The Houston Texans still don’t have a general manager. Until they get one, the team doesn’t have a vision. They don’t have a plan in place about how they are going to upgrade the roster through free agency. They don’t know who they are going to cut to create more cap space. All of that will come in time, I guess.
For now, the team is stuck. There’s nothing they can really do, aside from wait until they have a man in place for the position. John McClain of the Houston Chronicle unleashed hard hitting journalism this week regarding the Texans’ general manager search.
The Texans were going to interview Brian Gutekunst for the general manager position. Bill O’Brien took him out to a nice seafood dinner, but Gutekunst was offered and accepted the Packers GM gig that night.
The Texans have also reached out to interview Joe Douglas with the Eagles, and Nick Caserio and Monti Ossenfort with the Patriots. Both teams denied the Texans’ request. They control whether or not their employees can interview with other teams since they are still in the playoffs. If the Texans want to interview any of these three, they have to wait until postseason heartbreak hits Philadelphia and/or New England.
This week, the Texans interviewed the Buffalo Bills VP of player personnel Brian Gaine and Texans assistant general manager Jimmy Raye III. Gaine—you already know what it is—was a former employee of the Texans who left for Buffalo. Raye III was monumental in running the team this season while Rick Smith dealt with his personal life. Gaine is considered the favorite to land the job.
According to McClain, here is the timetable for the Texans’ general manager hire.
Owner Bob McNair said last week the Texans would begin interviews this week and would interview “four to six candidates.” He said he hoped to have a new general manager to replace Rick Smith “within two weeks” but would wait if there were more candidates the search committee wanted to interview.
It seems like Houston has two options. Wait for the Eagles and Pats to get knocked out, or hire Gaine or Raye III and get going with the offseason.
But wait, there’s more! After a general manager is hired, Bob McNair is expected to extend head coach Bill O’Brien, who will probably accept said extension.
Your thoughts?
UPDATE: Ian Rapoport says Brian Gaine appears to be the hire.