Why we'll keep Mario...

[barrett]

The other stuff might be funny money, if you plan to cut a guy before the contract runs out. If you sign a young guy like Barwin you are only cutting him if something goes wrong and he does not perform. If you don't plan on him playing out his contract then you certainly don't cut Mario Williams.

Not to mention the total contract and salary per year is what affects the cap number which is what we are talking about here.

If Barwin gets 5 years for $15-20 million gauranteed (with say 50 total), and Mario is at 6 years and 40 million gauranteed (and 80) total, then the cap number is not that different. One contract spreads it out to 10 million a year and the other to 13 million.

Obviously the deal with the lower gaurantee lets you get out of it easier, but that only matters if you care about future cap health (like 3-5 years down the road if you think one of these guys might be cut and the un-amortized bonus counts), or if you are worried about the health of Bob McNair's wallet.

Neither of those things should matter for a team that wants to win a superbowl next year. Spend the money and figure out the future in the future (when the cap skyrockets anyways, not to mention contracts will skyrocket in a few years with the salary floor, meaning Barwin's deal could be much bigger since everyone has to spend).

[Nconroe]

We're all speculating on what 2012 salary cap will be and what Texans current salary cap number is. Plus, they need to be under whatever the new number is on March 13 and then again somewhere when season begins, other times I think things can temporarily be over or under.

Here is a link to a place that thinks Texans currently sit at $116 mil
http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports...12-season.html

Here is a link that has current core Texans salaries at $90 mil total
http://www.sportscity.com/NFL/Houston-Texans-Salaries

I hope for sure Texans can keep all their top free agents and think they likely can do that, including Mario, Arian, Chris and a few others.

[HPF Bob]

From the above Sun-Sentinal link:

The salary cap for 2012 has not been set, but it is projected to be between $121-125 million, with teams being able to borrow another $2 million from future caps. Therefore, we’ll safely project the salary cap to be at $124 million in ’12. But please understand this is an estimation.

If Mario was already at $13 million and then we're $4-8 mill under the cap, then I hope we can simply fit Mario into a deal that doesn't raise that number at all and use the money on Foster who will get a big raise.

[barrett]

I think Mario was at $18 million last year. An $8-12 million cap number is reasonable on even a huge long term deal.

So the $6-10 million less he'll count next year plus the cap increase should allow us to do what we want. Especially if we dump JJ and a few others for younger/cheaper alternatives.

[WMH]

Saw this earlier, sure don't see how this will help us keep Mario, or the others for that matter:
@JRRickert: San Diego Chargers and Houston Texans elected not to carry over 2011 salary cap room to 2012 --

Granted, its "only" a reported $3MM-$4MM, my question is Why Not?

In thier pressers, both Kubiak and Smith declared he remains a priority, why not put every bit of ammo you can in your gun?

Don't understand the logic behind that, especially in the situation we are reported to be in.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by WMH

Saw this earlier, sure don't see how this will help us keep Mario, or the others for that matter:
@JRRickert: San Diego Chargers and Houston Texans elected not to carry over 2011 salary cap room to 2012 --

Granted, its "only" a reported $3MM-$4MM, my question is Why Not?

In thier pressers, both Kubiak and Smith declared he remains a priority, why not put every bit of ammo you can in your gun?

Don't understand the logic behind that, especially in the situation we are reported to be in.

Why is it so difficult for people to understand that Mario is gone ?

[WMH]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

Why is it so difficult for people to understand that Mario is gone ?

Its not that I don't think he's a goner (cause I do) , its more a question of why they aren't carrying over available cap space. They have other issues besides Mario.

[cadams]

is this confirmed? i cannot imagine that they did not.

[TheMatrix31]

Sad to see Mario go, but it's foolish for anyone to grab him at that price.

We'll roll with our boys.

[edo783]

Loved Mario when he was on and hate to see him go, but for the club this is the right thing. My ONLY real concern on the front 7 is depth and quality of the rotation. If we lose Meyers also, that puts major strain on the draft to be a home run. I would take the Koch (sp) kid out of Wisconsin with the first pick and then best convertable or already an OLB with the 2nd. Not the way I would have wanted to play the 1st two picks, but ya have to play the cards as they are delt to you.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by TheMatrix31

Sad to see Mario go, but it's foolish for anyone to grab him at that price.

We'll roll with our boys.

Couldn't agree more, it is sad to see him leave but the going-price was ridiculous and I would have been upset with the Texans had the price they paid been anything like because he's just not worth it to us.
When Winston was cut I was for sure stunned, but it didn't occur to me that it was anything but an isolated situation. Then came Myers and Breisel, neither of whom were resigned and allowed to seek work else where, and that's when I became convinced that Smith and his cap guy Olsen have failed to understand and/or mismanaged the new CBA as it relates to player compensation.
This is a major breakdown and one of the few things that could sabotage Texans momentum going into the 2012 season.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

Couldn't agree more, it is sad to see him leave but the going-price was ridiculous and I would have been upset with the Texans had the price they paid been anything like because he's just not worth it to us.
When Winston was cut I was for sure stunned, but it didn't occur to me that it was anything but an isolated situation. Then came Myers and Breisel, neither of whom were resigned and allowed to seek work else where, and that's when I became convinced that Smith and his cap guy Olsen have failed to understand and/or mismanaged the new CBA as it relates to player compensation.
This is a major breakdown and one of the few things that could sabotage Texans momentum going into the 2012 season.

OH NO. When did Breisel and Meyers leave? How did I miss that?

[popanot]

Look, it's obviously a huge gamble letting these guys hit the market, but it could actually payoff in that these guys dont get offered the $$ they thought they would. It's kind of hard to complain about being in cap hell and then on the other hand say we should have offered Myers/Brisiel contracts before allowing the market determine their value. What if we renegotiated, overpaid, and thus went even deeper into cap hell? What's worse? Maybe we end up re-signing these guy far cheaper than we originally thought? The Texans obliviously feel it's a gamble worth taking so I guess we need to trust their judgement for now.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by barrett

OH NO. When did Breisel and Meyers leave? How did I miss that?

OK that's fair, but you know as well as I do when these guys get the opportunity to go shopping it's often sayonara. Not always, but often they get sat down in another teams office and don't leave until they've inked a new deal.
I bet we lose Myers, and if I'm mistaken I'll acknowledge that I initially overreacted to his situation. I hope I get that chance to do so ?

[barrett]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

OK that's fair, but you know as well as I do when these guys get the opportunity to go shopping it's often sayonara. Not always, but often they get sat down in another teams office and don't leave until they've inked a new deal.
I bet we lose Myers, and if I'm mistaken I'll acknowledge that I initially overreacted to his situation. I hope I get that chance to do so ?

Guys who sign early in FA get overpaid. Guys who sign a week in are paid about right. Guys who sign late get veteran minimum or little more. It is a good sign that Meyers and Breisel are still out there. We may still lose one or both, but the more time goes by the better our chances. I have to believe both know they are better here than they would be elsewhere. So if we can come close on the money we should have a good chance.

But either way I would not overpay for Meyers, Breisel, Winston, or Smith. Brown is the only guy with real talent. Meyers was looking at being replaced and hated by our fans 3 years ago before we got Foster. I remember him being placed into Slaton's lap by the opposing DT numerous times that year. I think he has improved, but even so, I won't declare the sky is falling if we lose him. Especially not until I see how we replace him if he goes.

We should get Breisel back cheap and we shouldn't lose much at RT with Butler (who filled in admirably for a better player at a tougher position). If we find a credible replacement in the draft/FA for Meyers or we bring him back, then I won't be concerned about our OL.

To me bringing back Foster was far more important than anything else this offseason.

[HPF Bob]

The problem with letting the market determine their value is that all it take is one of the other 31 clubs to overvalue your player and you've lost him.

I do know this - there's no way in hell we're taking a WR now in the first round. We have too many other needs and we kept Jacoby and Walter which means Smith valued them more than he did the o-linemen and FB he released or didn't re-sign.

To all of you who whine about Jacoby and Walter (including me) , the Texans obviously don't agree with you.