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Gotta look at bringing Winston back... right?

From PFT:
Chiefs release Eric****Winston

Posted by Mike Florio on March 6, 2013, 8:14 PM ESTGetty ImagesWhen Chiefs right tackle****Eric Winston****recently lamented****the looming departure of quarterback****Matt Cassel, we suggested that Winston could still suffer the same fate.And now he is.Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Chiefs are releasing Winston.**** He’ll hit the free agent market immediately, a few days before it opens.Winston was due to earn a base salary of $4.9 million in 2013.**** He signed with the Chiefs after being cut last year by the Texans.Because he received an $8.4 million signing bonus, the acceleration results in a $6.3 million cap charge.**** That’s still $700,000 lower than it would have been if Winston had stayed — and also $4.9 million cheaper.With an $8.4 million signing bonus and a $900,000 salary in 2012, Winston earned $9.3 million in one year with the Chiefs.The move gives the Chiefs the flexibility to take Luke Joeckel with the first pick in the 2013 draft, and then to move Joeckel or****Branden Albert****to the right side.

Just about to post this. Are those F-bombs being edited from your post?:eek:

It definitely hurt us to lose him, but he is also a guy who is not very good if you can't protect him with a great run game and a boot leg system. If you are talking about straight drop back pass protection he is worse than Newton (and maybe Butler). That is probably why a team with $18 million in cap space is cutting him for almost no savings this year (due to his gaurantee and cap hit).

With that said, I'd love to have him back because he was a tone setter on offense and a guy people hated to play against. I wonder if he could play RG with Newton at RT? He made $9 million in one year in KC so maybe he is ready to come home cheap for the chance to play in a system that makes him look good and a franchise that lets him contend.

Who says Rick Smith (and Kubiak), didn't know what they were doing last year when they released Winston ?

No, not sure what's up with that. I copied and pasted from my tele.

RG is intriguing. $ will be a factor, I'm sure. Someone will likely over pay, look at some of the OL that had jobs last year. It will be interesting to see if he chases cash again or go to a decent squad.

Now you're thinking.

After basically throwing 2 draft picks last year at RG, I'd be surprised if the Texans don't give one of them a chance to win the job. As such, I don't see them offering Winston much more than camp fodder/safety valve money. But I do think it is an interesting idea.

The Texans and the Eagles were reportedly the first two teams to contact Winston. There's also been speculation that he could end up with the Dolphins, since they pursued him last year but were outbid by the Chiefs, he went to college there, and he would be reunited with offensive coordinator Mike Sherman.

I’d be surprised too if the Texans were willing to throw big money at him, though. FYI, the minimum for a veteran like him who will be in his eighth season is $840,000.

I think one of them, namely 2012 rookie guard Ben Jones, has done that already as he was the starting RG on a regular basis at the latter part of the
regular season and into the playoffs. And I won't be surprised if Jones and the other 2012 rookie guard Brandon Brooks are THE starting guards at the beginning of the 2013 RS.

Wow, Nnamdi released by the Eagles.

Lots of WR traffic... Mike Wallace to Dolphins, Boldin to 49ers, Harvin to Seahawks.

Yep, all my wishful thinking went right out the window, especially with the release of Walter.

PDS (@PatDStat) tweeted:
According to @RealMKRob the #Texans have contacted free agent WR Greg Jennings. No contract has been offered.

I was afraid of this - Glover Quin and James Casey visiting other teams.
Teams with cap space may just outbid what Texans can offer.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/ar...8-a439bff60689

NFL.com is reporting James Casey has signed with the Eagles.

Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) tweeted:
FB James Casey has agreed to a 3-year deal with the Eagles worth $14.5 million

Good for Casey. We need a FB and a TE now....

@WilliamsonNFL: Would say #Vikings #Jets or #Texans are best fits for DHB

Nate Griffin (@coloranalyst) tweeted:
Cowboys, Seattle, San Francisco, New York Giants & Jets, & the HOUSTON TEXANS are showing interest in free agent corner, Charles Woodson

I think I would prefer a player with fewer years in the NFL than the Texans.

LOL. Not if it were Peyton Manning.

Most of the names on this thread don't move me. Jennings might be okay depending on the price tag.

I saw an article that had a very interesting observation. All of the teams spending big or able to spend big right now have cheap QBs on the new rookie salary scale of the last 2 years (seattle, SF, Indy, MIA, CLE). Smart picks (or stumbling into #1 overall), combined with a super friendly rookie scale allows these teams to spend between 5-25% of what most teams are paying for a QB and means they can spend all of that additional money elsewhere. In the Colts case that means overpaying career backups. I was pretty worried about the Colts until they did the opposite of the Polian era (when they never signed a FA and built through the draft) and handed out guaranteed money like crazy for mediocre players.

Phone call from Rick Smith prolly went something like this>
"Soooo.... Nnamdi... want to play safety for us? Call me maybe?"

I’m guessing that any numbers discussed on that call were just a bit smaller than the ones those guys kicked around a couple years ago.

Quin’s agent said that the Texans had some preliminary talks with him but never made an “official offer.” It sounds like a similar situation as with Mario last year, where the team quickly decided that the two sides were so far apart that they should move on.

Barwin is talking with the Eagles. The linked article doesn’t exactly make it sound like they’re willing to break the bank for him, though, since it basically describes the Eagles as bargain hunters looking for “value free agents.”

Jackson to FS in that scenario I guess.

Welker to the Broncos at $6 mil/per, Brady said to be disgusted.

I wouldn't mind them taking a look at Laurent Robinson. He played well with a decent QB. Just got Gabberted last year.

Michael Huff was released by the Raiders if we are talking about safeties. He doesn't have the resume of Woodson and Reed but he's a Texan and he would likely still be an upgrade over Quin. I think he needs a change of scenery.

Don't agree that Huff would be an upgrade over Quin, but he would definitely be an upgrade over anyone currently on the roster to fill Quin's spot. If a 1 or 2 year deal with Reed can't be worked out today, I suspect he is someone they are considering.

Barwin has signed with the Eagles for some good money.

6 years, $36 million.

Lots of former Texans accumulating in Philly now, DeMeco, Casey, Barwin.

Neither Barwin or Quinn was a great player. You don't pay FA level money for guys like that. Not if you want to stay good. You draft well and you replace guys. That is the only way to stay good. Pittsburgh and New England and the other teams that have stayed good in the FA era have watched their mid level guys walk over and over rather than giving them stupid contracts. There is no world where Barwin should be getting $40 million. I love the guy, but the Texans dodged a bullet when he turned down the extension before the 3 sack stinker. He simply doesn't have edge speed and OL took away the inside move last year.

Quinn was a solid and versatile player. Not many guys can cover the slot, play safety, and be a de facto LB in the box in Nickel. But safety is supposed to be one of the strongest positions in this draft and a mid round pick behind a vet is a very reasonable alternative to a huge contract for your 6th or 7th best defensive player.

These are the decisions that Houston has to make to stay good. They cannot just sign everyone like the Jets or they stink in 3 years. Of course the 2nd half of that plan is that they have to be very good in the draft and in the cheaper part of FA to fill all the holes.

That all leads to a good point. Who do you want to throw money at with our system and our schemes? Priority-wise, it looks like this:

1) J.J. Watt
2) Duane Brown
3) Andre Johnson
4) Jonathan Joseph
5) Brian Cushing
6) Arian Foster
7) Matt Schaub
8) Antonio Smith

But, in a few years, that list may look way different. I know some people will ask why I have Foster and Schaub so low and the reason I do is that I think Kubiak's system allows them to look better than they are whereas A.J., especially in his prime, would produce in any system.

We're going to want to have money available when Watt is eligible for a raise and we can't do that if we dole that out to the James Caseys and Glover Quins. I liked all three players we lost but they are replaceable.

Mercilus will definitely need to step up next year and we will also need to see the Brooks Reed we saw in 2012 for the defense to reach their potential.

Judging from all the conversations I've heard, whether in person or on messageboards, radio, etc., I don't think you need to lose any sleep over people thinking you ranked Schaub too low.

As is the case with many free agent deals, there was some sticker shock when the news of Connor Barwin's contract started to leak out.

6 years for $36 million! Wow monster money!

But then we all start to remember that NFL contracts are about one thing, guaranteed money. Eagles fans will remember when Demetress Bell signed a 5-year, $35 million deal last offseason. He's not here anymore and it didn't cost the Eagles a dime to cut him. That's because all of his guarantees were in the first year.
It was soon revealed that Barwin's deal included just $8 million in guarantees.
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2...-team-friendly
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8 million guaranteed ! That's it ? When's the last time you've saw a deal where the guaranteed money was < 25 % of the nominal total compensation package ?
I'm starting to think that either Barwin wanted out of Houston, or that the Texans wanted Barwin out of Houston, because I've got to think that Rick Smith could have put a comp package together that he could live with just fine if Barwin was amenable to accept a deal with so little guaranteed money, unless he wanted a different address for whatever reason.

Yeah, all good points, especially they need to make sure they keep Cushing and Watt in upcimg years.

So it will be interesting if they get Reed, at what price considering he will be 35 when this next season starts.

And, fwiw, I think Arian Foster would be excellent on any team in any system.

In the mean time, Forsett and Ball off to Jacksonville.

5 mil for Reed , depending on years and guarantee, seems about right with our salary cap limits.

Another of my wishful thinking......

Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) tweeted:
Greg Jennings reached agreement with...the Vikings.

Elvis Dumervil is now available after a contract snafu in Denver. He had 17 sacks in 2009 as a 3-4 OLB. He'll probably cost $6-8 mil but he would certainly be a top edge rusher.

WR2 lust continues.......

Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) tweeted:
The Patriots will release Brandon Lloyd, according to a source.

I've been watching that wondering if the Texans will try to take advantage. I doubt they see OLB as a position they should be spending on but damn, that guy is good.

Maybe in a year or two they'll screw up Von Miller's contract too.

Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) tweeted:
#Texans have lost a few free agents... But sounds like they are interested in re-signing punter Donnie Jones. 47.2 avg in 2012.

Well, as long as we keep Donnie Jones in the fold, things can't be too bleak...:rolleyes: