This Owen Daniels flap is getting ridiculous. I get Owen’s side of the problem. He deserves to get paid, yes. But unlike Dunta Robinson who does not have a contract - Owen signed a deal, and he should be at this mandatory camp.
Prior to this latest bit of disheartening information, Steph laid out a lot of good information about this whole OD “mess.” The reason I put quotes around “mess” is that information is coming from too many sources right now, and none of it directly from Owen himself. There’s a lot of speculation being thrown around - and depending on what you read, you might end up on the side of Owen, or the side of the team.
First off - yes, Owen has directly said some things on his Facebook account - but I’m talking about this latest group of salvos:
This one (via PFT), which states Owen wants to be the highest paid tight end in the league. (By the way, I think I should add that I think this story on PFT is a huge, steaming pile of bullroar).
…and this one (via Chron.com), which states that Owen has turned down a contract that would make him the second-highest paid tight end in the league.
I like Owen Daniels. I think I value him a lot more than a lot of other people do. I do think Owen benefits from the system - but I also think it’s utterly ridiculous that so many fans on message boards and blogs seem to think that you can just plug James Casey in to Owen’s spot and the Texans won’t miss a beat. That’s just plain ludicrous, and I might even say - idiotic.
Owen is a great pass-catcher, he’s fantastic at finding the seam in the defense, and he’s not a GREAT blocker - but the key to his blocking is - he’s getting better at it every season. It would be one thing if he was just okay, and had been just okay his entire career - but he’s improving, and more importantly - he’s already known as one of the hardest - if not the hardest - worker on the team. In other words, I see no reason why he won’t continue to improve.
That said - if it’s true that Owen feels like he should be the highest-paid tight end in the league, well I guess we’ll enjoy him playing out of his head in 2009 for a contract elsewhere. Personally - I think Owen knows how incredibly ridiculous Kellen Winslow’s contract is, and probably doesn’t realistically expect that he should receive more than that amount - especially when Winslow himself doesn’t deserve that amount.
Owen Daniels is a great tight end. Without a doubt statistically, he’s top-five in the league. I don’t think he’s a system tight end, but he does benefit from the system, if that makes any sense. Steve Slaton also benefits from the system - does that make him any less important or valuable to the team? I don’t think so.
Just because a system is successful doesn’t mean the pieces are easily interchangeable. Daniels has good instincts on top of great work ethic, character, youth, results/statistics, etc., and he’s shown no signs that he’s finished growing and improving as a player. For that, I think he deserves to be paid, and be paid well. How much is a different story. It may be an irritating stance to take as a writer - but I’m no good at speculating what a player IS worth - but I sure as heck will take a shot at telling you what I think a player is NOT worth.
The Texans will have to overpay to sign DeMeco Ryans to a long-term contract, and I’m fine with that - because that’s what it takes to retain pro bowl-caliber players.
The Texans would have had to overpay to keep Dunta Robinson. I would have been fine with that as well because of how important the CB position is - but then we find out just HOW MUCH they would have had to overpay, and suddenly I was finished with Dunta Robinson and have now written him off completely. He’ll be gone after ‘09, and there’s absolutely no doubt about that.
With Owen, it’s a little tougher. I just don’t think we need to sink Dallas Clark or Kellen Winslow money into him, but at the same time - I think the offense would take a noticeable hit if he wasn’t on the team.
My biggest problem with NFL contracts is that sometimes it seems like there are only two things that matter. 1 - contracts that other players sign, no matter how incredibly ridiculous they are, and 2 - statistics. Obviously, both of those things can be horribly misleading, if not completely irrelevant at times. It of course depends on the situation, but both of those issues have severely complicated (if not totally crippled) the Owen Daniels contract situation.
So now what? Owen isn’t showing up for mandatory min-camp, and he will be fined for it. I realize what the potential negative reprecussions would have been for Owen had he not signed the RFA tender yesterday - but if you sign a contract, you need to be at work.
Sure, he’s unhappy - but at the end of the day, it’s his job to be there. This mini-camp is mandatory, despite how much the veterans might deem it unnecessary. If you sign a contract, it’s your job to show up for work. I know that’s an incredible over-simplification, but in Owen’s case, I think it applies.