Is Franchising Arian Foster The Smart Move For The Texans?

But he seems more genuine in wanting to stay than, say, Mario. I hope we can get a deal worked out for him. In an ideal world, he wouldn’t be franchised, and I wouldn’t question his effort in the 2012 season in case he was, but it sure would feel nice to have the NFL’s best RB on lock for 4-5 years.

We could get us another safety and maybe a WR for the price we’d pay for him. I don’t know about you guys but I would rather see him go.

…was not meant to be struckthrough.

He is by no means the only idiot owner out there, either. I say franchise Arian if a deal can’t be negotiated in time.

They already have 4 picks in the first 2 rounds. They have theirs (31st and 63rd) and NO’s 1st (27th) and Oakland’s 2nd (49th). Remember how good the Pats were when they had Corey Dillon toting the rock. That would simultaneously hurt the competition (Texans) and improve their 20th ranked rushing offense. The best way to protect Brady is to make sure he doesn’t have to throw it 50 times a game. They already have a dominant oline. I think Arian would have been able to grind out the Giants in the second half of the Super Bowl. Eli never gets the ball back, Patriots are SB champs. Makes too much sense…

I think they’d do so without a doubt. No running back should earn that kind of contract….it was a terrible deal for Minnesota.

Also, cutting Jacoby Jones will create a bigger cap hit than keeping him, just so everyone knows

bigger? This is not possible. Hyperbole?

Rotoworld has him at 3 years/$10.5M, $3M guaranteed in July of 2011. Doing the math, that smells like a very small signing bonus. Which puts him at a very small cap hit whenever he’s cut.

It’s just almost never done. The Steelers have been talking about maybe hitting Mike Wallace with the tag, for example.

OD will be the highest paid TE next year

I think this is something that must be considered. I know OD is the best TE in our team, but we’ve been drafting TE’s for years now and it may be time to give them more PT. Casey certainly has my vote as someone that can be a very productive tight end, and I think someone said he has the best hands of anyone on the team (was it Andre?).

2012 0r 2013?

what kind of picks would a 2013 first round pick net in a trade to get picks for the 2012 draft?

the only picks you can wind up with are none (exclusive rights tag) or two firsts (non-exclusive). If you slap the highest RFA tender on him, you would get a first if he left. The new CBA got rid of the 1/3 tender.

The only two winning seasons came from good defensive seasons. I think the premise is “No defense = No playoffs.” It’s why Baltimore and Pittsburgh are perennial powers.

No one can sign anything until March 13 though

Mario could be a beast in our system just like Foster, and like Foster we also have adequate replacements for Mario in Reed and Barwin. Are they as good as Mario? No, but Tate is not as good as Foster either. Just interested in how you see the situations as different.

Yes, I do think our coaching staff is excellent (mainly because of Wade) and you definitely cannot win a title with bad coaching. But you have to have players that can perform, otherwise it’s just all sizzle and no steak. You can put together a team with a bunch of average players and hall of fame coaches and they would still not get you to the SB. However, if you have badass players that are probowlers, you can win without elite coaching. I don’t think Tom Coughlin is as good as several coaches in the league and his system isn’t anything special…he just has Eli (elite), 2 high speed and fantastic receivers, and ferocious pass rush (and a nice 1-2 punch at RB).

We tend to believe only in the system, and discount the great talent that we have. The key additions of Joseph & Manning made a huge difference and the Watt & Reed picks were great. I don’t think we could have had a #3 Defense with Wade if we had not made those FA pickups & draft picks.

So I don’t think we can just say “let Arian go” if he wants huge money. He’s a HUGE part of the offense and we must do what we need to do to keep him. Franchising is going to piss him off and will probably be lost next year. Myers too, he’s a rock on that line and should be keep, within reason. Mario…he should go, he hasn’t been healthy for most of his pro career and is too expensive. Dreessen can go too, we have enough TE’s.

The non-exclusive franchise tag could get us two 1st round picks, plus he’d be around $7.7 Mil for the year, which his agent would think that’s a good starting point for negotiations on a long term deal

He and his agent haven’t seen those zeroes yet, though.

"I was the first pick (2006), and I’ve already had everything I really wanted, so my biggest thing is to be in a good position, a good scheme, a good system and continuing my career. Hopefully, it works out.

As tough as Brisel is, he does have some injuries issues, & I’m not sold on Caldwell. Smith is a little flexible, but we could use one more guy that can play both at least two spots on the line

I must disagree about Cincy + Foster not being a true contender. Cincy is good and with Foster they could make a run in the playoffs imo.

How does this stack up with, let’s say, the RB from Carolina, DeAngelo Williams, who just got that crazy contract, or Chris Johnson?

DeAngelo Williams: Signed a five-year, $43 million contract. The deal contains $21 million guaranteed, including a $16 million signing bonus and $5 million of Williams’ second-year base salary. This equates to an average of $8.6 mill per year.

Chris Johnson: 6-year $55.26 million, with $30 mill guaranteed and $20 mill signing bonus. for an average of $9.215 mill per year.

The contract you outlined for Foster, in comparison: 6-year, $52 million contract. With $25 million guaranteed and a $12 million signing bonus. This equates to an average of $8.67 per year.

and Rick should give you job in the FO. Me likey.

and it’s not like Arian isn’t due. He’s been playing for the minimum in the shortest career position and he’s elevated this team. I trust in Bob to pay the man.

Don’t forget that the best season in franchise history came in the best defensive year in franchise history.

And that the only other winning season in franchise history came from the 2nd best defensive year.

Defense wins. It’s why Pittsburgh has been a contender fixture since the 1970s while other franchises go up and down.

but we get 3 $1.5M exceptions to the cap this year, and Mario ($16M cap hit) comes off the books.

I think we’re in good shape to bring back Foster and the OL, but Mario will have to want to come back. And by “want to” I mean, he’ll have to work within our constraints.