So, you're Rick Smith and you have five options to fix your QB dilemma:

1) Retain Fitz, Savage and Keenum for 2015 and see what you can get.
2) Re-sign Mallett to a free agent contract and hand him the keys.
3) Sign another free agent QB, maybe Hoyer.
4) Trade for a QB. RG3 is probably available for less than you'd think.
5) Draft a QB knowing that Mariota and Winston are probably off limits and won't be ready next year.

Which way would you roll?

I'd go ask Bill O'Brien what he thinks?

I guess no obvious way forward at this time.

Open competition with whoever is here?

I don't really see this as a dilemma at all. This seems to me to be the only rational way forward - Mallett, Savage, late round rookie or scrap heap FA.

I bear no ill will towards Fitzpatrick. He seems to be a great dude and I will always remember his lighting up Reliant Stadium. As a Rams rookie. Good times. But that is and was a dead end and everybody knew it.

Sam Bradford may be available in trade:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-...wants-him-back

1. Go get Payton Manning. He's stalling because he really doesn't want to play for Kubs. He would be perfect for this team, we have stud receivers , te's , a good run game and a stellar defense.
2. In the highly unlikely event 1. doesn't happen, I would draft Petty in the second round. Have Mallett start, but have a good, viable option in case he gets injured often. I honestly think Keenum and Fitz are a wash, keep the cheaper option.

I see 1 and 2 as our best options that are available, and the most likely to happen.
The only thing I don't see in #1 is Keenum being around. If I were him, I sure wouldn't resign here, I would latch on to another team that better suits his style in hopes of making the 53 out of camp. He won't be that here.

Interesting read on Bradford (and it's not pretty if you're a Bradford proponent):

http://www.sharpfootballanalysis.com/blog/

Not to go off topic, but I'm curious if the Texans use this kind of analytics - for any position. If not, they should.

Maybe it's this guy...

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...eard-about-yet

Wouldn't mind taking a late-round flier on him.

Looks like Bonner will end up at some NFL teams training camp. who knows.

After seeing what the Brownies gave McCown, Mallet's agent is salivating. Can't believe they gave him that kind of scratch. Not sure that we would be able to compete with a Buffalo offer, which has a whole lotta room they have to spend.

I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't end up getting something goofy in the neighborhood of 3 years, 20ish, with 9 gtd. That is a scary proposition for someone with such limited exposure to live action. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and we aren't the only QB needy team in the league.

It puts the Fitzpatrick deal so many complained about into perspective.

As for what it means for Mallet, not that much. Mallett is neither a veteran nor a mentor. That means no team is going to sign him to a deal bigger than (or even as big as) McCown, unless it is to be the starter. McCown got guaranteed money for the same reason Fitz did, if they start that's ok, but if they don't, they still fit and have value. Mallett is not going to mentor a young kid with his 50 career attempts. He plays or he has no value.

And nobody is likely to make him option 1A other than us. If you are another team you can draft a rookie on the 2nd/3rd day who is just as proven and gets paid nothing for the next 3-4 years.

Plus I think we are the only team running a NE offense except NE, and they are set at both QBs.

I seriously don't think Mallett has half as much value to anyone else as he has to us. I wouldn't be surprised by a 1-2 year deal where he bets on himself to win the job and get paid 5 times more a year from now.

Disagree with what it means for Mallett. McCown has zero upside. None, and just about every one knows it. Mallett is an unknown, similar to a draft pick but has a couple of years of league experience. In a QB starved league, I'd bet GM's would rather roll the dice with a Mallett than a McCown type.

Guessing we will see for sure in the next couple of weeks.

I think he has far more upside than McCown. I just don't think he will get top end backup money, that goes to caretaker/mentor types who can start but who can also be happy and productive in the background.

And I don't think any GM is going to hook their wagon to him in a big time deal when they could just go to the draft and spend a late pick and none of the money.

So he either signs a deal as part of a poo poo platter of QBs somewhere (a team gets 3-4 mediocre ones and lets them fight it out), or he re-signs here with an inside track. The guy was shopped for the whole preseason last year and we got him for a 7th because nobody else wanted him. Then he played one game and got hurt with a season ending injury that has a tendency to re-occur. It is a super thin QB market and guys worse than Rick Smith have jobs out there, so anything is possible, but I would guess he gets no more than McCown.

Cleveland just gave Josh McGowan 3 year, 14 mil, 6.25 guaranteed contract for 35 year old QB. so Mallett likely to get more than that .

I understand what Barrett is saying. I would probably offer Mallett a structured deal that allows him more money based on starts for probably a 3-yr contract. Start 12 or more games, we pay you x. Less than 12 because you got IR'd, we pay you y. Less than 12 but more than 8, we pay you z. Have some other incentives put in it and then a higher guarantee figure to make it marketable.

It would be tricky but it can be done. There has to be rewards for Mallett if he excels and safeguards for the Texans if he doesn't.

I'd go with Mallet (of course) and I expect to hear some breaking news within the next few days/week on his future.

I'd keep Keenum (cheaper than Fitz) and Savage as 2a and 2b and hope that Mallet stays healthy and neither sees the field. Although, if the Texans have their eye on an early round QB such as Petty, then it could be Mallet with Savage/Petty as the backups...

Like I said, McCown's deal meant nothing for Mallett. Veteran backups get paid. You only get paid for potential if a team is investing the future in you and it was obvious no team was going to do that for Mallett. I think this is the perfect deal for Mallett and for Houston.

I have mixed feelings on Hoyer. I think he's generally terrible and just does not have the accuracy to play NFL football. But he has the traits you want in your backup and BOB obviously likes him. Oh well.

One thing today's events do is probably make getting a QB in the draft a non-priority, in fact, they may just skip QB all together....

Yep, you were right, and I was wrong. Given the status of the available QB market, I assumed more people would be willing to gamble on an unknown than the slew of mediocre knowns. Not sure I agree with it, but that's certainly what happened.

I don't think it is necessarily smart what happened. I just think head coaches usually only get to miss on a QB of the future once. GM's usually get two chances.

If you sign a veteran backup it is not considered missing. He was never supposed to be the answer. Chip Kelly just paid Mark Sanchez a 2nd time after he was bad last year and he still won't be judged until he gets the QB he wants.

But if you sign a guy to actual money based on potential (or draft a guy with a valuable pick), you are making a public bet he is the guy and the clock starts running on you.

So while it would have been smarter for all those teams to go after Mallett vs known mediocrities like Fitz/Hoyer/McCown/Sanchez/etc... Self-preservation says you grab a vet and keep your options open. And I seriously think the majority of the moves in the NFL have as much to do with GM/HC reputation as they do actual talent. These guys know if they play by the rules and fail they get away with it for a while, but if they rock the boat and fail they get fired.