It's been touched upon here and there, but I think this topic deserves its own post. The deadline to franchise players is February 25th (next Thursday), so it's natural to see a bunch of "best free agents available" material on various outlets. No surprise, therefore, that Adam Schefter disclosed his top five potential free agents. I was stunned, however, to see who checked in at No. 3 on Schefter's list and what was written about him:
3. Dunta Robinson, CB, Houston Texans
Houston franchised Robinson last season, but it will cost the Texans $12 million to do the same this season. It's a lot of money, but then again, Robinson is only 27 years old and plays a coveted defensive position. Houston has until Feb. 25 to decide whether to franchise him, but Robinson might get his wish to test the market.
I won't quibble with the ranking of Dunta Robinson as possibly the third-best free agent out there. The key word there is "potential," as franchise tags and/or new deals can change the analysis in an instant. Plus, there's something to be said about the pool being slim pickings when Chester Taylor, at age 31, is considered by many to be the top offensive option available on the free agent market.
My question is whether anyone really believes the Texans would franchise Dunta again. Putting aside any lingering resentment the Texans and/or Dunta may have stemming from the dance they've danced over the past year (see, e.g., here, here, here, here, and of course, who could forget this?), why would the Texans pay Dunta Robinson approximately $12,000,000.00 to play CB for them? Jacques Reeves, Glover Quin, Brice McCain & Co. may not be Nnamdi Asomugha, but aren't they considerably better options than Dunta Robinson, in terms of value and/or ability? Why would Smithiak pay Dunta Robinson that kind of money? Especially after seeing how he played in 2009?
Am I missing something?