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Seth and Sean assess which Texans moves so far this offseason have been most significant, most surprising and most suspect.
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00:00So the Texans offseason so far, Seth, I did doing some superlatives here, I guess.
00:06It feels like things have simmered down a little bit, slowed down. It was a busy week last week,
00:10kind of a fire hose. Most significant, most surprising, most suspect among the moves that
00:18Nick Casario has made so far. Let's start with significant. What in your mind is the most
00:23significant move that the Texans have made so far towards becoming a better football team?
00:28Let's say the signing of Braden Smith. I guess if we could tie the trading away of Titus Howard into
00:33that. And it's funny because all you're doing is swapping out one player. I think that there is
00:40something about the type of football player that the Texans want on the offensive line. And I think
00:46two things can be true, that Titus Howard is a good football player. I think Braden Smith is a good
00:50football player. There are different types of football players. And I think Braden Smith might
00:55fit the mold a little bit more, especially just because of his appetite for the physical side of
00:59the game. They want, they want to look more like the Texans defense. And if you're going to look
01:04more like the Texans defense, you want to have guys that really want to physically punish the
01:08opponent. And Braden Smith is a bit more like, he's just got a little bit more grit to his run
01:13blocking than Titus Howard did. So I'm not bagging on Titus or anything. They're just different types of
01:18players. Well, and I, to that end, I would almost tie in, you know, I don't know if this is
01:25a cop
01:26out because I'm bringing another player. It's almost, I would tie in at Ingram into that whole
01:30thing too. You know, the bringing back at Ingram, you know, just in general that D'Amico Ryan's
01:37said, forget who he was sitting down with. It's somebody at the combine and was asked an open-ended
01:43question. They didn't, the question was not about the offensive line or the running back position.
01:47You know, it wasn't somebody saying, so, so what do you need to do with the offensive line?
01:50What do you need to do with the running back? They said, where do you need to improve? And he
01:53immediately said those two things. I like the fact that, um, that they kind of walked the walk,
01:59you know, that they did, they have attacked the offensive line. They did bring at Ingram back at
02:0313 million a year. They, they did go out and sign Braden Smith for what will be 12 million a
02:09year.
02:09If he, you know, if he reaches his playing time incentives, um, trading for David Montgomery,
02:13that's addressing the running back position. So in general, just
02:19actions speaking as loud as the words did, I think. And I think there's still more to do
02:23on the offensive line. They're clearly, they can't be done yet. They may be done in free agency,
02:27signing anybody significant that, that may very well be, but they're not done addressing it.
02:33So I'm with you on that. And if you had to single, if you had to single it out to
02:37one
02:37transaction, I think you're right. I think it's Braden Smith. I'll just go on the defensive side
02:41of the ball just to, to take a look at that as well. And to, to put something different on
02:45the
02:45table. I like the signing of Sheldon Rankin's and bringing him back two years, 12 million bucks,
02:51given all the number of defensive lineman, interior defensive lineman, either injured or leaving the
02:56building, you know, especially with Tim settle signing, going somewhere else that Rankin's re-signing
03:01takes on even more significance now retroactively, but two years, 12 million bucks is, is right in
03:08line with the cost that I would spend on him at his age. And I, he did a lot of
03:13great things for
03:13the Texans. I was, I was reading some of the different grades of the Texans free agency so
03:19far. And Frank Schwab from Yahoo had said something in his writeup along the lines of the Texans did
03:26side and read Blankenship, which is odd because it didn't fill a glaring need. And I would say,
03:32no, it's the, the Texans defense didn't need to get a whole lot better or anything, but in terms of
03:38what that defense needed to actually take it to even a higher level would be the fact that there was
03:43no consistent safety to start opposite of Kalen Bullock. And I thought that was a very, it was a
03:49very glaring need, depending on what your standards are. Okay. If you want to be, if you want to be
03:54sure
03:54you get the scoring title next year, that you had to do something about that with Reed Blankenship.
03:59The thing that's really interesting is that he comes from a defense and we've talked about,
04:04it's a different style of defense that Vic Fangio runs compared to D'Amico Ryan's. And I've talked
04:08about that part of it, but I didn't really, I, it occurred to me yesterday, you know, what Vic Fangio
04:13is really concerned with all the time is not, not giving up the big plays, the explosive plays.
04:19That's the one area that the Texans were not elite at this year. They just still,
04:23they still gave up too many explosive plays compared to the other top defenses. So Reed
04:28Blankenship comes in from a system that he's playing in the last couple of years with Vic Fangio,
04:33where they are very, very concerned with being careful not to give up the big play. Yeah. And
04:38then also just by virtue of having hopefully 17 games of a solid starter playing next to Kalen
04:45Bullock, the defense gets better in that regard. So I think that was a very underrated signing by the
04:51Texans. Yeah. I, that was actually going to be mine for the next category. We're doing most
04:55significant, most surprising, most suspect of moves that Texans made. And these can be anything. They
05:01don't have to be free agency signings. They can be retaining free agents, can be trades, can be
05:05cuts, can be extensions that they've given out. They've done all these things in the last 10 days.
05:10Um, but the Blankenship one was the most surprising to me just because it was unexpected. It kind of
05:15came out of nowhere to me like, Oh wow. They're spending not lower level veteran, you know, sort
05:21of bargain bin money on safety. You know, they're spending, you know, three years, 25 million bucks
05:26on safety. I was, so I was happy with it. I think two things can be true. It can be
05:31significant and
05:32surprising. I was just surprised that that's where, and that was the, that was their first kind of big
05:37signing of the free agency period as well. They hadn't done anything on the offensive line yet
05:41and they're signing a safety, you know, sometimes the sequence of things catches you a little off.
05:46Yeah. And that's where I think that's where people started to get nervous of, man, are we just going
05:50to do what we did last year, which was spend a boatload on the defense and spend hardly anything
05:55at all on the offense, which again is a very new England type of thing to do, uh, or Belichick
06:00Patriots type of thing to do. The, the one thing that I keep reminding myself about free agency
06:05right now, Sean, I was just looking at randomly. I looked at ESPN's top 25 free agents remaining
06:11six of the top 20 right now are guards. Yeah. So take it for whatever it's worth. That's one
06:17website's ranking of the top free agents available, but six of the top 20 free agents remaining are
06:22guards. And some of that I think is because half of those guys are 30 years old or older. And
06:28some of
06:29them like Joel Batonio might be thinking about retiring that there, those prospects seem to be
06:35taking their time and the market for them maybe isn't as strong as they expected, but they're all
06:41sitting out there. So the Texans still do have options there and might be, might be in discussions
06:47with a few of those guys for all we know. Yep. Um, so what's your most surprising? I'd say just
06:54the
06:54David Montgomery trade and it wasn't a complete surprise because there had been leaks about David
06:59Montgomery potentially wanting a trade. And you and I talked about it at the time. As soon as there
07:04were reports that he might want to trade or they might trade him, we thought, okay, this, this would
07:09make a lot of sense for the Texans. You just never know if your team's going to pull the trigger.
07:13There's a 38, 30 other teams out there that might be trying to get in on the action. Uh, so
07:18that was,
07:19so it was a nice, it was a pleasant surprise. I was glad that they took care of that before
07:22free agency
07:23began. Well, and I think the Titus Howard trade amped that up. You know, you and I were saying
07:28the morning, the Titus Howard trade came down and I, and if I'm being honest, the Titus Howard
07:32trade was more surprising than the Reed Blankenship signing. So I'm, I'm amending my answer. Like,
07:38I don't think any of us were expecting Titus Howard to get traded. Yeah, that's true. That was a bigger
07:43surprise. Yeah. Every, every offensive line segment that you and I had done since the end of the season
07:48was, well, we know that there's two spots that are nailed down. Ariante nursery at left tackle and
07:54wherever they decide to put Titus Howard, left guard or right tackle. And then he gets traded.
07:59And that was, uh, that was, that was out of nowhere. Yeah. And then, but that, that to me is
08:04then what triggered for me at least was, okay, they just got a fifth for Titus Howard. There was just
08:09a
08:10report yesterday that the lions are looking for a fifth for David Montgomery. Maybe there's a chain of
08:15events going on here that the Texans are, you know, one thing is leading to another, but that
08:20as I sit here and reassess, I'm like, Oh yeah, the Titus Howard trade was more surprising than the
08:24Reed Blankenship signing. Yeah. If you were to tell me, yeah, if you were to power rank, Hey,
08:29which of these is most likely to happen, a David Montgomery trade, a Reed Blankenship signing or a
08:34Titus Howard trade that the Titus Howard be third as far as most likely. Yep. Yep. So that we're
08:41going to live by our own retroactive hypothetical power rankings. We have to say that Titus Howard
08:47was the most surprising. We can change it. These are our rules, man. We can do what we
08:50want. Texan. I'm curious what the people think. 7, 1, 3, 5, 7, 2, 4, 6, 10. Uh, most significant,
08:56most surprising, most suspect moves. The, uh, the Texans made in free agency. We'll read some
09:02of your texts here in a minute. Um, what's your most suspect move that the Texans made? Um, okay.
09:08I think a lot of people here might be saying Evan Brown. That's only suspect if they are slam dunk
09:13100% thinking, Hey, this is our left guard, or this is our center this year. I think that's,
09:18that's, that's, it's only suspect if that were the case. I don't think that's the case. I guess,
09:23um, this is going to be an odd one for me to say, because I'm optimistic about this guy doing
09:30really,
09:30really well. Um, and probably playing better than he has in his career when he comes to the Texans
09:35defense, but the amount of money they gave Logan Hall was a little bit surprising. I didn't
09:39necessarily expect him to get that contract. Yeah. So is our, is Logan Hall definitively going
09:44to be better for the defense than Tim settle, or is he going to be as good? That's a little
09:48bit of
09:48a flyer. So I'm even it's, so even though I'm optimistic about it, if I look at it objectively,
09:55all right, that's, um, that's a good, that's a nice little chunk of money to lay down for somebody
10:00that hasn't produced as much as I think he's physically capable of. Yeah. I I'm, I'm anything
10:07on the defensive line that they go out and get, as long as it's not something where the value is
10:11way
10:11out of whack, I feel like they're going to get the best version of that person. So I'm, I'm cool
10:15with
10:15that. My, for me, mine is the extension extensions that Nick gave to, to a few of the guys, like
10:2440
10:24million guarantee fully guaranteed for Daniel Hunter in 2027, not this coming year, but in 2027
10:32is makes me nervous. Uh, let me back up and say, I don't think there's anything that Nick's done
10:38this off season that I see is super dicey or suspect where I'm like, I'm where I'm going,
10:43that is a dumb move and it's going to come back to bite you in the ass. Like last year,
10:48there were a couple of those. Like I wasn't wild about the Christian Kirk acquisition for 16 million a
10:52year. You know, like at the price, I was fine with them bringing in Christian Kirk. It was
10:56inheriting Christian Kirk's contract from the Jags that I thought was a little, a little suspect.
11:02Um, they, uh, they tacked on, uh, 2027 for Daniel Hunter, 40 million fully guaranteed is what it
11:10sounds like. They gave Dalton Schultz another year on his contract at 12 million a year. Um,
11:16they extending Kymie Fairbairn, a top of market kicker money for two more years. Like I, I don't know
11:21that any of these moves are moves that are going to necessarily come back to bite the Texans in the
11:24butt. I just don't know. And Nick knows obviously way better than we do what the necessity of those
11:29moves. There's probably something to do with those moves that adds more voidable years. It allows them
11:34to open up space to do more things this year. I, I get all that a hundred percent. Yeah. So
11:38I'm just
11:38looking at it. When I say suspect, I'm just looking at a total surface level, 40 million guaranteed for
11:45Daniel Hunter when he's going to be probably like 33 years old or whatever, two years from now
11:49scares me a little bit. The thing, the way that Nick has managed the cap so far in the strategy
11:55seems to still be working out is that he's not afraid to just go ahead and give a bunch of
12:00money
12:00on a short-term deal, guarantee a good chunk of it, but it allows them to, to know exactly what
12:06the
12:06expenses are going to be and moving forward, keep, keep yourself at a manageable level. Like there's,
12:12they're nowhere near, they're right in the mid-level typically after everything shakes out of how much
12:19future money they have committed, how much cash they've spent and everything. I think he's, he gets
12:24out in front of the, the market and where it's going to be. And more times than not, that ends
12:29up
12:29being a good contract or a fair price to pay for your player. And you don't have to go out
12:34and, and then
12:35try to get a bunch of guys in free agency or something to, to all of a sudden deal with
12:39some
12:39situation you've created. Oh, no, I told, I agree with everything you just said. If it's specific
12:44one with Daniil, where he's going to be 33 years old, that season is what scares me a little bit.
12:49Right. Yeah. He's going to be through it, but he's only, but that's like, that's the, that's the chunk
12:55of money they have committed to him. And if they need to walk away at something or something at some
12:59point, like it's, it's pretty easy to get out of. And he's still like, he's, he's been healthy.
13:04He's still producing an extremely high level. So 30, yeah, he's going to be 33, but it's only
13:09two years away, as opposed to giving Altuve money five years down the road where he's going to be
13:1339 years old. Totally. Totally. Yeah. No, no, I get that. And I'm, and I'm, I am putting the normal
13:1933 year old NFL player evil on Daniil Hunter, who looks like he was built in a lab. So the
13:25other,
13:26the one that people might think is curious is the, the edge rusher, Dominic Robinson, the defensive end,
13:31um, just because it was a one year, $4 million deal for a guy who hasn't even played a whole
13:35bunch of football. He's averaged about 250 snaps a year in his four years in the NFL. Um, I, the
13:42big
13:42thing about that is that it's, it's only like 200,000 guaranteed. So it's just not, it's, it kind
13:47of, I was, this is a situation where as a player, I might say, ah, no, I don't want my
13:53base salary
13:53that high because, uh, cause then if you, it might be easier to cut me or you're going to come
13:58to add
13:58to me and renegotiate or something. But, um, but regardless, that's not one that that's not one
14:03that they're tied to a bunch of guaranteed money. So the sticker shock of it isn't, isn't as bad as
14:08I thought it was. Yeah. Yeah. It was funny. Um, we did our, our stream last night, the Texans
14:13collective with a Landry locker and Cody Stutes and Reggie and myself every Monday at a Monday night
14:18on YouTube. We do a, we do a stream and, uh, and Landry brought, Landry brought up something
14:24interesting about Daniil Hunter's $40 million guaranteed. Daniil Hunter's money is all
14:28guaranteed right now. He's going to make 35 million issues guaranteed 40 million in 2027
14:33guaranteed. Landry said, if he were Tommy Togiai, he would hold out. Togiai got a $3.3 million deal
14:41early this season for next year. He's on a one year, $3.3 million deal. He's like, man, I know
14:47Daniil Hunter's an all pro and everything, but man, 40 more million guaranteed. He's making 70 million
14:52over the next two years. It's a nice carrot on the stick for a young guy like Togiai.
14:56Well, they will take care of him. I think I think that's, that's the message. There's
15:00no chance Togiai holds out. I know, Landry knows that too. Um, but that is the thing.
15:05And they love him. That's the thing. Like late, they say all the same things about Tommy Togiai
15:11that they do and did about all the other guys that eventually got contract extensions. You
15:16know, they would gush about Nico Collins contract extension, gush about Stingley contracted gush
15:21about Petrie Petrie contract extension. Will Anderson's going to get a contract extension
15:26someday. Kamari Lasseter will from this team as well. They'll make it work for those guys.
15:30Togiai is one of those guys. Togiai. Well, he's only, he signed the extension last year.
15:35And as you pointed out, it's through 2026. So he's a, there's a really good chance. As long
15:40as he's healthy midway through the season that we get news that he extended his contract again,
15:44and it ends up being a, you know, more than a one year deal. Oh yeah. So, uh, as long
15:48more than 3 million bucks too. Yeah. I think they, they don't want him to get to free agency.
15:52I think they're probably, we might hear something about him, you know, before training camp even
15:57begins. Yeah. That's a good point. They, they may go to him and they should go to him and say,
16:02Hey, let's, uh, let's rip this up and maybe do something different here. Yeah. If, if not though,
16:07I mean, he's under, if not, he's any plays next year, the way he played this year, Togiai,
16:12he's one of the biggest bargains, non-rookie contract bargains in the NFL. He's a perfect
16:17guy where the Eagles used to do this a lot. And, uh, to the point where the NFL, uh, or
16:24the, the collective bargaining agreement ended up kind of banning it, but they would take
16:28guys like Togiai who hadn't had a big payday. They weren't high draft picks. They haven't
16:33seen this huge wad of cash ever in their lives. And they would sign them to like seven year
16:38deals after their, when they were still young players. I think back then you could do it
16:42like after your second year or something. And they would do it now until after year three.
16:47You can't. Yeah. And, um, and you can't make the contracts as long. So they would lock these
16:51guys down. Some of whom would go on to be all pro type guys and they would lock them into
16:56like a seven year deal smart because it's that first big payday. It's smart, but it does create
17:01problems down the road. That's what you create guys that are. Oh man. It's almost like you gave
17:05me a Motown deal, you know, like you just gave, you gave me, you gave me Prince's record
17:10deal that kids, there's a artist, uh, by the name of Prince who was awesome, but he signed
17:16this record contract when he was 19 years old. That was ridiculously bad. And, uh, it ended
17:21up being a big thing. You don't, that's that. Hey, if you're the recording label, whatever,
17:25no big deal. When you're in charge of a team sport and you got a bunch of guys who are
17:30just
17:30actively pissed off at you, changing their names to unpronounceable symbols that don't even
17:34fit on the Jersey panel, then, uh, yeah, it's a, it's a different scenario. It's what the Astros
17:39try to do all the time. It's the, it's the same thing. It's like buying out the arbitration years
17:44in your first couple of years of free agency. Yeah. Yeah. But those are still, it's not like the
17:49Eagles. It was extreme. Was it bad? Yeah. I I'm saying that without knowing the numbers on what
17:53I mean, it's not bad. It's not, it's not like it's unfair or anything. It would just be an extreme
17:57gap in how it would end up, but you just, you can't do it anymore. So I think the Texans
18:02have done
18:02a version of that where you take a young guy who still hasn't had a big contract, like with
18:06Togiai, Hey, here's a nice chunk of money and, uh, would just keep you for one extra year. That's,
18:12that's manageable. I got that's, that's ethical in my mind. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. I mean,
18:17Togiai signed that deal in between games where he was inactive early in the season. Yeah. He wasn't
18:21even that. Yeah. He wasn't. Yeah. Not injury. Not because of injury either. He just, there were
18:26other veteran defensive tackles on the team. Yeah. Uh, people weighing in on the base power text line,
18:30and the blanket chip signing is important. You could argue that nearly, uh, or you could argue
18:34that early season coverage bus costs the Texans key games and seating, which ultimately caused them
18:40to go on the road for the playoffs. That is a hundred percent right. I've always said the biggest
18:44key for the Texans to get to an AFC title game is to a make sure that they're playing at
18:49home in the
18:50divisional round, which means B you've got to be one of the two best teams in the, in the AFC
18:56and
18:56that you do that by winning in the regular season and coughing up those games early in the season.
19:00Last year was very detrimental to that. Right. And I, and I think that at least one of those
19:04touchdowns in the Patriots game was, was probably, or maybe because Jalen Reed young player was
19:10playing with improper leverage. Um, you know, I'm careful about defensive backs because you never
19:14know exactly what you're supposed to do on a play, but, uh, yeah, multiple, multiple times that last
19:20season because of whomever was playing safety other than Kalen Bullock, uh, they, they gave up some
19:26big plays and that's hopefully that's less so with Reed Blankenship in there.
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