Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Tag options for Houston
By Tim Kavanagh
With an important date on the NFL calendar passed on Monday -- the opening of teams' ability to franchise tag one impending free agent -- the offseason has kicked into second gear. One team that is more likely than not to make use of the designation is the Houston Texans, a club that would like to maintain its status as a Super Bowl contender after a disappointing end to the 2012 campaign.
The Texans have 19 impending unrestricted free agents, and Tania Ganguli of the Houston Chronicle reports that negotiations with those players has not yet begun, per GM Rick Smith. In Ganguli's opinion, the players the Texans will place a priority on re-signing include OLB Connor Barwin, nickel CB Brice McCain, S Glover Quin and FB/TE James Casey.
Of that quartet, the two with the highest chances of being franchised are Barwin and Quin, with the edge likely going to Quin giving the much smaller value of the tag tender associated with his position ($6.798 million vs. $9.455 million).
