Frankly, I like Dunta and think he brings a spirited leadership to the team. Having said that, the team survived without him and could survive without him again if they had to. He was knocking on pro-bowler status pre-injury but post-injury, he just hasn't shown the same level, yet (IMHO).

Molden is waiting in the wings. The 2009 season could be used as an evaluation year to determine if Dunta can regain form...

Maybe the Lions would give us #65 and Cliff Avril. :D

Hey fellas, with Demeco firing his agent, Steph Stradley is reporting on her blog that Demeco is coming back to Houston and will participate in the voluntary workouts. Check out the Chron blogs. Good news.

Yes, good. Linky to Steph. She is citing a radio report on 790AM.

DeMeco's caught in a crappy situation. His greatest enemy right now is the lack of a new CBA. And if the Texans aren't going to re-open negotiations with him this summer, DeMeco's best choice is to play his heart out this season and hope for a new CBA in 2010. That starts with getting in gear with the team's offseason workout program.

I think its a good move on DeMeco's part for sure. Hopefully Team will now do something for both Demeco and OD to reciprocate and help with a good gesture, perhaps Dunta too if he comes to camp soon.

He hired Ben Dogra who represents Mario. That should be a positive since Dogra and the Texans have positive history together.

Anyone have any idea what this "scoop" McClain is supposed to have today on Dunta Robinson? He is supposed to post an article around 3, according to his chat transcript this morning.

There's a quote on the Texans official site about Dunta wanting to retire a Texan, and I assume that means he wants to sign soon and not play here at the very end of his career.

Ugh, Dunta digging in his feet.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6392245.html

Dunta is one of my favorite players, but I think he is smoking something if he thinks he is worth more than they have offered him. Maybe it is time to trade him.:mad:

He needs a new agent , similar to what Demeco did. And he needs to get himself into camp . He wants a long term deal, but Texans offered him a very fair long term deal already.

But he dosen't want a deal with the Texans. That should be obvious to all of by now. I dunno why he dosen't want to be in Houston, but he just
doe not.

I think you're right, nunusguy. What's wild is he isn't demanding a trade like most players. It's almost as if he's demanding FREE AGENCY. Which is bizarre. There is no way the team let's him go without compensation. Dunta needs to get his head straight or this could go on a LONNNG time.

And I think it's going to. I don't understand why he's behaving like this, or what he's trying to prove, but I'm hoping the Texans call his bluff. It would be ridiculous to promise not to franchise him next year, and he has to know that. The only thing that makes sense to me, since he clearly doesn't want to be in houston at this juncture, is to structure his contract like albert haynesworth's last year. load it with incentives that, if reached, block us from franchising him again. That'd get him into camp, and at absolute max effort, at that. Who knows, maybe a little playoff run with this young team might have an effect on how bad he wants to leave.

I don't really get where he's coming from in this whole situation. He's said on several occasions, even as recently as a few months ago, that he wants to retire a Texan. Does he want to be a free agent so he can travel the country picking up free steak dinners just to come back and say, "Look how loyal I am"? And what happened to "You can count on me, coach"? Not showing up till the middle of september doesn't exactly match up to that statement. The longer this goes on, and the more he digs in his heels, the more I'm becoming comfortable with trading him the second he signs his tender. For being such a "locker room guy," he sure is becoming quite the malcontent.

Could someone be kind enough to explain again how compensation (picks) to the Texans would work in the event that Dunta leaves the team at the end of the season and the alternatives the Texans have to maximize his value?

- Franchise him (one more time only?) for 2010.
- Type of franchise where another team could still sign him.
- Offer a contract at a high value . . . he declines. (league gives team compensation?)
- No contract offered. (no compensation?)
- Trade him right now for a decent running back (he must sign his tender 1st?).

Thanks,

Swap him out for RB Bush or the CB in Philly, Brown. Get something for him and get him gone. If he was a top 5 CB probably wouldn't, but he is probably not even a top 10 CB anymore. On his best days he was somewhere in the 5-10 range, but he dang sure isn't anymore. Just hike his over inflated ego backside out of town and move on.

any franchised player is allowed to negotiate with any team he chooses, and he is free to sign a contract with said team. however, the team that tagged him would receive 2 1st round draft picks as compensation. that's an awfully high price to pay for any one player, plus his salary demands. That's why franchised players stay put.

If we were to lose Dunta in free agency after offering him a contract, we would receive a compensatory pick from the league, though I'm not sure exactly how that works.

We can't trade him now because he hasn't signed his tender, and therefore is not currently a member of the houston texans. He has to sign in order to be traded, which is one reason why no one has made a play for Peppers.

At this point, i'd take sheldon brown in a heartbeat. Dunta has always been one of my favorite players, but he's really putting a sour taste in my mouth with the way he's handling this situation.

All I know at this point is that we'd better give owen daniels his money, despite the addition of james casey. He's the only one of the 3 with contract issues that has showed up. That had better count for something.

there is a story on Texans web site about Dunta wants to stay
http://www.houstontexans.com/news/St...?STORY_ID=5243

Also Demeco has been in the offseson training the past week.

Some stories out there about Dunta saying he'll play for less than the 10m franchise tag, just give him a fair long term deal.

previously there were stories he had turned down like 18mil guranteed, not sure how many years that covered or what rest of deal was. thus the franchise. maybe Dunta needs a better agent.

so, for me, while I don't like the holdout at all, seems perhaps just need to be patient and this will get negotiated fairly soon. Dunta needs to do like Demeco and show up in training now if he really wants to stay.

But if not, I'm not real sure Dunta is a top 10 CB and while we might miss him, maybe not so much.

And the whole collective bargining agreement will likely change over this next year, so whatever rules are today, will be changing. hopefully to be more fair overall to both players and teams so things don't get to this so much in the future.

superbowlbound already answered most of this, but for more info on how compensatory picks work, AdamJT13 has a detailed summary.

The Texans can still choose to franchise him again for 2010, and they can trade his rights to another team anytime.

The days of Dunta being a bargain are over. His rookie contract is finished. For the money he is asking, we could add a premier player either at his position or someplace else. If we ditch him for reasonable compensation (second or third rounder in next year's draft) I will be more than satisfied.