| INDIANAPOLIS — It seems as though Texans general manager Charley
Casserly is going to fit in just fine in the South. Already, he’s got the mentality
down pat. In the South, things take time. They move slowly. We Yankee city folk up north
quite often would hear, "What’s the rush," when visiting the South. And
that’s just the strategy the Texans will be taking into this year’s free agency,
according to Casserly.
Casserly dropped in at the NFL Scouting Combine media room after a grueling day of
player analysis to offer up the Texans’ strategies in the coming months to those
reporters not hungry enough to leave in search of nourishment (all refreshment stands
closed around 3:30 p.m. that day, for some strange reason).
It was apparent that Casserly had a realistic view of the Texans’ future.
"We’re not going to the playoffs in Year One, OK?" Casserly said.
"It’s going to take us X amount of time to be good, and who knows what X amount
of time is. So anyone you’re putting money into in Year One, you’d like to have
him be part of the nucleus as you grow and get better."
The biggest building block of that nucleus seems to be Fresno State QB David Carr, who
visited the reporters earlier in the day and gave every indication that he was going to
the Texans with the top pick in the NFL draft in April. Carr was the hot topic with
Casserly, who stopped short of saying the quarterback would absolutely be the top pick but
did give him some big-time praise.
"We asked him to work out because we thought it was more of a statement to the
players," Casserly said. "In the 15 minutes he’s going to throw (on
Sunday), it’s not going to alter our opinion one way or another. But I thought it was
a good statement to the rest of the players that, hey, just go work out. What have you got
to hide? Just go play. I’m proud of the fact the kid’s doing it, and I think it
should be to his credit."
With the QB-of-the-future question seemingly locked up, Casserly can turn to other
areas of the team, and filling those holes will come mostly via free agency, where
Casserly explained that the Texans would tread carefully.
Casserly talked in detail about Houston’s plan not to sign players above age 28 to
big-money, long-term contracts, which seems like common sense. But when you look at some
of the deals that were struck over the weekend (Antowain Smith, Jim Miller, etc.), you see
that it doesn’t always work out that way. Casserly said the principle of the
situation that has to be looked at is, "Do you think the guy can play the
contract?"
Casserly praised the current draft crop as well, citing the fact that just about all
the offensive linemen and running backs worked out on Saturday, something that had not
been a common occurrence in past years.
But the key building block for the Texans will be their foray into the free-agent
market. Casserly and his staff have tons of money and tons of holes to fill via free
agency. Casserly said the expansion draft was their top building block, and that they
thought the first eight players they drafted were better than anyone they could get in
free agency for the money.
One of the top needs the Texans have is a veteran quarterback to tutor Carr (or
whomever the Texans draft). But Casserly thinks that finding that veteran passer
won’t be a problem.
"We have the second-best quarterback job in free agency," Casserly said.
"The best one is the one where they guarantee you’ll be the starter. We have the
second-best because you are going to start. And you will have a chance to showcase your
talent and rebound back into the market next year. Any other place, where you’re not
guaranteed the starting position, you may never play all year."
Still, don’t expect the Texans to rush right out and sign players. Casserly says
the Texans haven’t liked any of the proposals that agents have given them thus far,
but that eventually the agents and teams will figure things out and the ball will get
rolling.
"It’s kind of a one-day-at-a-time type of thing," Casserly said.
"There’s certain things we’d like to accomplish in free agency, and I think
we just take it as we go.
"I think we’re going to go fairly slow and methodical. And I say that by
listening to the agents (Friday). Nobody offered us a deal that we wanted to sign
(Friday). But I’m not sure some of them don’t know what (offers) to say yet,
because they don’t have anything. So I think we’ve got a little slower process
going on the thing. But when we get back, we’re going to start to have players in.
And could we sign a player next week? Sure. Could we not? We’re going to go fairly
slow through the thing."
I can just picture Casserly sippin’ lemonade out on the porch down south, waiting
for the players and the agents to come to him, without an oodle of pressure to rush.
Texans fans just need to hope that slow and steady indeed wins the race.
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