Carr's future in Houston on the line?

Updated: December 9, 2006, 9:39 AM ET

David Carr has just a 20-51 record as a starter in four-plus seasons, and Len Pasquarelli looks at whether the QB could be playing for his job over the final four weeks.

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By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
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Hindsight is always 20/20. But occasionally, even on the wrong side of 50 years old and closer to viewing the daisies from the bottom side up than from planting them, memory is even clearer.

Last year at this time, we reported in "Tip Sheet" that some Houston Texans officials, for the first time during quarterback David Carr's inconsistent tenure with the franchise, were questioning internally how to proceed with the top pick in the 2002 draft.

Carr had voided the final three seasons of the seven-year contract he signed as a rookie, and the Texans ostensibly had four alternatives: Exercise a "buy back" option for three more years at a total layout of $24.5 million that included $8 million in up-front money. Take a "buy back" for two more years, through 2007, at $15.75 million total, with a $5.5 million bonus. Designate Carr as a franchise or a transition player, with a one-year qualifying offer, thus affording the Texans another season in which to further evaluate him. Or do absolutely nothing, allow Carr to become an unrestricted free agent and test the open market, and risk the possibility of losing him altogether to another team.

Our report, which suggested the Texans were at least considering the two-year "buy back" -- a move that would have saved $2.5 million in bonus money and nearly $10 million overall -- elicited a witch hunt of sorts in the Houston management offices, as some people fighting for their jobs sought to identify the source of the leak. The reaction, of course, was predictable, because the source (or sources) was right on-target.

Not surprisingly, in February, the Texans did what they have typically done during their mostly free-spending yet unproductive five-year existence: They chose the most expensive and most ill-advised option for spending owner Bob McNair's money, paying Carr an $8 million bonus that triggered three additional contract years at salaries of $5.25 million (2006), $5.5 million (2007) and $6 million (2008). Apparently, the Texans' braintrust figured Carr would develop into a franchise-level quarterback in 2006 under the expert tutelage of first-year head coach Gary Kubiak.

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