Oronde Gadsden WR Miami Lethon Flowers S Pittsburgh Donovin Darius S Jacksonville Kevin Dyson WR Titans Ike Hilliard WR New York Hugh Douglas DE Philly Marcus Robinson WR Chicago Chris Claiborne LB Detroit Sammy Knight S New Orleans Frank Sanders WR Arizona Orlando Pace OT St Louis Chad Brown LB Seattle In a perfect world we would land Boston, Pace, and Douglas.
Pro Bowl-caliber = Sammy Knight, Orlando Pace, Hugh Douglas Good = Chad Brown Decent = Kevin Dyson, Ike Hilliard, Chris Claiborne Meh = Donovin Darius, Lee Flowers, Oronde Gadsden Had 2 good years, sucked since = Frank Sanders Had 1 good year, injured since = Marcus Robinson Out of this list, I would love to land Sammy Knight and Hugh Douglas. Orlando Pace would make for great depth, though.
So many players get cut each year, you can pretty much add every expensive player on the underachieving teams that said, I think Kevin Dyson would save Carr from taking the beating he is
I'd like to get a few of these guys, but we'll be hampered by the salary cap. We don't want to get into a situation where as soon as the team starts to gel and become competitive we have to start letting guys go due to the cap. Boston would be a nice pickup, but I'd rather draft Charles Rogers.
Good point. We don't want to end up like Baltimore or Jacksonville and give up these high-priced players because we are salary cap strapped....
As I said in another thread I'd like to see Takeo Spikes. Also the Atlanta duo of Kieth Brooking and Patrick Kerney will be available next year. Brooking and the Falcons were far off on contract negotiations and have decided to put it on hold till the offseason. They were working towards extending Kerney last I heard.
Guys expansion teams have lots of problems attrackting Big Time FAs. It's not just the money but the top FAs want money and a chance to win. Not a slap in the face to Texan fans but to get these guys (top tier guys) you'll have to drastically overpay. More than likely you can get some of the second tier FAs (players who want more PT and a chance to shine) but the top tier (Pace for example) are probably out of reach.
It's a little early to be predicting FA's. There's still a lot of season left to sign contract extensions.
The Texans will have no problems at all attracting FA's. Their facilities are the best in the league, their organization is run in a first class manner from top to bottom. Houston is an attractive place for pro athletes to play. Players have said these things repeatedly. Also, why in the world would the Texans be interested in Orlando Pace? Brooking grew up in Georgia, went to Georgia Tech and dates Miss Georgia. I'm fairly sure the 2 sides will come to a mutually acceptable agreement. Spikes is the man.
1. Facilities and organization help but not that much. Look at the Browns who have they signed as a FA? When they started their facilities were near the top too. Look to other sports. I am a fan of the Columbus Blue Jackets and we have the best facility in the NHL and we sign decent players but no super star. 2. Why Pace? Well he is the best (ot top 3) OT's in teh game. Boselli is injury prone. Young was a nice pick up but he is not a dominant player. Plus you can never have too many offensive linemen. Sign Pace and move Young to guard. Again it won't Happen because Pace would not consider thye Texans, yet.
there's also a no state income tax, another point in houston's favor. i don't think the texans will have problems drawing interest; they're a marketing machine and have evidently wowed the nfl establishment. their debut on ESPN was probably seen by half the nfl and, all things considered, it was pretty impressive (the win, the crowd, etc.) they've been on the cover of SI and have been featured on almost ever single sports-related media outlet i can think of. uhm, well, first of all, cleveland doesn't hold a candle to houston, city-wise. and their facilities may have been nice, but from every single indication, they, and every other facility, greatly pale in comparison to what the texans have at their disposal. the texans have a terrific nucleus and a bright future that will add, at the very least, 12 more draft picks next year, including, likely, a top 5 player. i mean, jerimiah trotter nearly left philadelphia to play in houston.
Cleveland (IMO) has a greater football tradition (Paul Brown, Jim Brown, the drive, the fumble, etc) than Houston and a better fan base (the Dog Pound is only equalled by the Raiders and the Packers). I don't doubt the weather is nicer is Houston (and the taxes could be an incentive), but players go to teams who can win not where it is nice out. Look around Houston there is not alot of FAs in any sports being attracted. The Astros, nope. The Rockets attracted some older FAs when Dream was dominant (CB4, Francis, Pip and Clyde were all trades) but no great FAs, the Oilers didn't exactly have a ton of players knocking on their door when they were in business either. The top players goto winners (or teams they think can win). As for their debut well a good reason there was such a large audience was their opponent. As for a brighter future Carr was regarded no higher than Couch so I don't see the Texans future much brighter than the Browns in the beginning. Yes you got more talent in the expansion draft, but you could have a lot of wasted cap space if Boselli gets hurt again. Aaron Glenn is a nice corner and Sharper is a nice LB in your system, Young is a decent OT, but other than that it is bits and pieces, most of whom will not be there in 3 years anyways. The Browns also had an abundance of picks.
Uh, just this past year, the Browns signed Robert Griffith, Kenard Lang, and Earl Holmes to bolster their defense. Not exactly earth-shattering, but good enough for a team on the rise. I'll take those 3 on my team, thank you very much. I don't think the Texans will have too much trouble attracting free agents. Ric pretty much hit the nail on the head: good facilities, no state income tax, young nucleus, nice city, decent fans, great front office (includes owner willing to spend), etc. Like Cleveland, Houston is a football town. But unlike Cleveland, a LOT of NFL players come from Texas. The prodigal son CAN return home. Don't underestimate the importance of being close to family (unless your name is Rashard Lewis ).
not necessarily true...the astros have been able to re-sign players...some have played at a discount to stay in houston...remember when caminiti came back, saying he'd take less to play in houston than he would to have to go live in detroit?? the astros have never been much to hit the free agent market...but that isn't dispositive of how successful the texans will be in that regard.
David Boston is a Houstonian and a bad ass receiver. I would love to land him here. We need safety help, so flowers and Knight would be great acquisitions.
Why do you call Lethon Flowers not decent? Have you even seen him play? He is one of the hardest hitting safties in the NFL. David Boston is an awesome WR, If you got a guy like Carr throwing him the ball, He could put up big numbers for the next decade. Don't forget Oronde Gadsden has been the only Miami WR to lead the team in Recieving one year and not fall off the face of the earth the next (i.e. OJ Mcduffie) since the Marks Brothers were catching passes from Dan Marino. Well he isn't as flashy as Chambers, Did you see that one handed catch last week? He is a physical receiver who could take over the Possesion role.
Pippen trade was a mere formality. He wanted to come here and chicago and Houston wanted to give Pip the most money possible. He was a FA. Rockets gave up Roy Rogers (who was cut) and a #1 for Pip, I believe. Francis just re-upped and Cuttino took less money to stay here. Heck, Lucas coaches in Cleveland but he works out of Westside, lol. Houston is definitely a hot spot for pro athletes and will be able to attract FA's more effectively than the Cleveland franchises. Cleveland does have great fans. But, the drive and the fumble, that's Denver's tradition, not Cleveland's. I'd want to forget that if I were a Brown fan.
