I’ve added three four links:

Antonio Smith’s blog, website, and Twitter page, plus Eric Winston’s Facebook.

Anytime you come across a Texans’ player online and don’t see them represented here, please let me know.

Thanks to reader Michael for the heads up on Winston’s Facebook page.

With training camp still more than a month away, the Texans cut three players today. Undrafted free agent OT Doug Dedrick, LB Kevis Coley, and QB Alex Brink all got the chop.

NFL teams are only allowed to go into training camp with 80 players, and today’s cuts bring the roster down to 83 (including players who aren’t yet under contract). The Texans still have five unsigned draft picks, and of course Dunta Robinson has yet to sign his deal. Math tells me that means the Texans will have to cut three more players before training camp, assuming they sign all their remaining picks, and assuming Dunta signs his one-year franchise tender.

I’m a little surprised by the Kevis Coley cut. I know we’ve got an insane amount of competition in the linebacker corps, but Coley showed some real flashes last pre-season. I guess I thought he would at least last until the first round of cuts post-training camp. The loss of Dedrick is no surprise, and this of course isn’t the first time the team has sent Alex Brink packing.

Is Grossman now a lock to make the final 53?
A lock? Might be a strong word, but I think the shoe fits. Gary Kubiak has of course said that the team may or may not keep three QBs. This would certainly seem to suggest that might be the case.

Sure, the team could bring Brink back if nobody picks him up - and probably nobody will… and obviously Rex Grossman can’t be a practice squad player. Would Kubiak really go through training camp with three QBs piling up the reps - then cut Grossman loose in favor of bringing back Brink, or bringing in a young guy who would go straight to the practice squad? No way that happens.

To me, this is a clear signal that the team intends to keep three QBs. With the practice squad not being an option - and it not making much sense for Kubiak to just “grab” a third QB at the start of the season and stash him on the practice squad - I think it’s fairly clear this is the direction the team is going. Additionally, we all know there’s a chance that someone else (maybe James Casey) takes over the long snapping duties and frees up that extra roster spot to allow for three QBs.

Improving depth will give more roster flexibility
Added to that - the team simply has better depth than they did last season, and they can afford to keep one less offensive lineman, D-lineman, linebacker, defensive back, etc. In the past, this team was so bad off personnel-wise that the only way for them to address their depth problems was to throw as many bodies as possible at them. Now, it’s not such a dire situation.

Another guy that might allow the Texans room to wiggle on the roster is third-round draft pick Antoine Caldwell. We all know he is able to play both center and guard - and so is Chris White. With two lineman able to jump around on the line, it might be another area where the Texans won’t have to carry as many bodies as they did last year.

So do you think I’m reading too much in to this, as far as what it means for Rex Grossman? In this case, I don’t think so. Obviously all this could change depending on what goes down at camp, but as much crap as Grossman has taken in his career - there’s no way he’s not good enough to be a #3 QB on this team.

One thing is certain - either way, this team is going to have three quarterbacks. If it’s not Grossman on the final roster, then it will be a young guy on the practice squad… and since they’re only paying Grossman $620K - I just see no reason why he won’t be the guy barring a MAJOR training camp implosion.

UPDATE: Added Twitter pages for Mario Williams and Stanley McClover.

With so many Texans players showing up online, I went ahead and collected all the ones I know of (that are legit) and put the various Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, etc., pages in one place. Most of the time, of course, all you will be finding out is what someone’s eating for dinner or what color their shoelaces are - but once in a while, you get a good little nugget. Owen Daniels, for example, actually broke the news of his holdout on his Facebook page, and went on to serve up a few other quotables as well.

I found a Mario Williams Twitter account, but I can’t confirm it’s legit.

If you know of other Texans online in one way or another, please use the contact page to email me, or click the “Texans on the Web” feature at the top right and comment on that page. Any help, as always, is much appreciated.

UPDATE: The Texans have signed 4th round selection TE Anthony Hill to a four-year deal. The Texans have now signed three draft picks, while LB Brian Cushing, DE Connor Barwin, OL Antoine Caldwell, CB Glover Quin, and TE James Casey remain unsigned.

Amusing Barefoot Hillbillies link of the week
Actually, two. Nothing’s more amusing than Tennessee Titans fans talking junk about another team’s quarterback play. Amazing. First, regarding Matt Schaub. Second, regarding Rex Grossman.

I actually consider that site to be the best of any Texans’ rival site… and I’ve been known to stir the pot over there myself, so I welcome the smack talk. Makes for a slightly more tolerable off-season.

Kris Brown gets his money
Thanks to KD for bringing this to my attention in the comments - kicker Kris Brown signed a four-year extension today. Of course, there’s nothing new on the Dunta, Daniels, DeMeco front, and there probably won’t be for a while. People will probably wonder why the front office is taking care of Kris but not the others - but let’s not go crazy. He’s a kicker, and as effective as he was last year, he’s almost instantly replaceable. The other guys… not so much.

Eric Winston weighs in on current Texans affairs
I love that Winston continues to not be shy about sharing his opinions, even on some tough subjects. On his blog, he goes over some of the current issues surrounding the team. It’s worth your time. He discusses the importance of specific contract points in general, and of course - weighs in on Owen Daniels.

We need more Texans representation on the ESPN AFC South blog
I know a lot of you are regular readers of Paul Kuharsky’s AFC South blog. He does more in-depth coverage on the Texans than any national writer I can think of. He does a lot of chats and answers mailbag questions regularly. Trouble is, every time I read the chat transcripts or the mailbag entries - the Texans questions are always scant. We’ve got a guy here who has access to the team, and who does some good beyond-the-surface reporting. There will be much more of that if we all pester him with more Texans questions. Here’s a link to his mailbag.

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.

Just caught this over at the HoustonTexans.com transactions page. Terms are thus far undisclosed.

The Texans aren’t exactly very strong at the safety position, so Nolan could make this team with a strong showing at camp. Right now if I was a betting man, I’d even say he has a better shot to make the roster than sixth-rounder Brice McCain, but I guess it’s silly to get into all that at such an early stage.

Looks like the team also signed free agent guard/tackle Brandon Torrey, as a camp body. Torrey has played for… deep breath… the Steelers, Ravens, Cardinals, Giants, Titans, and Raiders - all since 2005.

SECOND UPDATE: Not so much an update as it is an additional thought. I think the Texans are in the minority in that they typically carry only two QBs on the 53-man roster. Maybe the thinking with Grossman is that they’ll carry three QBs if and only if James Casey or some other position player can wrestle the long-snapping duties away from Clark Harris - who is also a TE, but doesn’t figure to see the field in the TE role at all because of the talent in front of him. Had Grossman’s deal been higher, I’d stick to what I said in the update below - but because he signed for so cheap, it seems like he could stick if the Texans could make room on the roster.

That said - if Casey or someone else is able to take over long-snapping duties, I’d much rather the team keep an extra defensive back, linebacker, or defensive tackle rather than a third QB.

…

UPDATE: Reports say Grossman will sign a one-year deal for the veteran minimum of $620,000 (previously reported as $745K). That’s hardly a desperate signing, but still - Grossman’s not coming to town to be the third-stringer, especially when Kubiak has proven time and time again that he won’t carry three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster.

…

The spin will come soon, I’m sure, but what other reason could there possibly be for THIS, other than expensive backup Dan Orlovsky not inspiring a lot of confidence in OTAs?

The team already has Alex Brink, and they could sign a myriad of young, inexperienced quarterbacks to come in for time BEHIND Orlovsky… the only reason they would bring in a guy like Rex Grossman would be to compete directly with Orlovsky… who signed quite a hefty contract for a backup quarterback - 3 years, $9 million, with a $2.4 million signing bonus.

I’m not usually one to panic - but this is a clear indication to me that the Texans aren’t entirely comfortable with Orlovsky as the backup. Otherwise - they would have brought in a guy like Shane Boyd to be a camp arm.

Well, I can’t say this is surprising. I actually saw this on TexansTalk.com before the Chronicle reported it, as a TexansTalk member saw Owen’s announcement on his Facebook page that he was skipping practice today.

So OD will now sit out OTAs along with disgruntled CB Dunta Robinson. Let’s make it clear before we go any further, though - these are two different situations. Owen Daniels showed his dedication to the Texans by showing up for OTAs without a contract. Had he suffered a serious injury during the OTAs, it would have been a disaster for him. But he took a chance and showed up anyway, because, like DeMeco Ryans - he’s a team-first guy and he wanted to be with his teammates.

But now, after three weeks of OTAs, he’s going to sit, and I don’t blame him. My only fear is that somehow Kellen Winslow’s RIDICULOUS contract has something to do with the hold up - and you know it MUST have something to do with it. I love Owen. He’s arguably the most important part of what makes this offense go - but if he wants Kellen Winslow money (and after the brain-dead Buccaneers gave him that contract and ruined it for everyone) he probably does - then I think we’re at an impasse.

The Texans already overpaid for Andre Davis last season, in my opinion - maybe even grossly overpaid. That on top of taking care of Owen, DeMeco, a plane ticket for Dunta Robinson out of town (oops, did I say that?) and the draft picks - eh, that’s a ton of scratch. If you have to overpay for one of either DeMeco or Owen - sorry, but I’m picking DeMeco. I hope they don’t overpay for both.

Give Owen his money… but don’t give him Winslow money. That’s pretty much my stance.

Of course, June 15 will bring about an interesting situation, which you can read about here. I can’t imagine the Texans would reduce his tender offer, as they would be able to do on that date - because that would not only upset Owen, but it would no doubt alienate and upset a lot of other Texans’ players.

Most likely, they’ll work something out soon. Owen has been the proverbial good soldier and team player. I think they’ll reward him for it.

You can track the 2009 Draft Class by clicking 2009 Draft Class & UFAs in the Offseason Central box above.

John McClain reports that Utah CB Brice McCain has signed his rookie contract with the Texans. McCain signed for four years, $1.8 million.

Speed is McCain’s greatest asset, and with the addition of CB Mark Parson, making this team will be no easy task. If Brice can make himself invaluable as a return man, he will probably stick - but if he can’t blow the coaches away with his return skills, I’ll just go ahead and say it right now - Parson will beat him out.

Now - let’s see if we can maybe get DeMeco and Owen signed before we go any further.

UPDATE: The signing is now official, and has been listed on the Texans’ site.

I’ve received a tip from someone who says the Texans have signed undrafted free agent cornerback Mark Parson of Ohio University. I know, it’s all very cloak & dagger, but nothing is official yet. Parson signed with the Lions during the UDFA signing frenzy, but no longer appears on the team’s official roster.

Kyle, who was a regular contributor of mock drafts leading up to April 25, long-pined for Parson to be drafted by the Texans, so he will be happy when this becomes official.

Parson is a heck of a player. He was one of the most highly-rated undrafted free agents out there - and I have no idea what went wrong with him in Detroit - but this guy was a playmaker in college and he could make for some seriously fierce competition in training camp.

I’ll post links when the story hits the Internet, but for right now nothing is official - but this person is very close to Mark and I thank him for the tip.