Mario Trade Idea

[WMH]

You can never really buy too much in what coaches say, but Kubiak sure didn't sound like someone who did not want Mario back on his radio show today. He said something to the effect of, "man, I can't wait to see what he could do with a whole season in this system."

Facts are facts, the cap is what it is, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to see them legitimately try to work a deal out.

[barrett]

The overriding factor for me is that Mario is much better individually than Barwin or Reed. I know those guys played great the 2nd half of the year and the drop off is not that large, but there is a drop off. Mario is our best pass rusher.

No matter how it happens, if we can keep Mario without losing Foster I am for it. Any long term deal should give him a lower cap number than last year. If it comes down to Demeco/Walter/JJ being cut, I am fine with that. If we need to ask Schaub for a restructured deal, I'm okay with that too. If it removes us as a player in FA I am for that too. To win a superbowl we will likely have to beat Tom Brady and maybe Rodgers or Brees or a Manning. Watch the NYG and you know the best/only way to do that is with pass rush. There is no coverage to stop those guys.

[barrett]

Which of these do you choose?

(worst case financial scenario)
Mario
Rookie WR #2
Restructured Walter/Bryant Johnson/cheap FA/low round Rookie WR #3
Dobbins/Sharpton MLB #2

or (best case financial scenario)

no mario
Wayne
Walter/JJ #3
Demeco


I would personally prefer to spend my money on the best pass rusher our team has than some of the other less important positions on the team.

[Nconroe]

Adding to the radio interview comments, I thought I heard Kubiak say signing Mario to a new deal was no. 1 priority this off season. And further said that Mario really wants to stay here.

[HPF Bob]

Kubiak is not going to say anything other than Mario is a great player and he really wants him. If he doesn't say that and Mario stays, Mario doubts whether the coach has his back. If he doesn't say that and Mario goes, it might have reduced our trade leverage.

[nunusguy]

“I want to give credit to the Houston Texans. That was probably the best defense I’ve seen all year."
http://www.houstontexans.com/news/ar...5-84ef2a287220
***************
That's the Ravens RB Ray Rice on how he rates the Texans D. And the Ravens played the Steelers twice this year and SanFran among other teams,
so high praise for our young defense from the All-Pro back to say the least.
My point here is that resigning Mario shouldn't be our top priority given other needs which are clearer greater than making a very good defense probably just marginally better while expending a big chunk of cap-space to do so. The process of prioritizing priorities is a key task for NFL GMs, so it will be interesting and very important to see how Rick Smith handles this situation ?

[Keith]

This league is defined by quarterbacks and pass rushers. Everything else is just the trimmings. Barwin had a great November, and Reed was terrific in the playoffs, but we'd be fools to let another great veteran pass rusher like Mario slip through our fingers.

I know I'm the missing link here since I haven't posted a cap page in 2 years, but the team's cap situation is what gives me pause on tagging Mario then trying to sign or trade him. I fear the team might have to cut someone to make room for him on the 2012 cap given Mario's f-tag figure would be tremendous. Best to re-sign him next month.

Btw, signing Mario and extending Foster are not mutually exclusive events. There is a priority though, and Mario is first. Foster's extension can really come anytime before any talk of holdouts come into play, which at a minimum shouldn't happen until OTAs.

[Joshua]

I think Mario was already on the books for around $15 million last year. Give him a well structured longterm deal and the Texans can probably bring down his cap number. While people can certainly debate whether he's worth this, from a pure cap standpoint, his percentage of the cap will likely go down under a new deal so I don't see him being a cap crusher. I think Myers was making around $3 million. While he was great this year, the Texans should have some leverage since Myers is a perfect fit for our system and wouldn't be a target for a lot of teams due to his smaller stature. He can probably be kept with a slight pay raise but won't require a huge bump. As for Arian, cut Leinart (2-3 million?), Jacoby (3 million more?), either re-do Rackers' contract or find a cheaper option (another million) and give it all to him.

Throw in some restructured deals and maybe one or 2 cuts that actually hurt, and I think they should be able to make it all happen.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Joshua

I think Mario was already on the books for around $15 million last year. Give him a well structured longterm deal and the Texans can probably bring down his cap number. While people can certainly debate whether he's worth this, from a pure cap standpoint, his percentage of the cap will likely go down under a new deal so I don't see him being a cap crusher.

While I agree with this AFTER Mario is signed, if Mario is still on an F-tag on New League Year's Day, he is a cap crusher. Take whatever his figure was in 2011 and multiply by 120%.

Originally Posted by Joshua

I think Myers was making around $3 million. While he was great this year, the Texans should have some leverage since Myers is a perfect fit for our system and wouldn't be a target for a lot of teams due to his smaller stature. He can probably be kept with a slight pay raise but won't require a huge bump. As for Arian, cut Leinart (2-3 million?), Jacoby (3 million more?), either re-do Rackers' contract or find a cheaper option (another million) and give it all to him.

A little more info in lieu of an updated cap page...
- Myers' cap figure in 2011 was $3.5M. His signing bonus 4 yrs ago was $3M. He has received a lot of credit recently for his level of play. Btw, I think Mike Brisiel is a UFA as well (if I'm not operating on old data here).
- Leinart has 1 yr left on his contract with a base salary of $1.75M.
- Jacoby is scheduled to have base salaries of $3M and $4M in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Fwiw, Walter is $3.5M. One of these two at a minimum is overpaid in 2012.
- Rackers is a free agent. He is an average kicker, and much of the potential FAs are about as average or worse. I think Josh Scobee may be a FA though, and he is probably worth targeting if so. Otherwise, maybe bring in a rookie to challenge Rackers in camp and let the best man win.

[WMH]

Originally Posted by Keith

Btw, signing Mario and extending Foster are not mutually exclusive events. There is a priority though, and Mario is first. Foster's extension can really come anytime before any talk of holdouts come into play, which at a minimum shouldn't happen until OTAs.

I think this is key, and could likely be how it is played out. I would guess Foster will be tendered pretty quickly, and the staff will focus on more pressing items. He will likely be pissed, and an extension will be worked out during his holdout, but might have to play '12 under the tender, which would be a low cap hit for this season, with most of his guarrantee falling in '13 and after. IIRC, the cap is supposed to go up quite a bit in '13, which could help soften the blow.

[Nconroe]

I sure hope they don't piss off Adrian Foster. He has been a fantastic, smart , team player who really produces, maybe no. 1 back in the league.