June 23, 2009
What is Owed to Owen Daniels?
by Keith Weiland
Keith@IntheBullseye.com

There was a time when the Dunta Robinson contract negotiations were the most interesting and complex in Texans franchise history. As unique as those discussions have been for the organization, the evolving dynamics of the talks regarding a new contract for Owen Daniels might be even more vexing for the team and its fans.

Daniels, a tight end who played in his first Pro Bowl earlier this year, is caught between the current rules of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and the delays of having an extenstion to that agreement negotiated between the players' union and the league. With Daniels' rookie contract expiring after the 2008 season, the CBA deems him a restricted free agent (RFA) tied to the Texans upon receipt of a tender offer.

The Texans tendered Daniels the highest possible offer they could to a RFA, a one-year, $2.792 million salary with nothing guaranteed after 2009. Daniels has earned far better, but the circumstances of the CBA have cut the negotiating legs from under him. Without an extension to the CBA before next March, Daniels, with just four years of service in the league, will once again be regarded as a RFA in 2010.

This situation differs significantly from Robinson's negotiation in that aspect. Robinson is an unrestricted free agent, and while his tender is also for 2009 with nothing guaranteed afterward, he will still be paid more than three times what Daniels would receive this season without a new contract.

Without an immediate obligation to sign Daniels long-term, the Texans have been awarded the luxury of letting the negotiation occur on their terms. They would obviously be foolish to let him go for nothing, but it might also be a misguided decision to pay a penny more than necessary, too.

As fans, we're caught somewhere in the middle. Our ultimate allegiance is to support the team; otherwise we would still be cheering for players departed to other teams. But as workaday Americans, we like and strive for fairness and a sense of justice. Daniels has performed in a Texans uniform and deserves to be paid commensurate with his position.

But where exactly is the middle ground, especially given the external circumstances of the CBA? As a Pro Bowl-quality tight end, one that is just three years into what appears will be a long and fruitful career, it stands to reason that Daniels would earn a new contract in line with the top five or so players at his position. Daniels has a small window in which to capitalize on a megaBUXXX contract, and to leave himself exposed to injury risk with the one-year tender is simply too tremendous a gamble to accept willingly.

There is no obligation for the Texans to pay Daniels more than his tendered offer, not so long as he remains a RFA. And unless Daniels chooses not to play, he is left with little recourse other than to sign his tender and stay off the field for as long as he can, which is exactly what he chose to do after signing the offer last week.

Given the ultimate support of fans for the team over its individuals, there is also the perspective that believes Daniels' statistical output is simply a product of "the system". This point-of-view implies that Daniels is replaceable by another comparable player, such as his backup Joel Dreesen or rookie James Casey. While either or both might be admirable replacements for Daniels, reducing what Daniels has accomplished in this manner is a mistake.

The accusation that Daniels has played in what has become a tight end-friendly offense might have some merit if you consider the extent to which he has been involved as a receiver. His statistics since being drafted:

Year	Rec	Yds	TD
2006	34	352	5
2007	63	768	3
2008	70	862	2

Given the similarities between the offenses employed by the Texans and the Broncos, particularly in the recent years in which Texans head coach Gary Kubiak served as the offensive coordinator in Denver, it is a worthwhile exercise to compare the Broncos and their top tight ends to help judge Daniels as product of the system.

Year	Player	Rec	Yds	TD
2000	Dwayne Carswell	49	495	3
2001	Dwayne Carswell	34	299	4
2002	Shannon Sharpe	61	686	3
2003	Shannon Sharpe	62	770	8
2004	Jeb Putzier	36	572	2
2005	Jeb Putzier	37	481	0

The only Broncos tight end to post statistics that compare to Daniels' past two seasons belong to Shannon Sharpe, a Hall of Fame finalist this year. Understandably, the 2007-08 Texans and the 2000-05 Broncos were made of up different players and circumstances thereby making the comparison an imperfect one, but knowing the similarities that do exist between the two teams, if the results posted by Daniels were truly a product of the system, then one might have expected Jeb Putzier or Dwayne Carswell to post at least one season with numbers close to what Daniels has posted. Further, Putzier was handed the opportunity to post them as a Texan in 2006, but he was beaten by Daniels, a rookie.

So then maybe Daniels himself is the reason Daniels is good just as the reason Sharpe was good was because of Sharpe himself, not the simply because of the allegedly tight end-friendly system. This isn't to say that the Texans might have similarly scouted and acquired capable players in Dreesen and Casey, but Daniels has at least shown his productivity to be at a special level worthy of top compensation relative to his peers.

And thankfully, Daniels' fumble problems two years ago appear to be ancient history. With 70 receptions in 2008, he turned over the football just once, the same as other elite receiving tights ends such as Kellen Winslow, Antonio Gates, and Dallas Clark.

Regardless of whether any of these comparisons are relevant, Daniels is stuck between his status as a RFA and the idling status of the CBA extension. And his fans are caught between what's fair to Daniels and what's in the best interests of the team they support. Which makes this negotiation the most vexing, indeed.

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