5 Free Agents Who Won't Be Signing with the Houston Texans
We have arrived at that time of year when NFL teams and their fans start compiling their respective wish lists of free agents. Teams must confine their attention to a handful of players, constrained as they are by the realities of cap space, dead money and the competition for the top talent. Unencumbered by such limitations, fans can afford to indulge in some genuine football fantasies.
Armchair NBA general managers can consult the ESPN Trade Machine to see if their personnel proposals conform to league rules. No such tool exists for the NFL, so it takes some exploration of the league’s landscape to separate the possible transactions from the truly unlikely.
This is an effort to identify who falls into the latter category in the case of the Houston Texans. What is being examined are scenarios which would lead to that decision. It will include unrestricted free agents (UFA) from the team’s 2014 roster in addition to available UFAs from around the league.
All salary cap figures provided courtesy of Spotrac.com.
Kareem Jackson
1 of 5
The topic last week was whom the Houston Texans would cut to create some additional cap space. It was proposed that dumping Johnathan Joseph to create $8.5 million in cap space was advisable.
Kareem Jackson is a UFA who had a great season in his contract year. The savings created by Joseph’s departure could be enough to re-sign their starting right cornerback for the last four seasons.
Alterraun Verner, a comparable cornerback to Jackson, signed a four-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for over $25 million in 2014. His cap hit was $8.25 million in his first season, but the bulk of the deal is front-loaded, with no dead money and just $6 million guaranteed over the final four years.
If the maxim “You can’t have enough pass-rushers or cornerbacks” in today’s aeronautical brand of football is true, keeping Jackson would seem to be a priority. A team-friendly structure similar to what Verner signed could make that happen.
However, the free-agent cornerbacks available in 2015 are an impressive group: Darrelle Revis, Byron Maxwell, Walter Thurmond, Antonio Cromartie, Tramon Williams and Chris Culliver are just a sampling of this class.
Jackson had a cap hit of $4 million in 2014, while Maxwell copped just $673,363 and Culliver took home $1,580,719. Maxwell is member of the Seattle Seahawks, and they have to take care of Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch before they get to him. Culliver is a San Francisco 49er, an organization that is already close to $3 million over the cap.
Every free agent wants a raise. The total compensation Jackson had in 2014 would be a big bump for either Culliver or Maxwell. It would be just a starting point for negotiations with Jackson.
Continuity is important, and the Texans know what they can expect from their 2010 first-round pick. Then again, you can’t find a bargain if you don’t do a little shopping first.
Those bargains are out there. Finding just one means re-signing Kareem Jackson is not the priority it appears to be.
Ryan Mallett
2 of 5
The career of Mallett is on a rising trajectory. He has gone from being the overlooked backup of Tom Brady, to the short-term savior of the Houston Texans, to the favorite of the free-agent quarterback class of 2015.
His value to the New England Patriots was so minimal, they traded him to the Texans for a conditional seventh-round pick in 2016. When Ryan Fitzpatrick fizzled in a 31-21 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 9, Mallett became the starting quarterback when Houston returned from its bye week.
If head coach Bill O’Brien was looking for consistency, Mallett was no better than Fitzpatrick while posting a 1-1 record in his two starts. A torn pectoral muscle in his second game against the Cincinnati Bengals ended his season.
Injuries to all three quarterbacks on the season-opening roster, including rookie Tom Savage, forced the return of training-camp castoff Case Keenum to start the final two games of the regular season.
In his search for a starting quarterback, the only promise O’Brien has made that he is certain to keep is the process will be competitive.
"We feel like we have some good guys here in the building that played well for us this year in Mallett, Fitzy (Fitzpatrick), and Case Keenum.
We've got some guys right here and we know there are guys out there. We know, especially as Mallett here as a free agent, we understand that. So, we're still in the process of evaluating our guys. We are in the process of evaluating what's out there and I believe, at the end of the day, we'll make a good decision for the Houston Texans.
We'll make the right decision and it will probably be a competition. It will be something where guys come in and compete and have to win the job and that's the way it should be and that's what we're looking to do.
"
Mallett has to be the favorite right now, because he was the choice to rejuvenate the offense when “Fitzy” could not keep it humming along. Keenum won both his starts but still has problems with his accuracy, completing less than half his passes in a startling win over the Baltimore Ravens.
O’Brien tossed off “free agent” in his description of Mallett’s contractual status as if he was flicking a fly off his pecan pie. After all, why would another team seriously pursue a thoroughly underdeveloped player who fetched so little on the open market?
Enter the New York Jets to add a new competitive aspect to the Texans quarterback competition. Kristian Dyer of the Metro website quoted a league source as saying the Jets “will be looking in free agency for some real competition for Smith.”
Now that former Texans official Mike Maccagnan is the Jets’ new general manager, the source thinks “Mallett and the Jets are a natural fit. He'd be interesting in a quarterback competition to say the least.”
While Maccagnan’s interest in Mallett may be just a rumor, the amount of cap space he has to play with is not. The Jets have $45,515,645 to drive the price up far enough to make Texans general manager Rick Smith sweat bullets.
Jets head coach Todd Bowles hired Chan Gailey as his offensive coordinator. Pro Football Reference lists Gailey’s offensive scheme throughout his NFL career as “Erhardt-Perkins,” the same scheme to which Mallett spent three years assimilating as a member of the New England Patriots.
The roll call of free-agent quarterbacks with any substantial career success is so short, the only names are the aging Michael Vick (34) and the aged Matt Hasselbeck (39).
This turns the long shot with the frame (6’6”, 245 pounds) and ballistic arm into a hotshot, which can serve to jack up the bidding. The Jets might have to contend with the Cleveland Browns ($47,835,870) and Buffalo Bills ($30,303,328), two quarterback-starved squads with more cap gap than the Texans.
Until free agency opens on March 10, the level of monetary interest in Mallett is purely speculative. It is without question there will be other teams with the capability to drive the price right out of the Texans’ reach.
Brooks Reed
3 of 5
Brooks Reed is a free agent? Who knew? Who cares!
Such is the life of a strong-side linebacker in a 3-4 defense. The casual fan has only one interest and one question to ask: How many sacks does he have? Sacks are definitely exciting, but hardly definitive.
Despite all the talk during the 2014 season about whether the Seattle Seahawks had the greatest defense since the 1985 Bears, nothing was mentioned about their mediocre sack totals. They had 37 on the year, which ranked 20th in the league. They recorded 44 in 2013, the eighth-ranked number in the league, but far below the leading total of 60 by the Carolina Panthers.
Reed has 14.5 sacks in his four-year career, not even a good season for Von Miller or Elvis Dumervil. Pro Football Focus gave 34 quarterback pressures to Reed, good enough to rank him in the top half of 3-4 outside linebackers.
Playing the strong-side or Sam position is not as glamorous as the Will or weak-side linebacker. There are more double-teams to handle because both the tight end and right tackle get to tee off on you. The weak-side has more one-on-one matchups with the left tackle, the kind that lead to sacks and show up in highlights both during and after the game.
Unless you concentrate on the action away from the ball, you will miss what Reed does most of the time. He sets the edge on runs outside the right tackle or tight end, and funnels the ball-carrier toward the middle of the field where the inside linebackers and safety can help out.
He also does not embarrass himself in coverage, where most linebackers are just abysmal. Whether it is a tight end running a drag route, a slot receiver on a slant or the wideout doing a crosser, Reed will stay with them until the play is over or help arrives should his man be the intended receiver.
His contributions may not matter, because he needs to make room for Jadeveon Clowney when he returns from his microfracture rehab. Clowney will take over on the weak side, which will force Whitney Mercilus into Reed’s position. Or it could be John Simon taking over, a pickup from the Baltimore Ravens practice squad who played well at both outside linebacker positions.
No matter how you look at it, Reed is a bargain at his current deal for a second-round draft choice. His average salary at just over $1 million would more than double with a new contract, and the Texans have more expensive needs elsewhere that must be addressed. This is the kind of player every team needs, but it is not one this team can afford.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Torrey Smith
4 of 5
If it’s “Goodbye, Andre Johnson,” then why not “Hello, Torrey Smith!”
Let us assume that Johnson is going to stick to his guns and not renegotiate his contract for the third time in four seasons. If the search is on for his replacement, let us not be greedy.
No Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas, Randall Cobb or Jeremy Maclin; they are just too pricey. Reggie Wayne and Santana Moss are too old, and Nate Washington and Cecil Shorts are too small. How about Torrey Smith?
Wait a minute, he’s too much like DeAndre Hopkins? What’s wrong with that?
OK, they are exactly the same size. And they are not super speedy, but they still know how to stretch the field. Both have averaged over 15 yards per reception for their career, and Smith just scored double-digit touchdowns for the first time last season.
Andrea Hangst, who covers the AFC North for our very own Bleacher Report, calculated Smith is worth about $2 million per year. The Texans have been paying Andre Johnson over $10 million for years and have never gotten 11 touchdowns out of him.
Speaking for general manager Rick Smith, we’ll see your $2 million and raise it another $2 million. That’s $4 million per year in salary and does not include your guaranteed signing bonus. Let’s ask Torrey what he thinks of this generous offer.
Torrey, ah, Mr. Smith that is, where are you going? What’s that? You only play with bazooka-equipped passers like Joe Flacco? But we have Ryan Mallett, who Brian Hoyer says has the strongest arm he’s ever seen!
Wait, the Texans did not beat the New York Jets' offer to Mallett? Well, Tom Savage has got a pretty good fastball, and he’s our new quarterback of the future.
Mr. Smith, Mr. Smith, please come back! Did you know there’s no state income tax in Texas?
Julius Thomas
5 of 5
Thomas could be all set to leave Denver. He told the Bay Area sports talk station 95.7 The Game that he might be interested in signing with the Oakland Raiders.
"Everything's a possibility. I guess the Raiders would have to want me in order for negotiations to start or maybe offer me a contract. Who knows what's gonna happen...
"
The Torrey Smith gambit failed because of the missing quarterback. But Gary Kubiak is going to solve that problem for the Texans.
Rumors have been swirling that Kubiak and Peyton Manning may not be a “fit in Denver.” Marc Sessler of NFL.com repeated the most frequently heard issue. Kubiak is big on a play-action playbook, a scheme that would take Manning out of his comfort zone.
Now there is word from Jason Cole of Bleacher Report that John Elway could shove Manning out the door if he fails any part of his physical.
Reports that Manning wanted to join the Texans has been running around for years. Jason La Canfora started stirring the pot again back in January.
"With Manning's future in doubt guess it's as good a time as any to pass along I'm told the team he really wanted to go to in '12 was HOU...
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) January 12, 2015"
If Manning has anything left, no one would be happier to see it in action than the success-starved fans of the Houston Texans. And wouldn’t Thomas rather work with the quarterback that made him famous rather than sign with the most bedraggled franchise in the entire league?
J.J. Watt, Brian Cushing and Arian Foster would all have to rework their contracts to make it happen. But they would all be on board, right? And Thomas would have to take less than the $40 million with $12 million guaranteed he would get from the Raiders. Hey, it could happen.
And Roger Goodell could take a pay cut for the lousy job he has done over the last year.
Dream on, Houstonians, as you always have. Dream on.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
