As you've probably figured out, new user "In Romo We Trust" is the Cowboys buddy I referred to here. Needless to say, he's positively thrilled the Texans signed the player he deemed the albatross of the Dallas defense to a five (5) year deal potentially worth $20,000,000.00 ($8,000,000.00 of which is guaranteed). IRWT also speaks the truth (via the Comments in the previous post) that I did in fact manage to convince myself last night that the signing was defensible, even laudatory, as I was waiting for a cab after the BBQ Cook-Off. Granted, this spectacular show of delusion was primarily motivated by a lethal combination of (1) my belief in Smithiak's talents concerning player evaluation and (2) far, far too much to drink. And now that the sun has risen, I'm back to wondering why the Texans would sign Jacques Reeves but let Von Hutchins go (for a mere $2,350,000.00 in guaranteed money, no less).
As you'll recall, Hutchins played very well at FS this season and played considerably less well when he was moved back to CB after Dunta Robinson's injury. Why would the Texans let Hutchins walk when retaining him would have apparently cost the Texans roughly 25% of the guaranteed cash that Reeves received? Is it simply a matter of the team believing Reeves has greater upside than Hutchins? That Reeves is a couple of years younger? I'm having a hard time rationalizing why a team with needs all over the secondary would jettison a guy who's shown he can play more than one position in the secondary with varying levels of success. Other free agent news:
-Rex Hadnot left town without a contract offer and is not happy about it. Reading between the lines of Rick Smith's quotes on Hadnot in that article makes me believe the team wasn't as impressed with him as they thought they'd be. John McClain seems to think something went awry during Hadnot's visit:
-As discussed in McClain's post linked above, Charlie Anderson signed with Miami. I like Anderson, but it was clear that he was going to have a hard time getting on the field here given the strength of the linebacking corps. Best of luck to him in Florida.
-McClain says that bringing Jacques Reeves to Houston was signed off on by every coach who will have to work with him:
Before Smith pursued Reeves, he went to coach Gary Kubiak to get his opinion. Then, they went to defensive coordinator Richard Smith, secondary coach Jon Hoke and assistant secondary coach Ray Rhodes to see what they thought.
If all of those guys (particularly Ray Rhodes) think the addition of Jacques Reeves improves the team, I feel a little better about the signing. Not that we'd ever hear word out of Reliant Park that anyone jumped up and screamed in protest, of course.
-How is it that the signing of a young, experienced CB actually makes me MORE adamant that the team picks a CB in Round One of the draft? BFD seems to share this concern.
-Can someone get me Dominique Rogers-Cromartie's phone number? I'd like to ask him to refrain from any further workouts or interviews. And if he could go ahead and run afoul of the law so as to improve the chances he's there at No. 18, that'd be super.