Free agents are parading around Reliant Stadium being wooed by the home team. If they're Rodeo fans, signing with the Texans is a shoe-in. Imagine Ahman Green seeing all the fans lined up for Hannah Montana on Sunday. I'm sure the Texans felt like saying it's a normal greeting for new Texans players.
Green is anything but. He's 30 years old and 28th on the all-time rushing list. But he's certainly an upgrade and does two things that this team needs besides running the ball well: He's an excellent receiver, and he takes pride in pass blocking. Never mind that he might only be a two-year solution. He's a good veteran player.
Signing Ephraim Salaam was a must. He can play either tackle spot and performed well at LT last year.
If the QB situation is making your head spin, here are the possibilities (in no particular order of likelihood) at the signal-caller position:
- David Carr stays and is in a competition with Sage Rosenfels and possibly a rookie (or Quinton Porter if he lights it up in NFL Europe).
- Carr is dealt for a draft pick that is used to pry Jake Plummer away from the Bucs and retirement.
- Carr is dealt for a draft pick and Sage starts, backed up by a rookie and/or veteran backup (Patrick Ramsey? Joey Harrington??!!)
- Carr is dealt and Sage starts, but somehow Jamarcus Russell or Brady Quinn drop to number 8 (or the Texans trade up, which is unlikely)
That's pretty much all I could come up with barring a trade for someone (Trent Green anyone?) that we haven't talked about.
As a play-by-play guy, I would not enjoy having a backfield of Green and Green. "Green hands off to Green," or "Green throws to Green" doesn't sound that good.
Whatever your feelings are about the way the offseason is going, remember that it's early. We still have the draft, the rest of free agency and Rick Smith finding gems in NFL dumpsters. As you may recall, the Texans won three of their last five games with several guys contributing, some even scoring TDs (Ron Dayne, Anthony Maddox) who weren't even on the team when training camp began. Hang in there.
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