my thoughts are - on JJ we needed to pay him or when he became a free agent some other team would have gladly paid him and we would have lost a true hero for Houston. JJ has earned it and keeps earning it. Many say he is best defensive player in the league right now.
on salary cap, it kind of is what it is, a team has to deal with it, but it is increasing in next several years, so perhaps not so bad as has been in the recent past where it was basically frozen for four straight years.
so while salary cap basically flat probably true a team could only afford one high paid player at a time, but cap rising so perhaps helps spread the wealth more in future.
on Schaub salary, pretty sure this year Texans have about 10 mil of dead money but free of that next year.
On Franchise QB, not many around and very few available ever as a free agent since if a team has one then better keep him.
So, if Savage or Mallett develop great. For a drafted QB will be four years typically after drafted before he gets a big pay raise so atleast four years off most likely to be a high paid QB here.
According to Sporttrac Texans have about 5 mil cap space available now, which likely mostly they hold for emergencies during the year.
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/houston-texans/cap/