Wow, do the Houston Texans have it good or what? I remember the scraps that the Browns were offered in their expansion draft. The closest thing to a marquee player that they picked up was Antonio Langham, and that was only because the 49ers compensated them for helping them alleviate their cap problem. If I recall, the Browns' top pick in that expansion draft was some slightly above average offensive lineman, a center or something. I don't even remember that cat's name. Those guys were a bunch of bush leaguers compared to what's out there for the Texans. Just look at the damn
list. Obviously NFL teams haven't managed the salary cap very well these past few years, and the Texans are going to reap the rewards. I know Tony Boselli and Jamal Anderson have been hurt recently, but why wouldn't the Texans grab those guys and say Willie Roaf, giving David Carr, Joey Harrington, or whoever they would have back there at quarterback a fighting chance? It looks as though Boselli might be a little overpaid, but as long as that salary doesn't increase obscenely over the next few years, it seems like a pretty reasonable price to invest in order to protect your quarterback of the future. No doubt their offense would be better than the one the Browns had. On top of that, you'd have to guess that Dom Capers would want to bring in some talented linebackers to bring back that old agressive 3-4. Last time I looked, Jessie Armstead and Jamie Sharper were pretty good players. As long as they avoid Rob Johnson like the plague, and perhaps dig up a couple of bargain overachievers on the defensive line and the secondary, I don't see why this team wouldn't have a fighting chance at a .500 season next year. Didn't the NFL put in that rule that expansion teams have to spend 38% of their cap in the expansion draft so they couldn't just go out and load up on prime time players in free agency? I guess that theory gets thrown out the window when the players in the expansion draft are better than the free agents. If the Texans don't screw this up, it could be the second year Panthers/Jaguars all over again. Well, maybe not, but there's no doubt in my mind that I'll be rooting for the Texans to go all the way if I hear them call out "Charles" come expansion draft day.
