Bruce Matthews joins the staff!
Whoa! Hall of Fame offensive lineman and Houston Oiler great Bruce Matthews has joined the Texans’ coaching staff. How can you not like that? His title is “assistant offensive coach.” This is the first coaching job Matthews has taken at the pro level.
It’s an “entry-level” coaching position, but if he can manage instill ANYTHING of himself in the offensive line, this is immediately a great move. Not that Alex Gibbs needs any help, but hey - Hall of Famer.
CONTINUING WITH THE FREE AGENCY OPEN THREAD…
Free Agent Antonio Smith will visit
The Texans will host Smith tomorrow at Reliant.
By the way - you can track both reported and rumored free agent visits by clicking “Free Agent Visitors” in the Offseason Central box.
The Texans are apparently going to sign Patrick Ramsey as their new backup
Blargh. Ugh. Of all the names I’ve seen associated to replace sage, Ramsey was simultaneously the least attractive, and most likely. Sure, he knows the offense and blah blah blah… but Gary Kubiak must be utterly convinced That Matt Schaub is going to stay healthy all year.
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Sage trade is official
ESPN says so, so it must be true, right? Sage signed a two-year $9 million extension.
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Stiff competition for Antonio Smith
If the Texans are still hot and heavy for Smith, they’ll have some stiff competition. Adam Schefter reports that Smith is prioritizing the Buccaneers, Giants, Eagles, Texans and Falcons. Yeah - the Buccaneers who have $60+ million available under the salary cap.
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LATEST MANCRUSH UPDATE - sounds like he’s going to sign with the Jets. He was never even a REMOTE possibility in Houston, but it was just a way for me to channel the unnatural love I have for the guy. Good luck in the big city, Bart.
Mancrush - ACTIVATE!!!
My boy Bart Scott is hitting the open market. Sadly, he’s going to command way more than the Texans would be willing to offer, especially with DeMeco Ryans upset about his current contract. Bart - I’m still waiting on that e-mail interview your rep said you were good for. I’m just sayin’, my man.
MANCRUSH UPDATE - He’s visiting the Rams. THE RAMS!?!?!? COME ON, BART!!! I’ll pick you up at the airport!
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Dunta’s price tag might have just bumped up
DeAngelo Hall stayed with the Redskins with a reported 6-year, $55 million contract with $23 million guaranteed. There’s probably not more then two or three more talented CBs in the league than Hall, but he’s probably got one-tenth the heart that Dunta has, which makes him kind of a dog. I would expect Dunta thinks he’s worth more than DeAngelo. I can’t fathom why anyone would give a guy who has quit on two teams $23 million.
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Thoughts about a replacement for Sage
What do you guys think about Chris Simms? He’s never been a big game guy, but he showed a lot of heart (and spleen) in Tampa. I know he’s been brought up before, but I hadn’t heard a lot of talk about it here. Of course, he’s thick as thieves with Kyle Shanahan… we all know that story.
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It’s 11:01PM CST, and the NFL is officially open for free agent business!
I’ll be around for a while tonight putting up any Texans free agency updates - you know, if anything actually goes down.
Hit up the comments and we’ll interact about free agency, or whatever else is on your mind tonight.
If nothing else, don’t forget to go eviscerate my latest seven-round Texans mock draft.
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Feb 26, 2009 at 23:56:03
tap tap tap…is this thing on?
Feb 26, 2009 at 23:57:07
I’ve been refreshing the ESPN, SportingNews, ProFootballTalk sites looking for any scrap of anything…
Feb 26, 2009 at 23:57:22
Yes. The comments aren’t showing up because the traffic is so overwhelming.
Yeah, that’s it.
Feb 26, 2009 at 23:58:45
Wow! No wonder Dunta was mad he didn’t go to free agency, that is absurd how much hall just got!
Feb 27, 2009 at 00:00:51
Yeah, I mean, Simms is a tough mo-fo…but the knock that he can’t win the big game scares me.
Feb 27, 2009 at 00:03:59
@Buck
Yeah - and as much as I think that Matt can hold up just fine when he’s not getting a cheap-shot, we have to assume our backup is going to start a couple of games.
I wonder how much having a lefty in there would change anything.
Feb 27, 2009 at 00:04:22
hol.ee.crap. Per PFT, Bart Scott might be hitting the open market. He won’t be cheap, but man is that one tempting.
Feb 27, 2009 at 00:06:38
@Chris
I think Winston wouldn’t be too shabby in pass pro from the right side.
Feb 27, 2009 at 00:08:45
Yeah - I’d actually love to see him in that situation. I think he’d do just fine.
Buck - great minds, man - I just updated with a blurb about my boy Bart.
Feb 27, 2009 at 00:12:16
Rams?? Jets? He’s just playing hard to get.
Feb 27, 2009 at 00:27:52
what do you think abt going after Brian Dawkins?
I know he’s 36yrs old, but i think the guy can still play, and he’s an emotional leader like Dunta. I think he’ll be a great asset on the field and in the locker room. Of course, only if we give him a reasonable 2-3 yr deal. I wonder what his FA market value is… Thanks!
Feb 27, 2009 at 00:34:47
@JF
I would love to have Dawkins. I’ll be honest though, I didn’t see him play at all this year, has he lost anything off the ol fastball? I think a 2 yr deal at the most…and at a reasonable rate. Seems like the Eagles will get a deal done for him eventually.
Feb 27, 2009 at 00:41:23
I love Dawkins, and it would be near impossible to say no to him for me - but only in a one-year, cheap situation - and that’s obviously not going to happen. Not really a position that I want signed to more than a year when he’s 36.
Love Dawkins though. One of my favorite players.
Feb 27, 2009 at 00:53:18
yeah… i dont want him for more than 2 yrs… but itll prob make more sense and able to drag him away from signing a discount deal w/ the eagles if we offer him lets say 3 yr deal thats has a lot of guaranteed $$ on the first year or two (front loaded contract)
i also want to see what/if we do w/ Antonio Smith & Derrick Ward. I think other teams are going to Drive Wards $$$ way up… essentially putting us out of the bid
Feb 27, 2009 at 01:04:42
@JF
I read somewhere that talk around the Combine was that Ward’s price tag had already gone down to 3 mil per year instead of his original 4 mil asking price. That was just a report about a rumor, though.
Feb 27, 2009 at 01:11:07
@ Chris
3 Mil? Now we’re gettin somewhere.
Feb 27, 2009 at 07:50:49
I sure would love to see Peppers in a Texans jersey rather than Antonio Smith in one… A man can dream, right?
Feb 27, 2009 at 09:15:16
As reported earlier, Julius Peppers wants to go to a 3-4 team where he can play rush linebacker and pump up his sack stats without having to bother with “manning up” and being a real offensive lineman. As you can tell, I’m not very impressed with Peppers. He makes the “All-Talent, No-Heart” Team that includes DeAngelo Hall.
As for Sage’s replacement, as I posted elsewhere, I have wanted Ryan Fitzpatrick since the Super Bowl. I’m very excited that this may actually happen. The Bengals started off 0-8 and ended 4-3-1, and the only things that changed were Cedric Benson got sober and Fitzpatrick got comfortable running the offense. The Bengals are dumb for letting him go.
As far as Antonio Smith, if they think he’s the next great LDE, then I’ll trust their judgement. I just hope they still get a sit-rusher like Stryker Sulak to compliment him. I will say that, in my opinion, if they sign Antonio Smith, it is because they assume that Robert Ayers won’t fall to #46.
As for other free agents, I’ve heard the talk about Rueben Droughns. I’m cool with him, but if we squander an opportunity to draft Andre Brown because we signed this guy, I will be very upset.
Brandon Jones is intriguing as our slot receiver, but I’d definitely rather draft Deon Butler or Johnny Knox(ville).
Quinn Sypniewski is a young blocking tight end that might be our replacement for Mark Breuner if he is willing to accept TE3 money.
I’d also be curious to see how much money it would take to get Khalif Barnes as competition with Rashad Butler for backup LT.
Justin Miller from OAK could possibly give Davis and Jones a run for their money as a return man.
Finally, I’d like to see the Texans bring in a punter to compete with Matt “Constantinople” Turk as our punter.
Feb 27, 2009 at 10:47:59
Bruce Mathews on the Texans sideline is like the most way cool thing they’ve done since shipping out well pick one…
David Carr
Ahman Green
Anthony Weaver
Phillip Buchanan
your choice expensive dud player.
Feb 27, 2009 at 11:56:33
Clay Mathews come on down!!! Also Ramsey while not attractive is decent in a pinch, he’s tough and won’t try and prove he’s a starter by Rosencoptering himself
Feb 27, 2009 at 13:14:50
can someone please explain why we want Clay Matthews as our strongside linebacker? The complaint was that Zac Diles is undersized at 240 pounds. Clay Matthews is 240 pounds!
Someone make sense of this, because it is becoming more and more of a possibility and it is driving me batty. Thanks.
Feb 27, 2009 at 22:09:35
It’s my understanding Kyle that diles is 5 11″ however matthews is 6-3″ and thats what people mean by diles is undersized.
Feb 28, 2009 at 09:37:23
oh, woe is me. Ryan Fitzpatrick is off the board. CURSE YOU BUFFALO! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO SIGN DANIELS, NOT FITZPATRICK!!
On a side note, on walterfootball.com’s rankings, Pat-Ram ranks ONE SPOT AHEAD OF CRAIG NALL. You know, that guy who was superglued to the #3 spot on our roster. HE RANKS ONE SPOT BELOW CHARLIE FRYE, ANOTHER #3 QB!!!
I know about the Denver connection, but, seriously, how is a #3-grade QB magically good enough to hold a “backup who starts 5 games a year” job?
Mar 1, 2009 at 08:48:15
I am leaning more towards the Texans picking up Kyle Boller as a back up QB. Now that Bruce is on board how cool would it be for Clay jr to play for is uncle. Now that we don’t have a huge need for a de could you see us trading up a few spots to get BJ Raji if he is there at 11-13.