WHAT IN THE HOLY LIVING HELL OF THE WORLD IS GOING ON HERE!??!
Earlier today on Twitter, I asked aloud – would Texans fans rather have the CB/S combo of Nnamdi Asomugha/Gerald Sensabaugh, or the combo of Johnathan Joseph/Danieal Manning. I said I’d rather have Joseph/Manning, but at no point did I ever think it would HAPPEN.
Well, it has happened. Danieal Manning has been reported to have reached an agreement to join the Texans on a four year, $20 million dollar deal, with $9 million guaranteed. Manning is the instant starter at strong safety alongside Glover Quin at free safety. Manning also figures to take over kick return duties, though I suspect Jacoby Jones will still be the guy returning punts.
Via Rotoworld, from Pro Football Focus: “Manning finished No. 5 overall in Pro Football Focus’ 2010 cover safety rankings, and he fills very hard against the run.”
Cover safety? Does not compute.
Johnathan Joseph just turned 27. Manning will be 29 in August. These guys are in their prime, and have good years left. Not the kind of signings we’re used to, are they? *COUGH COUGH ahman green CHOKE COUGH*
Now that the Texans have taken care of two gaping holes, perhaps they will now turn their attention to Vonta Leach, but I wouldn’t count on it. All this money being thrown around HAS to come at a cost to Houston, other than, you know – actual cost.
Free agent deals become official on Friday. We’ll see what else comes… too much to ask for a nose tackle? Hm?
Jul 29, 2011 at 02:10:29
I don’t think re-signing Vonta is out of the question, but I totally get that he is likely gone.
What we are learning from this situation is a good thing: the Texans still care about value. Let’s be honest, we all wanted Scrabble in a vacuum. Even you, Chris, who was preaching this Joseph/Manning duo, would likely rather have Scrabble than Joseph IF THEY EARNED THE EXACT SAME CONTRACT.
That said, that won’t happen. We signed the #2 (who, given his 3 years extra shelf life, is arguably not that far from #1) for under 10 MIL, and we were expecting to have to throw 14 MIL at Scrabble (and that number is low, but based off of the joy that is no state taxes in Texas).
I don’t know what safety we would have gotten under Scrabble, but it’s pretty apparent that with the money we were waving in his face, we just put it to use for Joseph and “The Best Manning in the AFC South”. Yeah. I —-ing said it.
So, with all that, we wanted Houston to make a splash, but would the Dan Snyder move of throwing ridiculous money at Scrabble to pry him out of the Bay Area (still confident that the FUNYJ scenario takes place where San Fran wins the Scrabble Championship, and Cromartie refuses to re-sign, having been slighted and betrayed by the Jets’ pandering towards “a better cornerback”) have gone off any better?
Scenario: We sign Scrabble for something crazy like 18 mil a year. Then, we don’t have money for any safety (Sensabaugh wanted around 3-4 mil; a balooned Scrabble signing may have dashed us even getting Common Sensabaugh), so Troy Nolan starts at SS. What happens when he, being human, gives up a touchdown.
DAMMIT WHY DIDNT WE GET A SAFETY?!?! SMITHIAK SUCKS! I HATE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!
Joseph + Manning may prove to be the best move we could have made. This gives us three-out-of-four guys we can trust in the defensive backfield (I’ll buy JJ, Manning, and G-Love as starters on most NFL teams), which means Wade can play more with the 5-2 Elephant defense he is planning to install.
The Jets’ defense looked great last year because great corner play brought out more creativity from the front seven. As much as we suddenly are hating the Jets, it’s certainly not the worst team model to follow. They WERE at the AFC Title game the past two years.
Jul 29, 2011 at 02:34:04
How cap space meow? We need a big red zone target.
Jul 29, 2011 at 04:08:17
Jul 29, 2011 at 04:41:04
@Goud
We have one. His name is Andre Johnson. I hear he’s pretty good.
Jul 29, 2011 at 07:40:43
I was counting on kubs and rick smith to actually go off there desperation but i didnt think the numb nuts could pull it off. These two signings are huge i just hate that it took us this long to finally spend some money on our secondary but no complaints I AM FN READY FOR THE SEASON NOW
Jul 29, 2011 at 07:58:25
16-0!?!?!? All joking aside, I am getting more excited than normal for this year. On paper we have a defense who can actually stop other teams and give the ball to our offense. Time will tell. Let’s go TEXANS!!!!
Jul 29, 2011 at 08:31:10
Chris, good stuff man. You said it best when you said it would be a combo of Nnamdi Asomugha/Gerald Sensabaugh or Jonathon Joesph/Daniel Manning. I defintiely think JJ/Manning is the best combo we could have asked for. On top of that, Phillips got the twin safeties he was looking for in Quinn and Manning. Now i am excited to see the blitz packages that he puts together with Mario, Cushing, Barwin, Reed and Watt. They should be able to put an abundance of pressure of opposing qbs and have the secondary to cover it up. I hate to see them cut Okoye but agree that he needs to go. He should have some trade value being he is only 24 but his lack of recent productivity will not bring much. Anyhow, I am excited to see the new look Texans that will be on the field on Sundays. Good stuff as always. P.S. – Still in shock that the eagles received Rodgers Cromartie and a second round choice for Kolb. I think they overpayed getting him and on his contract. All of that guaranteed money for a qb that had his job taken in seven weeks by someone who had just got out of prison. I would have taken a scrub qb for one more year and drafted one next year. They could of had a near equivalent to Nnamdi/Revis in Rod-Crom/Petersen in a few years. I am just glad I am not a Cardinals fan. haha..
Jul 29, 2011 at 11:15:41
I think that Manning was the best available safety left even better than landry. It would not shock me if they played alot of cover 2 man coverage. Hopefully manning can transistion with no issue from strictly cover 2 to man coverage. I am interested to see how we ply the colts if we do man coverage. joseph will guard wayne and quin will probably guard clark. After that we have garcon being guarded by most likely KJ and collie being guarded by either mccain,harris, or allen.
Jul 29, 2011 at 12:50:57
What the **** is going on around here? The Texans signing top free agents for the secondary after I’ve mentally prepared myself for Allen and Jackson at CB? Just when I think I have that organization all figured out, they force me to do an about-face because it finally seems like the Texans “get it”. I feel like I’ve entered the Texans fan twilight zone.
Jul 29, 2011 at 13:44:50
@kyle
More touchdowns less field goals.
Jul 30, 2011 at 03:02:02
@Goud
Agreed.
I hope a continued effort by Foster can keep that going.
I’ve also said that one of the benefits of THOR being the Fullback is that, instead of just blowing up linebackers, he could just sprint past them and punish them for selling out on Foster by being wide open in their containment area. This seems like it would be beneficial in the red zone especially.