Cap

WMH · #1 08-03-2011, 09:14 PM

Restructures and extensions with restructures.

My guess, is they will look at Mario and Schaub as the main two. Those two guys are hitting the cap around $20MM this year alone. Schaub's extension (at least in my eyes) is a no-brainer, he's got 1 yr. left after this one. Mario's.....if they weren't up against a time frame, then my guess is they would hold off, but since they don't, we might hear about an extension from him tomorrow. He is in a contract year.

Eric Winston is another worth extending. He's got one year left after this one, and is @ about $4.5MM this year.

Only other option I see is Antonio Smith. Like Mario, I'm betting they wish they had more time to see them in the "system", but since they don't, they will have to restructure/extend. He's due $4.6MM and has two years left after this one.

Might be some other stragglers, Kevin Walters comes to mind, but the above are some big ones.

Keith · #2 08-03-2011, 10:04 PM

They could extend Mario alone to easily get back under. I wonder though if the Texans would be willing to commit millions upon millions guaranteed though right now given the change to the 3-4 and the unknown amount of success Mario will have in it.

So, extending Schaub seems like the smartest thing to do right now, though that alone won't be enough I don't think since his base salary is $5.7 million.

Winston is signed thru 2013 I think unless 2013 was voided somehow. His base is $4.5 million this year, then a half million more each year next.

Restructuring Antonio ($5 million base in 2011) or Andre ($7.3 million) are other possibilities if the Texans don't want to extend Mario just yet.

WMH · #3 08-04-2011, 09:28 AM

Haven't seen any "official" reports of restructures, but saw the below this morning:

@AdamSchefter: As of this morning, there are five teams over the salary cap: OAK $15.25 mil; PITT $8.5m; DET $7.8m; DALLAS $6.7m: HOUSTON $3.25m.

today · #4 08-04-2011, 10:45 AM

Excellent guesses Keith/WMH, you were spot on with Antonio and Andre:

StephStradley Stephanie Stradley
Restructured? DeMeco, Andre. Antonio Smith.

Confirmed 20 minutes later by McClain:
McClain_on_NFL John McClain
The Texans have redone the contracts of Andre Johnson, DeMeco Ryans and Antonio Smith to get under the salary cap. They were $8.5M over.

Keith · #5 08-04-2011, 11:58 AM

So I guess it isn't a surprise that the Texans approached their higher-paid players in a stable contract.

Extending Mario is going to be a tough, complex process, and I don't know that the Texans wanted to rush into that.

Extending Schaub seems like a no-brainer to do it, but negotiating the terms will require some thoughtful insight and a lot of back-and-forth negotiation as well I'm sure.

I don't remember DeMeco's 2011 base offhand, but restructuring Antonio and Andre alone was probably enough to get them close.

I know the typical knee-jerk reaction from the media will be to applaud these three players, but really, it's not much sweat from them... they pretty much just get their base salaries paid as bonuses now. Not a bad deal at all, really. I'd take it.

The kudos belong to the front office, probably to Chris Olsen and whoever else is doing the paperwork.

Keith · #6 08-04-2011, 12:08 PM

Also worth noting that these three now have to sit out of practice with the other signed FAs, at least for a day.

I'd want Mario on the field as much as possible, and there is just Yates at QB if Schaub had to sit iirc.

today · #7 08-04-2011, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith

Also worth noting that these three now have to sit out of practice with the other signed FAs, at least for a day.

I'd want Mario on the field as much as possible, and there is just Yates at QB if Schaub had to sit iirc.

Apparently they just had to sit out the morning practice. Kubes pushed the afternoon practice back to 4:30, so as long as the season calendar officially starts at 4pm today as it should (still a player vote or something?), everyone will be able to practice this afternoon.