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.
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Jun 25, 2009 at 10:27:48
There’s a young quarterback from New Mexico State named Chase Holbrook that has the size and has the stats that make me think he could be a great project for Kubiak to groom. Sign him, let him go through training camp, and then onto the practice squad for this year. At the very least he might develop into a backup down the line.
Jun 25, 2009 at 11:55:34
***This again? Is that his agent or something?
***I completely agree with you though Chris. Looks like we will have 3 QBs this year. I see a few hard decisions on cuts this year though. @ LB, we go into the season with 5? that means after we cut Verdell and Buster Davis, will have to cut 1 or 2 more people that people might not want to see go.
Jun 25, 2009 at 12:10:31
Well, the guy I picked as my sleeper to succeed in 2008 – LB Chaun Thompson – will have a hard time making the team, I think… especially since he uh… didn’t do anything at all last year. I think we carry 6 LBs. DeMeco, Cushing, Adibi, Diles, Bentley, and June.
Jun 25, 2009 at 14:13:15
I think Gary Kubiak is probably feeling outside pressure to keep 3 QBs, especially considering that Grossman is a pretty well-known name to have “stashed” on the roster.
The bottom line is that, with Schaub’s health concerns and it being Dan “Hate Me” Orlovsky’s first season under Kubiak’s wing, they can not afford the P.R. nightmare of cutting Rex Grossman. Besides, we all know that anything can happen injury-wise (just ask the Seattle Seahawks) and, being Kubiak’s playoff or pink slip season, he can’t afford to take chances.
Kevis Coley is the first but he won’t be the last in the category of “hard-working guys who get cut”. We Texan fans have been so accustomed to rooting for guys who are super-hard-working guys (Coley, Bulman, Briesel, Andre with an apostrophe, Diles) that, now that we are actually starting to fill our roster with players with more natural talent, some of our hard-working favorites will fall victim to the best-ever (hopefully) Texans roster in 2009.
I predict that Ryan Moats and Joel Dreessen will be two more heart-breakers. Chris Brown has looked 100% so far, and he has more talent now than Arian Foster, so if he keeps it up, we’ll keep Brown with Foster as the Power Back Plan B, and Moats will fall victim. As for Dreessen, there are now four tight ends that deserve to be on the roster (I am excluding Clark Harris, who WILL be cut once it is confirmed that James Casey can long snap), but how can Kubiak and Shanahan justify four tight ends, considering who would probably have to get cut to make room for them. Daniels, Casey, and Hill are not going anywhere, and that leaves one very hard-working goal-line predator that will make some other team very happy.
As a final note, watch for Shaun Cody to be cut. We paid a hefty price tag for the guy, and he so far has not demonstrated that he will be able to conquer Travis Johnson from the starting nose tackle spot. With DelJuan looking great again, and the Texans still apparently enamored with Frank Okam, I think Cody is this year’s Roosevelt Colvin.
Jun 28, 2009 at 21:15:57
As you mentioned before linebacker is going to be competitive. I think this is the most competitive squad we have. Kubiak has shown inthe past that if there is no chance for a player to get playing time or be productive that he will cut him as soon as posible so the player has ample time to sign with another team. What I am getting at is, I think this is what happened with with Cooley.
Welcome back Kyle. Your clever nicknames and witty puns were missed over here!
Jul 1, 2009 at 16:04:29
I would like to negotiate a contract for my boy Chase Holbrook. The Texans need some training camp fodder and I believe he’s the one to fill that spot. He might even develop enough to make the taxi squad.