[UPDATE 7:15PM]
I received an email saying that there is an ESPN Insider “rumor mill” report about the perceived interest the Texans might have in Darren Sharper. You have to be a paid subscriber to read the full article, and this person emailed me the entire text. Here is what I think is going on: The writer of this article is strictly speculating on landing spots for Sharper. He used draft results to narrow down the field, and came up with the Texans, Cowboys, Redskins, and Saints as possible places of interest.
From there – I’m pretty certain what happened was – the daytime host on 980 AM ESPN Radio up here in Washington DC read ESPN Insider in order to find some show content – and rather than explaining that what he was reading was speculation, he characterized it as a “REPORT” rather than speculation from ESPN Insider.
Even if we do have interest, I doubt we’re in play for Sharper, because if Sharper wasn’t trying to get the max dollars possible – he would have stayed with the Saints… unless the Saints are just ruthlessly low-balling him, which of course is possible.
I think this is a case of a radio host not giving all the pertinent information… and a Texans blogger getting really excited, swerving over to the roadside, and quickly tapping out an excited entry on his phone. Given the context of what the host said, it sounded like there was REPORTED interest by the Texans – when it might just in fact be a guy looking for show content and leaving out the fine print.
…and people wonder why I’m so obsessed with little details of blogging and “reporting”. This would be a prime example. There’s a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE between a “report” and an “article of speculation”. Every single little word counts… and though I am merely a blogger – I do strive for at least some modicum of journalistic integrity.
***
I just pulled over to post this from my phone. My computer is out of commission for a few days.
As many of you know, I am in Northern Virginia taking care of some family business. I just heard on the ESPN affiliate, 980, that the Texans, Redskins, and Cowboys are in play for free agent safety Darren Sharper if he doesn’t end up back with the Saints.
I think it’s highly unlikely that we pony up to pay for Sharper, especially considering the big spenders we are apparently in competition with – but what an addition he would be, even if just for a season.
More later when I can get to a (someone else’s) computer. if anyone can find a link and put it in the comments, it would be appreciated.
Apr 27, 2010 at 13:44:00
I couldn’t find anything other than a link to ESPN’s rumor central, which I can’t access on a government PC.
Assuming at least the possibility is true, it would be a Godsend. I would expect him to rotate with Eugene Wilson, but could there be a better mentor to an INCREDIBLY young secondary?
Then again, if the problem is that Sharper wants more money than people want to pay a 35-year-old coming off of an injury (even if he IS the active leader in INTs), then I doubt we’re in the running. Slow, steady, and cost-effective has been our motto. The only exception has been Antonio Smith, whose paycheck should really show how much his potential was valued.
Apr 27, 2010 at 13:52:01
If he doesnt get hurt, that defense would be nice with him back there. If we just so happen to sign him, does Eugene Wilson release follow or do you have them both in camp?
Apr 27, 2010 at 17:33:07
I would take both to camp because we cannot go with our crappy back ups. Our season went bad when Eugene got hurt and we were forced to go with busing and russel. those guys were terrible. If we sign sharper and have wilson, now you are talking quality depth.
Still scratching my head on the Sharpton pick. He is undersized and slow as molasses and on top of that Kirk Morrison got traded for a 4th that was after the 4th we used for Sharpton. Morrison is a fringe probowler that we should have traded for.
What do yall think about signing John Henderson to play our Nose? We cannot depend on “fat frank okam”.
Apr 27, 2010 at 17:51:26
@Truth
With you on the sharpton pick. So many better options even at OLB, but we might as well give the kid the chance before we count him out completely.
I’m hoping this interest the Texans have in sharper isn’t their usual “interest”. Old or not, we did have a pretty conservative draft, and if you are going to take a risk pay someone a lot a money, better a short contract than a long one.
Apr 27, 2010 at 20:01:43
@truth – Agree on the Kirk Morrison point, although Morrison is apparently a red carpet for running backs. Not sure if Morrison is a fringe Pro Bowler; I get the sense he racked up tons of tackles in the OAK defense because of how terrible OAK is.
I am fairly optimistic on the Sharpton pick though. I’d rather have the likely upgrade to Diles/Adibi in Morrison, but Sharpton could pull through. I don’t think he’s that slow is he? I thought that his athleticism was one of his positives; it’s his instincts I’ve heard that are bad.
I get the impression Sharper is probably looking to get a 2 or 3 year deal out of a team. I’d bet that New Orleans isn’t low-balling them on the money; they are probably low-balling him on the length of the contract. I’d be lukewarm on signing him for a year, much or less 2 or 3.
Apr 27, 2010 at 20:54:31
You do a good job Chris, honestly. I’d heard that it was “reported” from several other places along with yours; it’s gotta be hard to sift through the bs sometimes.
Apr 27, 2010 at 22:38:46
Concerning the Sharpton pick, it was made clear that the team was going for athletes on Day 3.
What that means to me is that they are looking for more of the high-effort, mid-to-low-talent guys that the Texans would be known for if the national media cared enough to “know” us for anything. (Examples include Diles, Bulman, DelJuan, the 40-year-old nose tackle, Moats, and I could keep going).
The Texans as a franchise are about youth and exuberance. In fact, when you look at it, the reason they’d draft a guy like Daryl Sharpton instead of trading for Kirk Morrison (who was CLEARLY overrated if Oakland felt the need to replace him with a Top 10 pick PLUS only thought he was worth a fourth rounder) is probably the exact reason why we are only “interested” in guys like Sharper and Faneca and why we won’t ever sign guys like that.
Apr 28, 2010 at 02:49:31
@Pat
I will be rooting for him. He is one of us now. I just felt like there was a better option out there and we probably did not pursue it because although morrison went for a 4th rounder his salary is not the same as what sharpton’s will be. I think if you go to battle with cushing, morrison, and ryans, you have the best linebacking core hands down.
@socctty
That is a very valid point that you made that it may be a product of how bad oakland being bad on defense and morrison’s spectacular stats were a result of being om the raiders. He has done good with interceptions in his career though. He has 7 career interceptions in six seasons and one season he had 4 Int. With the sharpton, I hate to turn Al davis on you but sharpton only weighs 236 pounds, which is undersized for a linebacker, and he ran 4.72 or 4.83( i saw 2 different 40 times for the guy from 2 different sources). That is awfully slow for an undersized linebacker. Oh well I guess it could be worse, spikes who was drafted by the patriots ran 5.0 and I guess the patriots are always right.
@Kyle
First of all it is Oakland that only traded him for a 4th. Teams that are consistently picking in the top 10 do stupid things all the time. If you do not believe me see The kansas city chiefs releasing Bernard Pollard.So the fact that he went for only a 4th does not bother me and as to why they traded him to begin with is because he does not fit the scheme they are going to run. I was listening to talk radio and the host is a raiders fan and he said “Mcclain fits the hybrid 3-4 better than Morrison” So him being traded because of a change in scheme does not bother me. After all that is the ultimate catalyst for us getting Pollard.
Apr 28, 2010 at 06:45:51
@truth
Well, if Morrison didn’t fit the scheme, shouldn’t Oakland be praised for getting anything at all for him? After all, he went for more value than Leon Washington, LenDale White, Santonio Holmes, and Jason Campbell.
I know it’s been passed around by all the media, but Oakland did a really nice job this draft, ESPECIALLY getting Jason Campbell for the equivalent of a sixth round pick (when you add a year into the future, you drop a round; hence why Carolina got a third round pick this year for a second next year. Therefore, a 4th in ’12 = a 6th in ’10).
Given that San Diego is notorious for starting slow and Denver didn’t do anything that will help them this year (both Tebow and Thomas are raw project players that need time to marinate before they could possibly be anything), I think Oakland is a team that will contend for the AFC West and a playoff spot and shock everyone. (That said, I don’t think they get either, but it’s better than another 10-loss season). In case you are curious, my post-draft playoff picture looks like this:
AFC – Indy, Jets, Baltimore, San Diego, Houston, Miami – BAL def. MIA, HOU def. SD, HOU def. IND (Super Bowl Loser Curse), NYJ def. BAL, NYJ def. HOU
NFC – Green Bay, San Fran, Dallas, Carolina, Minnesota, Seattle – DAL def. SEA, CAR def. MIN, GB def. CAR, DAL def. SF, GB def. DAL
Super Bowl – Green Bay over NY Jets
MVP – Aaron Rodgers
OPoY – Andre Johnson
DPoY – Darelle Revis
Off. Rookie – Jimmy Clausen
Def. Rookie – Rolando McClain
Apr 28, 2010 at 14:28:32
I may be the only one, but unless we get Sharper at a good price I don’t think he’s worth it. Yeah, he had 9 picks last year, but take a look at the circumstances in which teams were playing the Saints. They were getting crushed and had to throw the ball, and 5 of those 9 picks came from rookie QB’s (2 – Stafford, 2 – Sanchez, and 1 – Freeman).
Apr 28, 2010 at 23:42:11
@bcush
His nine picks were a result of having one of the best defensive coordinators in the game. I wanted us to get Gregg williams last season. He really does a great job of mixing coverage and showing blitz and dropping in coverage. So for young qb’s it is hard for them to read those defenses. Frank Bush has done a great job of giving our defense an attitude. Our defense schematically is not much different than Smith, but we have an edge. I hope we can get a pass rush so somebody on our team can get 9 INT’s.
@Kyle
Oakland was being praised for their draft. My thought was that if we spent on early 4th on a linebacker, we could have gotten a much better player than Daryl the reverend Sharpton. The 4th we used on the reverend was before the one that jacksonville used to get Kirk “not Jim not john” Morrison. that is an interesting projection picking us in the conference finals when we have a mediocre pass rush. I think the vikings are going to the championship. The packers will be stout next year.
Apr 29, 2010 at 00:43:00
@BCush – droppin’ the brilliance there. Nice point.
The most overlooked thing from New Orleans’ run last year is that they managed to go from having the worst cornerbacks in the league to having a pretty good set in one year.