The big NFL news of the week was the Houston Texans acquisition of Atlanta Falcons backup quarterback Matt Schaub for a couple of second-round draft picks, one in 2007 and one in 2008. The teams also agreed to swap first round picks this year, with Atlanta moving up to #8 and Houston back to #10. Following the trade, the Texans inked Schaub to a six-year, $48 million contract and said they would attempt to trade incumbent starter and former first overall pick David Carr.
If I’m a Falcons fan, I’m doing back flips over this deal. Schaub was scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of 2007, and as Atlanta has about a billion dollars tied up in Ron Mexico, Schaub would have bolted to become a starter someplace else. Plus, look at his numbers. It’s not like he’s Joe Montana or anything. Now the Falcons have three of the top 44 picks in this year’s draft, which is considered to be a deep one by many accounts. Atlanta needs help along both lines, and could stay in the eight hole and hope for either Clemson’s Gaines Adams or Arkansas’ Jamaal Anderson. On the flip side, one rumor has them trying to trade up and steal hometown hero Calvin Johnson out of Georgia Tech. If they can pull that off, there may be a bronze statue of Arthur Blank outside of the Georgia Dome by opening day.
As for the Texans, the move signals an admission of failure. Prior to the ’06 draft, then-GM Charley Casserly tried to convince anyone who would listen that they didn’t need Vince Young or Reggie Bush because they already had Carr and Domanick Davis, and that Mario Williams was the next Reggie White…
Oops.
So far this off-season, the Texans have thrown big free agent dollars at Packers cast-off Ahman Green and made the Schaub deal. Problem is, they still haven’t addressed their biggest problem – the offensive line. I don’t care who your quarterback and running back are. If your line can’t run block or pass block, your skill players don’t stand a chance. If Houston drafts anything but O-linemen in April, their fans should engage in mass mutiny. It’s hard to believe Casserly is still unemployed.
Carr, meanwhile, will land on his feet (or on his back) somewhere. Miami, Minnesota, and Oakland are all possibilities, with the Vikings maybe being the most desirable. The Raiders will likely take JaMarcus Russell with the first pick, and Miami has shown interest in Kansas City’s Trent Green. Minnesota’s line is not bad, and Carr would only have to beat out Tavaris Jackson and Brooks Bollinger to win the starting job (which he might actually be able to do from his back).
Most of the feedback I’ve gotten on the blog this week has been positive, especially the use of the Reche Caldwell picture. I aim to please, so here you go.
New York native and Bills fan Jen in Cary, NC pointed out that in my previous post, I made mention
of the Bills and their inane trade of Willis McGahee with intentions of discussing in more detail, but never came back around to it. My bad. Here it is in a nutshell.
Is Marv Levy asleep at the wheel like Tony LaRussa?
The Bills were 7-9 last season and in the AFC wild card picture late into the year, which is impressive considering the depth of the AFC. So they follow that up by trading McGahee (arguably their most important offensive player) and letting pro-bowl corner Nate Clements (easily their best defensive player) walk as a free agent? How does that make sense? Do they really have that much faith in J.P. Losman? I’m curious to see what the Bills do in the draft.
The Eagles were active again this week, adding defensive tackle Monte Reagor to hopefully provide an inside pass-rushing presence. The move leaves Philly with a multitude of D-tackles, including former first-round picks Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Eagles try to make a deal in which they package one of their linemen for some help at linebacker. Denver is actively shopping middle backer Al Wilson, but the middle is the one spot where the Birds are strong. I don’t see Jeremiah Trotter shifting to the strong side, nor do I see Wilson changing positions.
Still, a deal of some sort could be in the works. And now that Andy Reid is back to work, he’ll be involved. It’s good to have "Big Red" back in the nest, and with any luck his family situation is stabilized and he can focus on keeping the Eagles atop the NFC East.
So, I had intentions of laying low until the mock draft, but the Schaub trade warranted a comment or two, since it had an impact on my projections. It’s in the works. Stay tuned.
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