Houston Texans

wow! what are they thinking? just nuts......

 

Can we start over? Is that an option?

 

What?

 

That is what this team already represents
Starting over after Bud Adams

 

IMO, the team does have some leverage over Watson, despite media reports to the contrary.
Just 4 months ago, Watson signed a 4-year, $160M extension, including a $27M signing bonus, ~$111M guaranteed, and an average annual salary of nearly $40M per year. Here is what he said at the time --

"I'm lost for words, honestly. Been crying a little bit, a lot of bit, really. It's just an amazing moment for me. The money is amazing. It's life-changing. It's great. But the biggest thing is for the (organization) to just trust in me and believe in me that I'm their guy, I'm their quarterback is the biggest thing that really touches me."​

Despite all that money, just a few months later, he is now unhappy. But this contract he loved so much when they handed him a check for $27M+ has some terms than can now come back on him. For example --

If he misses minicamp, it will cost him $95,877
If he skips training camp, he can be fined $50,000 per day for each day of camp skipped
For each preseason game he skips, he can be charged $620,000 (one week salary)
If he retires, he will owe the team $21.6M​

The total current dead cap value to the team will be $67,140,000 so some adjustments would have to be made.

The options are (as I see it) --

1. Trade him now. Which (I think) would cause a $21.6M dead cap hit for 2021. And find a new QB of course.
2. Do nothing. Start fining him as he sits stewing on his yacht. If he persists in sitting out, then go get that bonus money back​

There will be bad press for this. But there is already that, so a bit more will not make much difference. I see no reason to panic into a quick, bad deal (something the team has done in the past - see Brown/Clowney). If they can handle the heat and remain patient, good offers will come.

 

In case anyone is interested -- Cal has a brother, Cary (I think they also have 2 sisters). Cary McNair was UT so maybe someone here knows him? When their dad died, Cary was put in charge of all the serious family enterprises, which are considerable and global, both corporate and charitable. The only thing Bob left Cal in charge of was the "foolproof" NFL team. Not even Cal could screw that up, right? Well, actually .....

The mom is technically the team owner at present, but Cal runs the day-to-day operations. She rarely speaks publicly but has posted some pretty cranky ("get off my lawn") type of stuff on social media. They wont sell - why would they? But they could always move the team (I think the stadium lease runs through 2032). My hope is that the imminently capable Cary will step in to replace the wholly incapable Cal. If nothing else, he should feel compelled to salvage the family name, which has been taking a beating. If so, it probably would not happen until the mom passes.

It is not impossible to quickly turn an NFL franchise around. For example, from 2014-18, the SF 49ers went 8-8, 5-11, 2-14, 6-10 and 4-12. But in the 2019 season, they made it all the way to the Super Bowl. The LA Rams did not have a winning season for 13 consecutive seasons from 2004 through 2016. But then came the 2018 season when they made it all the way to the Super Bowl. The point is, as bad as things look now for the Texans, a quick turnaround is possible with the right leadership.

 

Keyword: right leadership. The Cowboys know all about that too.

 

They can always move to St. Louis.

 

That is the first place i thought of too
Although the league might prefer a team in London (or another big city in Europe)
Other possibles -- OKC?, Louisville?, Memphis?, San Antonio?, Salt Lake?, Portland?

 

That's the only thing these two fanbases can argue about anymore, which franchise has the crappiest ownership

 

Speaking of Cal McNair, he just opened the presser today to announce David Culley with --

"This is an incredibly exciting day for out franchise." ​

LOL. His exciting statement was given "off camera." I kid you not. He then turned it over to new GM Nick Caserio. I would add he next disappeared but he was never really there in the first place

 

Who would've thought the Astros would be the most stable franchise in that town right now. What a fuster cluck.

 

I forgot about the talk of a London team. IMHO that will never work which is why the League didn't move Jacksonville there 3 or 4 years ago. With the differences in the cost of living and taxes, the Players Union will never agree with anything that anyone can afford.

okc - bottom of that list
Louisville - not enough TV's
Memphis - Atlanta and Cincinnati would throw fits
San Antonio - Alamo Dome to small, but with a community effort to build a new stadium could zoom up to position 1
Salt Lake - see Louisville
Portland - see Salt Lake

 

I lived in San Antonio for a long time and have serious doubts all the Cowboy fans would actually root for a San Antonio team. I say that half-joking, but half-serious. Jerry would throw a FIT and do everything he could to stop that move as he knows the size of the fan base there.

 

That is something that Jerry would hang his hat on. If you have ever driven between Austin and Dallas on the morning of a Cowboy game, the road is full of buses and cars of Cowboy fans going to the game.

 

I agree that the Cowboys would never let that happen, but how is the Alamo Dome too small??? Alamo Dome seats 72,000. That's bigger than 21 out of 30 current NFL stadiums.

Allegent Dome (Raiders) seats 65,000
Bills Stadium seats 71,608
First Energy Stadium (Browns) seats 67,895
Ford Field (Lions) seats 65,000
Gillette Stadium (Patriots) seats 66,829
Hard Rock Stadium (Dolphins) seats 65,326
Heinz Stadium (Steelers) seats 64,800
Levi's Stadium (49ers) seats 65,800
Lincoln Financial Field (Eagles) seats 69,596
Lucas Oil Stadium (Colts) seats 67,000
Lumen Field (Seahawks) seats 69,000
M&T Bank Stadium (Ravens) seats 71,008
Mercedes Benz Stadium (Falcons) seats 71,000
Nissan Stadium (Titans) seats 69,143
Paul Brown Stadium (Bengals) seats 65,515
Raymond James Stadium (Bucs) seats 65,890
SoFi Stadium (Chargers & Rams) seats 70,240
Soldier Field (Bears) seats 61,500
State Farm Stadium (Cardinals) seats 63,400
TIAA Bank Field (Jaguars) seats 69,132
US Bank Stadium (Vikings) seats 66,655

I agree the stadium is old by today's standards and it might not have the luxury boxes, but it's not too small.

- Mike

 

Mike, the NFL will not consider the Alamo Done as an NFL stadium. Like I said, SA might get a franchise with a promise its new facility. The Rams had to promise a new facility before the league would consider a new venue.

I have been down that road with them. We had a great plan but it was downtown which limited what we could do and included infrastructure improvements that we wanted LA or the league to cover.

 

SA should have an NFL team. They are the 9th largest city in America right? To say the Cowboys won't let it happen? That's utterly ridiculous. It would be amazing to have 3 pro teams in Texas.

The Cowboys are supposedly a national brand right? So why would it matter if SA has a team? Aren't there Cowboys fans in LA? NY? Chicago? Hell there are Cowboys fans in Houston and the Texans still have sold out every home game.

2.5 million people live in SA. Hell SA is bigger than Dallas. Chew on that for a minute.

 

A team in London is also dumb as hell. London is a different animal. There's 4 EPL clubs in London and there are a half dozen more that are trying to get into EPL. Londoners brawl with eachother of their clubs. Hell, Tottenham and Arsenal are literally 4 miles apart and they hate eachother.

A couple of NFL games a year over there? Ok fine but to have an actual NFL team doesn't make any logistical sense. What division would they be in? Who wants to fly from London to Seattle or LA and then turn around? Jetlag much?

Cost of living the players can deal with but its still a different country. Yeah they speak English but it's not like moving to Cincinnati or Jacksonville or Nashville.

 

Jerry would extract a heavy price for agreeing for a team in San Antonio. Just the way the NFL works. The question is can San Antonio find an owner who is willing to pay $2B+ for a franchise and then build a stadium that meets NFL standards?

 

Vernon is a great follow
Esp if you hate the Jazz

 

Actually, San Antonio is the seventh largest city in the US, while Dallas is ninth. However, the San Antonio metropolitan area is 24th largest while DFW is 4th. Huge difference, but that has nothing to do with football. The fact that San Antonio, Austin and El Paso are huge areas of Cowboy support make them tough sells for NFL teams.

Take Phoenix. The Cardinals have been there since 1988 but there are still a large number of fans that come out to support the Cowboys and to a much lesser extent, the Rams, the two adopted teams that people in Phoenix rooted for during the many years without an NFL franchise. Of course the Cardinals are now THE franchise in the area, but it has taken 30 years and they are still having to compete with the Cowboys.

However, if all those Cowboy fans in SA switch allegence and support a new NFL team like they support the Spurs, SA might be a great market for a new NFL franchise

- Mike

 

I refuse to believe the NFL gives 2 craps how many Cowboys fans there are in any city. Of course the Metroplex is a huge area, but that's beside the point. SA is one of the biggest cities in America and there are over 2.5 million people in its metro area. Austin has a metro area of over 2 million people.

You can't tell me that between 4.5 million people within less than a two hour drive to SA that they can't support a team.

Once again. There are Cowboys fans in every city but it's laughable to think there are so many that SA wouldn't be able to support an NFL team.

 

Anytime the NFL expands the teams most effected have to approve (which means they get paid) the establishment of the new team. Jerry could care less as long as he gets hat he feels is his pound of flesh. Who knows what the Texans would demand.

 

A fifth round pick in 2028?

 

At some point the league will need to expand and if you get a few more teams you almost have to start thinking about two leagues. It's silly to me that Jacksonville has a team but SA doesn't.

 

not that much money in SA!

 

Pro - When UTSA started football, they almost sold out every home game.

Con - After the first season, the fans rapidly dwindled unless they played "a name" or were winning

Pro - Red McCombs bought the Vikings with the idea of moving them to SA

Con - the Vikings are still in Minnesota

Pro - there are a few people in SA that could be an owner

Con - almost all are too old and/or don't like football