Houston Texans Rumors: Nick Foles? Aggressive In Free Agency? Replacing Mike Maccagnan?

The 2015 Senior Bowl kicks off on Saturday, which means NFL types are mingling in Mobile throughout the week leading up to the game this weekend. That naturally generates a decent amount of chatter, some of which involves your Houston Texans. Walter Football's Charlie Campbell talks about the rumors he heard here.

I have a hard time believing some of this stuff. Specifically:

1. Not sure I'm buying the Texans being interested in Nick Foles if the Eagles make him available. Foles is undoubtedly more of a proven commodity than Ryan Mallett and has one more year left on his rookie contract, but is he a guy Bill O'Brien would want to cast his lot with, particularly after Foles' struggles before he got hurt last season and at the cost of an asset (e.g., a draft pick)? Presumably a Foles arrival would mean a Mallett departure. Is that a move you'd support?

2. Despite an assertion to the contrary, the Texans are not entering the offseason "with a lot of cap space." Over The Cap currently has Houston committed to a 2015 cap number of $134,372,782.00 (with a "Top 51" of $130,457,782.00), and that's before any rookie signings after the 2015 NFL Draft. Assuming the cap increases to $142,000,000.00, there isn't a ton of room left for big money additions. While the Texans could create more cap space with a handful of restructures or outright releases, I find it hard to believe they'll be "major players" in free agency, especially if they're intent on retaining the services of Kareem Jackson, Derek Newton, and Ryan Mallett.

Campbell does have one other Texans-related note of interest in a separate piece. He reports that the organization could replace the departed Mike Maccagnan with an in-house promotion for Mike Martin, one of the team's area scouts. Campbell writes in part:

Martin is held in high regard and viewed as one of the best college scouts in the league. He was the scout who helped lead the way for the Texans to sign Arian Foster as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He also was part of Houston targeting Duane Brown late in the first round, a long-term left tackle, and a starting cornerback in Kareem Jackson

In the past two years, the Texans have leaned heavily on Martin in drafting three young talented starters from his territory, including wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, safety D.J. Swearinger, and defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. The Texans also depended on Martin for some late-round and undrafted free agent steals last offseason with running back Alfred Blue, fullback Jay Prosch, cornerback A.J. Bouye and cornerback Andre Hal.

Considering where they were acquired, you'd have to consider Foster (Brian T. Smith has a good article about how Martin chased Foster after the 2009 NFL Draft here), Brown, Jackson, Hopkins, Blue, Bouye, and Hal as sizable positives on Martin's resume. And say what you will about Clowney, but drafting him first overall in 2014 was a move that I believe virtually all, if not all, NFL teams would have made.

Martin has gone on record that his goal is to one day be a general manager in the NFL. Admittedly not knowing anything more about Martin than what's detailed in this post, it would seem to my relatively ignorant eye that promoting Martin would be a wise move for the Texans.