What Should Be Done with Dunta Robinson in the Offseason? [F-Tagged on 2/19!]

[Keith]

Originally Posted by RunninRaven

Yeah, I'm not taking McClane's report as proof of anything. I still have confidence that this team will either sign Dunta or franchise him.

I think this is true. From McClain's article in today's chron.com:

The only way the Texans are guaranteed of keeping Robinson is designating him as the first franchise player in team history. The deadline for teams to franchise players is 3 p.m. today.

If the Texans use the franchise tag on Robinson, he’ll get a one-year contract of $9.957 million. That also would give them more time to negotiate a new deal. ...

Both sides have refused to discuss the negotiations.

That last sentence is most telling. It is not that unusual for the Texans to withhold comment from the chron, but for an agent and player to keep shut really hurts the reporter's ability to get anything notable.

The first two paragraphs are about the most he has mentioned the f-tag without shoving it aside as if it weren't a possibility.

Honestly, I love me some Dunta... but even I'm nervous about giving him $20+ million guaranteed. I would have tagged him myself a week ago and twice on Sunday.

[dalemurphy]

Originally Posted by Keith

I think this is true. From McClain's article in today's chron.com:


That last sentence is most telling. It is not that unusual for the Texans to withhold comment from the chron, but for an agent and player to keep shut really hurts the reporter's ability to get anything notable.

The first two paragraphs are about the most he has mentioned the f-tag without shoving it aside as if it weren't a possibility.

Honestly, I love me some Dunta... but even I'm nervous about giving him $20+ million guaranteed. I would have tagged him myself a week ago and twice on Sunday.

Desperation breed innovation. So, here goes:

I'm going to take the fact that Dunta and his agent refuse to comment about the ongoing negotiations as a sign that a deal is pretty close. Otherwise, players and agents generally make some public declarations in order to put some pressure on the organization or do so simply out of frustration. While Dunta is certainly a quality person and employee, silence hasn't exactly been his M.O. when he sees things he doesn't like.

[nunusguy]

If they don't tag D-Rob today it probably means the Texans don't think he's got it anymore and they're very pessimistic about him returning to his previous form. He's popular among teammates & fans, but 10M is alot of money for one year to just confirm what they may already have concluded about a player which they feel is only a shadow of his former self ?

[Mike]

As of 10:37 the Texans have slapped Dunta with the Franchise tag, per the Chronicle.

chron.com

I hope that they can negotiate a long term deal. This also means that I won't have to scrap my Steel Blue #23 jersey.

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by Mike

As of 10:37 the Texans have slapped Dunta with the Franchise tag, per the Chronicle.

chron.com

I hope that they can negotiate a long term deal. This also means that I won't have to scrap my Steel Blue #23 jersey.

Good to hear it. While people can disagree whether he's worth this much, the Texans have the cap room and I think Dunta is worth overpaying for 1 year to see if he can bounce back.

[jppaul]

Originally Posted by Mike

As of 10:37 the Texans have slapped Dunta with the Franchise tag, per the Chronicle.

chron.com

I hope that they can negotiate a long term deal. This also means that I won't have to scrap my Steel Blue #23 jersey.

Hallejuh. My outrage was wasted apparently.

[painekiller]

The key here is that they have exclusive right to negotiate with him. Now you know he will be a Texan this season, and he knows they want him back.

the negative can be Dunta getting upset about the tag. If the team gets aggressive in signing him to a long term deal, i can see no foul. I still think they get a multi year deal done before camp.

[Keith]

To clarify, the Texans used the non-exclusive tag on Dunta. At least this is what McClain reported... a scenario he thought wouldn't happen all along. Whoops.

The non-exclusive part means he can negotiate with other teams. Should one sign him to an offer sheet, the Texans have the right to match OR receive 2 first rounders in return.

The Texans went thru a similar scenaio with the Rams and Orlando Pace a number of years ago. Pace basically took what the Texans were planning to offer him, and the Rams agreed to offer those terms to him.

No team is going to want to give up two 1sts for Dunta, but his rights could be traded for something less. I expect though that the Texans would want more in a trade than what any other team would be willing to give up for him, so I don't think he's going anywhere this year.

So... the worry now becomes 'when will Dunta report?' since his health in 2009 is of vital importance to him.