injury waiting to happen, but when healthy he's too valuable.
Positional needs notwithstanding, I'd rather keep AJ through slightly overpaying than re-up Newton or Kareem just because they're familiar and we can't stand to lose 2 starters from similar positions (assuming JJo and Myers are gone).
No, the 'Johnson' is Andre Johnson. I would like him back if he's open to a reasonable contract. I assume he will sign with a contender though.
Don't worry, Smith will be in charge of the draft and fill all of the positions we need just like he did in 2013 and 2014.
Cush will be back, with him expected to return to his pro bowl play. And Mohammed will be his running mate. Mohammed is the 5th ranked ILB in pass coverage. https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/12/20/texans-mike-mohamed-excels-in-coverage/ I have no issue with going with the ILB roster we currently have, another season under this scheme and Cush having an additional healthy off season, and I think we're fine. Maybe a late round pick for added depth, but out starters are already on the team.
With the cap situation I would see AJ and JJO restructuring their current contracts to lower the total cap hit, and possibly extending them here longer. JJo and KJ are one of the most underated duos, and I don't want to start a rook along KJ next season either. None of the guys on our roster can fill that position. Some people have mentioned Bouye, but he isn't even close to ready. Rolle and Morris could do something at some point, but when you want sustained success, you cultivate talent and coach it up. Can't have all these raw players on the field if you expect to win. I believe they feel Cush is here for the long haul. Given how they managed him in the 2nd half of the season, and how he's slowly flashing some things he was capable of before. I believe he remains. My casualties are Myers, GG, Clabo, and Fitz. All together roughly an addition of $13 mil to the cap, with hopefully team friendly restructures from AJ and JJo. With that work done I would expect about 23-28 mil of space. Now they have been giving a conservative cap number rise for the past few weeks, but most people expect just like last year for that to grow considerably. With it "expected" to be at around 140mil, most people believe it's more likely to be closer to 145 or 150mil. Aiding in the teams flexibility to make moves and retain talent. I'm expecting turn over, but not something so drastic as people are saying on here.
