Why Houston Texans Were Wise to Pass on Donovan McNabb

Earlier today, it was reported that Minnesota Vikings quarterback Donovan McNabb had requested his release from the organization and that they would oblige.

It's not the most shocking end to what has been a terrible year for the quarterback, who was brought into Minnesota to hopefully revive a career that had taken a bad turn, producing little of benefit to the Washington Redskins in 2010.

At first glance, it seems there are a number of teams that would benefit from McNabb's veteran services, the Houston Texans being one of them. But the Texans have since made clear that they aren't interested in bringing him in the fold, and that's probably the wisest choice they could make.

It's no secret that the 35-year-old McNabb's best years are behind him, considering his debacle of a season in 2010 that saw the Redskins bench him after throwing more interceptions than touchdowns and apparently not being able to execute a two-minute offense.

He was put on the shelf by the Vikings in Week 7 of this year after being sacked five times and throwing zero touchdowns in his team's 39-10 loss to the Chicago Bears. In just six games this season, McNabb had been sacked 16 times, had notched four touchdowns and thrown two interceptions.

One reason why the Texans couldn't have picked up McNabb even if they were interested was the sheer cost of his remaining contract. Houston is nearly at their cap for the year and McNabb's services would command a whopping $1.5 million to any team willing to pick him up off of waivers.

Houston cannot afford to pay a quarterback in decline that kind of money—in fact, it's doubtful any team will be willing to do so. But at least the Texans aren't in as bad a shape at the position to begin with.

Though the Texans have lost both starting quarterback Matt Schaub and backup Matt Leinart to injuries, their cadre of passers—newly-anointed starter T.J. Yates and veteran backups Jake Delhomme and Kellen Clemens—have the team feeling positive enough about their chances moving forward that adding McNabb wouldn't worth the money or effort.

At the very least, Yates knows the Houston offense. The same can't be said for McNabb, who struggled to get comfortable with his last two teams and it showed. Yates is young, was drafted this year by the Texans as a player with potential to help the team in the future, while McNabb is old, out of shape and likely done as a professional player after this season.

Indeed, if McNabb lands anywhere this season, he won't be seeing any playing time barring significant injury to the starter already on the roster. Personally, I don't see a team actually picking him up off of waivers, instead preferring him to become a free agency and therefore a less-expensive acquisition.

This is the twilight of McNabb's career, to be sure, but he won't be ending his career as a Houston Texan. The Texans wouldn't have it any other way.