Most fans were shocked today when the Texans cut Eric Winston loose. I’ll say this – I’m shocked they actually went through with the move. I was stunned, because, Winston was absolutely still a very effective and above-average NFL right tackle. His run-blocking was still very good to excellent, but his pass protection has been a bit of an issue the last couple of years. On a bad team that doesn’t spend a lot of money on players, you wouldn’t even CONSIDER cutting Eric Winston – but the Texans aren’t a bad team. They are a legitimate AFC title contender with loads of talent that requires loads of cash to maintain.
So what – he still was part of a unit that was largely thought to be the best in the NFL, right? Right. And though he wasn’t “elite,” you obviously can’t have great players at every position. This is true, but you also can’t have too many guys on your roster who aren’t playing up to the money they are making. The Texans have a few, and though Winston isn’t GROSSLY under-performing, he was set to make $5.5 million in 2012. For every guy on your team who’s not playing up to their contract, you have to have X amount of players who are playing under their contract.
All that said – I am surprised that the Texans are messing with the continuity of the offensive line, which is the biggest strength on the team. However, they may have also figured out that there was no way they could actually keep the continuity of the line, and decided that keeping center Chris Myers and/or guard Mike Brisiel was more vital (and more cost-effective?) than keeping Winston.
There’s also the possibility that the Texans approached Winston about restructuring his contract, and Winston (and when I say Winston, I mean his agent Drew Rosenhaus) told the Texans to get bent. The story is out there that “the Texans didn’t want to insult him by asking him to take a paycut.” Mmm, maybe. You just never know with the NFL. It’s cutthroat, and even more so when you’re not a perennial doormat.
Backup QB Matt Leinart was also cut (or will be cut Tuesday depending on who you believe), which of course was always going to happen due to the emergence of T.J. Yates.
Mar 13, 2012 at 00:31:36
I don’t buy the “didn’t want to insult him” business. Giving people options is never insulting, despite what my girlfriend may say. If he was insulted, then he could decline anyway, and we’d be back where we are now: with him getting cut. There’s no downside to asking him.
I welcome Leinart being cut. I’ll echo everyone else and wait eagerly for Jacoby to be cut.
I’m sad to see Winston go, but as time has passed it makes more sense. I hope this is to sign Myers and Briesel. I hope to god it isn’t Mario Williams or Peyton Manning (which I highly doubt, but I can’t ignore the smoke that’s persisting).
What still irks me most is that Kubiak built a large part of his reputation on building good offensive lines and getting great production out of them with marginal running backs. Sometimes you’ll run into a quality running back like Clinton Portis or, let’s hope, Arian Foster, and it can be reasonable to pay them. But the offensive line is still key. Maybe that’s why we should trust Kubiak and Co. instead of doubt them. Maybe the choice was Winston and Brown vs. Myers, Briesel, and Brown.
My initial reactions were “Winston’s account has been hacked” and then “Well, this proves the Texans can be shrewd and cold blooded.” But then they got somewhat sentimental with the Foster contract, which, had it not happened, likely would have kept Winston around. So it’s hard for me to think that they’ve got Belichickian ice in their veins just yet.
If they resign Mario somehow, I think we have our answer.
I laughed when Williams said he thought he had a 50/50 shot at staying with the team, and I laughed when it seemed as if it was Peyton’s reps floating the Texans’ name and not the other way around. Cutting Winston is a gut-check moment on some of that stuff. The only thing that will surprise me tomorrow is if there’s a Peyton Manning visit scheduled.