Report: Washington almost hired former Texans general manager Rick Smith

Washington almost hired former Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith to be their GM.

Former Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith almost returned to an NFL front office.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Washington came close to hiring the former Texans front office boss with owner Dan Snyder and Smith having frequent meetings in the Bahamas.

Before they hired Ron Rivera as their new head coach this past week, the Washington Redskins came close to hiring former Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith as their president to run the team, league sources told ESPN.

Smith and Redskins owner Daniel Snyder had multiple meetings in the Bahamas, formulating a vision for the struggling franchise, according to sources.

Sources familiar with the situation expected a deal to get done and Smith to be in charge of the Redskins.

But Snyder ultimately opted to run his franchise through his head coach instead of a president, bestowing the power to Rivera, who was officially hired Wednesday.

What Smith’s frequent meetings with Snyder indicate is that the former Texans general manager is ready to get back into the front office of an NFL team.

The second general manager in Texans history has not been involved in football since his wife, Tiffany, died of cancer in late January of 2019.

Smith’s successor, Brian Gaine, was fired on June 7. Since then, executive vice president of football administration Chris Olsen has been the interim general manager, but the Texans actually have a five-man general managing council with coach Bill O’Brien making significant decisions regarding personnel.

The Cleveland Browns currently have a vacancy at general manager after firing John Dorsey. Interestingly, the Browns were the team Smith made a trade with to move up to take quarterback Deshaun Watson in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft. Smith may not have overseen greatness while with Houston, but he may have made one of the draft day trades that does give the Texans a shot at greatness.

Will Brian Gaine going to get the last laugh over Bill O’Brien in Bills versus Texans?

The Houston Texans fired GM Brian Gaine on June 7, and he landed back with the Buffalo Bills. Will he have the last laugh over Bill O’Brien?

2019 has been a whirlwind for Brian Gaine.

After spending all offseason carefully managing the Houston Texans’ salary cap situation, trying to replace safety Tyrann Mathieu with another Pro Bowler in Tashaun Gipson, not spending big money to keep 30-year-old Kareem Jackson, and taking Tytus Howard after the Philadelphia Eagles drafted Andre Dillard in the first round, Gaine found himself out of a job.

On June 7, the Texans fired Gaine as general manger ⁠— the Friday before the club was to hold its veteran mandatory minicamp, the last offseason workout before a month hiatus, the advent to training camp.

Usually front office personnel gets canned at the end of the season, or midway through a disappointing campaign. The Texans were taking a Jets-esque approach and firing Gaine after all of their offseason moves had been made.

In late July, Gaine returned to the franchise that he spent the 2017 with as its vice president of player personnel, the Buffalo Bills. Of course, Dan Morgan has that job now, and Gaine is a nebulous “senior personnel advisor.”

Regardless of pro football and the money and lifestyle involved, getting fired out of nowhere is disruptive on an individual. To think you’re safe for at least the next five months and have the rug pulled out from under you is jarring.

Could Gaine have the last laugh over Texans coach Bill O’Brien?

In the absence of a full-time general manager, senior vice president of football administration, Chris Olsen, has taken on the role as interim general manager. However, that is nothing more than a title. A five-man general managing council makes the front office decisions for the Texans, and O’Brien has considerable influence. Make no mistake: his six trades from Aug. 8 to Oct. 21 were timely and helped fill voids along the roster.

However, it was Jack Easterby, the executive vice president of team development, part of the New England Patriots’ colonization of the Texans, who arrived in the 2019 offseason, who helped Texans chairman Cal McNair realize Gaine needed to go. Getting rid of Gaine helped O’Brien win yet another power struggle over a general manager.

If the Bills pull off the upset and take down the Texans at NRG Stadium, they will be a team that Gaine had very little influence over, not compared to Houston, who has O’Brien’s fingerprints all over them by this stage of the postseason. And if they lose, it will only be that much sweeter to Gaine.

Keeping Bill O’Brien as part of the Texans’ general manager council makes sense

The Houston Texans have done well with Bill O’Brien a part of the GM decisions. Perhaps the status quo should continue into 2020.

Solidifying the AFC South title for the sixth time this decade, and fourth time in the last five years, shouldn’t be overlooked, especially considering the perpetual inconsistencies suffered due to injuries, coaching, or flat out bad days the Houston Texans have had in 2019.

Though widely considered a disappointing coaching performance on behalf of Bill O’Brien and his coaching staff thus far, obstacles were faced and O’Brien and the Texans took the first step to quiet the noise, and that’s clinching a playoff berth. This is a direct effect of O’Brien, but in his different role, as working with a five-man general managing council.

The question of bringing O’Brien back in his coaching role is warranted as the concerns of play-calling, time management, and a considerable amount of other criticism that can be placed upon his decisions. However, as a front office guy, he saved the season.

After firing Brian Gaine as general manager on June 7, the Texans made an uncanny decision to not hire an official general manager, instead appointing Chris Olsen, the senior vice president of football administration, as the interim general manager. But that is an “in name only” type of role, as O’Brien has been influential in the talent acquisition since Gaine’s firing.

When the Texans failed to lure New England Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio, they rolled with Olsen, O’Brien, Matt Bazirgan (director of player personnel), James Liipfert (director of college scouting), and Jack Easterby (executive vice president, team development). This interim solution could be the new status quo as the Texans reportedly will not consider hiring a new general manager when the season is over.

However, to say it’s the wrong move would be to discredit the moves that’s aided Houston to win their division.

The Texans made the right decision sticking with O’Brien’s band of acting general managers.

Since O’Brien started to have considerably more sway with the front office after the firing of Gaine, the Texans have traded RB Duke Johnson (Aug. 8), LT Laremy Tunsil, WR Kenny Stills, RB Carlos Hyde (all Aug. 31 acquisitions). Johnson was to replace D’Onta Foreman as a complementary back to starter Lamar Miller, Tunsil was to fix the second wave free agency solutions at left tackle, Stills was to be an insurance policy in case receivers Keke Coutee and/or Will Fuller got hurt, and Hyde was to replace Miller, who was lost for the season in the third preseason game with a torn ACL.

Tunsil’s impact has been noted and rewarded, as he has been selected to his first Pro Bowl in addition to reducing quarterback Deshaun Watson’s sack numbers from 62 to 44 with Week 17 still to play.

For Hyde, he broke the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the first time in his career and helped the Texans rank in the top-10 for rushing yards per game. Johnson has been a part of the solution with 79 carries for a career-high 398 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Stills has been a huge addition to a receiving corps with 40 catches for 561 yards and four touchdowns.

All four of these players were late-minute solutions to problems that could have rendered Houston in the irrelevant bin along with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts by the time the full attrition of the season hit the Texans’ roster.

When the injuries did hit the Texans, as they hit virtually every team throughout the year, Houston adapted and traded for former first-round pick Gareon Conley to shore up their cornerback group after a swath of injuries that hit starters Bradley Roby and Johnathan Joseph along with rookie Lonnie Johnson. Before arriving in Houston, Conley allowed a passer rating of 126.0. Since being traded to Houston, he’s reduced that to 89.9. He’s also slashed his allowed completion percentage from 69.2, to 46.4.

Whether or not O’Brien should stick around as coach of the Texans will always be an honest conversation and will continue based on the team’s performance in the postseason. However, the Texans’ front office did their due diligence with finding talented players to fill voids that would have hurt any Texans playoff run by orchestrating a roster when odds and time were against them.

Getting protection for their franchise quarteback, filling the needs in the backfield after losing Miller to an ACL injury and giving up on Foreman, and adding two former first-round picks in Conley and Vernon Hargreaves to your secondary, all while not having a full offseason should guarantee another year to continue to build this roster into a true championship contender.

The one area where the Texans could have done better is the handling of the Jadeveon Clowney trade. However, was it really that bad of a trade when the Texans got off the hook for paying that kind of money for a pass rusher who has fewer sacks (3.0) than Jacob Martin (3.5) despite playing more snaps (574 to 220)? Plus, the Texans will reportedly have $74.3 million in cap space in 2020, the sixth-highest in the NFL.

The Tunsil trade is the most solid move the five-man general managing council and O’Brien made thus far. The trade ensures Watson, the franchise quarterback and reason for the team’s consecutive double-digit win seasons, can keep the team competitive year in and year out, game in and game out. Tunsil has allowed three sacks on the season, and has done an exceptional job playing through midseason injuries all the while setting Houston up for the future.

With more preparation and continuity, the next step could be towards the Super Bowl.

Deshaun Watson says Texans’ consistency of winning the AFC South starts with coaching, front office

Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson credits the coaching and the front office for why the organization consistently wins the AFC South.

The Houston Texans are 2019 AFC South champions. They have won the division four of the past five seasons. Since 2002, only the Indianapolis Colts’ seven division titles outnumbered the Texans’ six.

For quarterback Deshaun Watson, finding who deserves the credit for the Texans winning the division on a regular basis is rather easy.

“It just starts with the head coach and the front office,” Watson said after the club’s 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Saturday. “I have only been here for two, so I’m on the back end of those last four.”

The Texans hired coach Bill O’Brien in 2014, and the rookie coach from Penn State led Houston to a 9-7 finish but no postseason berth. In 2015, with the quartet of Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, T.J. Yates, and Brandon Weeden all logging starts, Houston win the AFC South. In 2016, they repeated with Brock Osweiler and Tom Savage making starts.

In some ways, Watson, who went 19-of-32 for 184 yards and an interception in the win, has made it easier on O’Brien and the front office. Whether general manager Rick Smith, who was there in Watson’s first season, or Brian Gaine, who was there in Watson’s second year but fired shortly before 2019 minicamp, the general manager in Houston has not had to devote any time to finding a franchise quarterback since the Texans drafted Watson in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft.

“It definitely starts with how they run things up front and the guys they want in the locker room and the way that we prepare and the way that we go about our business, so it definitely starts up there,” Watson said.

Fans in Houston appreciate the division titles, but are hopeful for a deeper playoff run in the near future, especially with a two-time Pro Bowler in Watson under center. If that doesn’t happen in Watson’s career in Houston, fans will blame the head coach and front office.

Report: Texans not planning to hire a general manager for the 2020 season

The Houston Texans will not hire a general manager in 2020 according to a report from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

The Houston Texans may continue with a “business as usual” approach to their front office, which currently has a general manager vacancy, is ran by a five-man council, and is considerably influenced by coach Bill O’Brien.

According to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, the Texans are not planning to hire a general manager, even after the 2019 season is over.

Sources say that the Texans plan to continue this offseason and beyond with their current personnel structure rather than hire a true general manager in title. Coach Bill O’Brien has final say, though he essentially works with the team’s executive vice president of team development Jack Easterby to be in charge of football operations.

The Texans have some of the other general manager duties split up between Easterby, player personnel director Matt Bazirgan, and vice president of football administration Chris Olsen, who is technically the interim general manager, and currently manages the team’s salary cap situation.

The council of general managing has worked well for Houston to this point as they boast a 7-4 record, first place in the AFC South, and have done so with bold trades to shore up key positions. The trade for left tackle Laremy Tunsil on Aug. 31 may have been a season saver as the club did not have any viable option to protect Deshaun Watson’s blindside other than oft-injured veteran Matt Kalil and first-round rookie Tytus Howard, who is now on injured reserve.

Houston also traded for running back Carlos Hyde, who has been a great replacement for starter Lamar Miller, who went down in the third preseason game with a torn ACL.

The Texans have also gotten younger at the cornerback position by trading for Gareon Conley with the Oakland Raiders prior to their Week 8 encounter, and also adding Vernon Hargreaves leading up to Week 11 at Baltimore.

Houston fired Brian Gaine as general manager on June 7, days before the club opened mandatory minicamp.

Browns vs. Dolphins: Week 12 game news and notes

The Cleveland Browns went into their matchup with the Miami Dolphins expecting to win and they won. There is something to be said for a team being able to take care of business when they are supposed to win, the Denver Broncos notwithstanding. The Browns were able to dominate early. In the first half of the game, the Browns were able to gain long chunk plays and score easily.

Offense

QB, Baker Mayfield, 24-34-327-3-1

RB, Nick Chubb, rushing 21-106-1, receiving 3-58-0 (4 targets)

RB, Kareem Hunt, rushing 8-37-1, receiving 2-9-0 (3 targets)

WR, Jarvis Landry, 10-148-2 (13 targets)

WR, Odell Beckham, 6-84-1 (8 targets)

TE, Demetrius Harris, 2-20-0 (2 targets)

It was nice to see Kareem Hunt score a touchdown and for the Browns to give plenty of opportunities to both running backs. The story of the game should be the continued progression of Baker Mayfield. Since the bye week, Mayfield has looked sharper with his decisions and his ability to get the ball out on time. His lone interception of the day came on a target to Odell Beckham.

Beckham was running a slant over the middle and Mayfield threw the ball behind Beckham. Beckham’s forward momentum was carrying him away from the ball and created an almost impossible catch. Mayfield almost had a second interception on the afternoon on a target to Demetrius Harris. Mayfield put a little too much juice on the pass and it went through the hands of Harris hitting him in the helmet. Fortunately, there was a Miami penalty on the play and the interception was erased.

There will undoubtedly be talk about how good Jarvis Landry is looking and how he is the best wide receiver on the team. While I agree he has the best production, the more appropriate line of thinking is that both Beckham and Landry are playing well off each other. Both wide receivers are exceptional at what they do, and Beckham is drawing attention from Landry the same way Landry draws attention from Beckham.

Defensive Notes

There are two main storylines to pay attention to on the defense. One is how well Joe Schobert has been playing recently. In Week 12, Schobert was able to add another 10 tackles and 2 interceptions to his amazing run in 2019. The second storyline to watch is the progression of Greedy Williams. Again, in Week 12, opposing offenses were singling him out in coverage. DeVante Parker, as a bigger-bodied receiver, was able to be more physical than Williams and push him around at the line of scrimmage.

Remembering to Week 11 against the Steelers, Mason Rudolph and Co. were also targeting Williams frequently and caused crucial pass interference penalties. Fortunately for the Browns, there were a couple flags not thrown on obvious pass interference.

Penalties (9 penalties, 7 accepted penalties)

Wyatt Teller – 5-yards (ineligible downfield pass)

Wyatt Teller – 10-yards (holding)

Jarvis Landry – Penalty Declined (illegal shirt)

J.C. Tretter – 10-yards (holding)

Mack Wilson – 15-yards (unnecessary roughness)

Greg Robinson – Penalty Declined (ineligible downfield pass)

Greedy Williams – 15-yards (defensive pass interference)

Bryan Cox – 10-yards (illegal block above the waste)

Greedy Williams – 5-yards (illegal use of hands)

Final Thoughts

Week 12 against the Miami Dolphins came at a perfect time for the Browns. They had an opportunity to play a team with significantly less talent, learn to create pressure without Myles Garrett, and develop chemistry on the offensive side of the ball. The pass rush still leaves a lot of questions on the table, but I don’t believe the Browns were putting their defensive game plan for creating pressure on film against the Dolphins.

Overall, there are plenty of positives to take away from Week 12 against the Dolphins. It will be important for the Browns to keep their composure and remember the lessons of this game as they move on to the Steelers.

Final Score: 24-41 (Cleveland Browns Victory)

Time of Possession: 36:06 (+12:12)

Record: 5-6 (third in the AFC North)

Current Draft Position: 15 (information via Tankathon)

Next Opponent: at Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5)

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What are the Lions’ 5 biggest needs heading into the offseason?

The Lions have some serious holes to fill

Let’s just drop the pretense: Detroit’s season is over. They’re 3-5-1 and likely need to get to ten wins to even be in the wildcard conversation – or, to borrow a quote from Bob Quinn, “9-7 isn’t good enough” to make the playoffs. Not that they’ll get there, anyway. Four of their remaining games are against the NFC East-leading Cowboys and three divisional foes they’ve already lost to. And if you think Jeff Driskel is capable of helping pull off some never-say-die miracle, you’ve watched way too many Friday Night Lights reruns and should leave the room and let the adults talk like grownups.

Anyways, the Lions are dead and buried and, with any luck, Quinn’s tenure as general manager will be laid to rest at an adjacent plot. But, regardless of who leads the front office into the offseason, the team has plenty of work ahead of them. While I won’t enumerate the top five – because arguing about semantics is pointless – I reckon that the Lions’ biggest needs heading into the offseason are edge, cornerback, off-ball linebacker, guard, and wide receiver, in some order.

Saying the team needs pass-rushing help is low-hanging fruit. Trey Flowers was a quality addition, but Detroit so obviously needs to add a bookend because their pass rush as currently constituted is a minor inconvenience for QBs, at best. They’ve badly failed a defensive backs group that hunkered down early in the season and desperately waited for the cavalry to reinforce them. The Lions simply cannot endure another season in which they allow opposing passers to play pitch and catch, especially considering that their best secondary member may not be hanging around Allen Park for much longer.

Darius Slay made very apparent his discontent following the trade of Quandre Diggs to Seattle, which may have inflamed any tensions he had following his failed holdout this past offseason. Slay is due to become a free agent following next season and will turn 30 when the clock hits midnight of the 2021 new year. A lot can happen in a year’s time, but gun to my head, I say that 2020 will be Slay’s final season in the Honolulu blue. At any rate, it’s time to start thinking about a successor, so a corner in the first few rounds would make perfect sense provided it’s not another speed-walking flats-trapper with character concerns.

And speaking of bad Florida prospects, the Lions unsurprisingly need a new three-down ‘backer because Jarrad Davis has been an absolute nightmare. Unfortunately, Quinn has a weird fetish for dinosaurs that are maladapted to the modern game. Christian Jones was recently given a two-year extension that will pay him roughly $2.3M in 2020, which is perfectly reasonable considering it’s late ‘90s money for a late ‘90s backer. The guarantees are low, though, so the Lions are by no means married to him and could easily part ways with him if something better comes along or if he voices his opinions.

Jahlani Tavai is the only linebacker who should figure into the long-term plans and it remains to be seen if the team figures him for a Will or Mike. Wherever they slot him, they desperately need a competent player at the opposite spot. The problem is that the linebacking draft pool seems shallow and that few quality free agents are hitting the market this offseason, which seems like a great excuse to keep making excuses for Davis.

The 2017 draft class wasn’t all bad, although its crown jewel, Kenny Golladay, is entering a contract year. The third-year receiver is a no-brainer extension candidate, but the same can’t be said for Marvin Jones, who will be 31 when he hits free agency in 2021. A short-term extension could make sense thereafter, provided he’s not the next fan favorite traded midseason for mild draft compensation. Nevertheless, the Lions have no long-term starters at wide receiver secured past 2020. And if the Lions can’t manage to keep Golladay around and otherwise fail to address the position – knock on wood – Stafford may be stuck throwing to an airplane boneyard in the twilight of his career.

Lastly, the Lions need to address the guard position in some manner this offseason. The idea of taking two interior offensive linemen in the first round in three years is absolutely nauseating, but so is the thought of letting Graham Glasgow walk and rolling with Air Raid tackle Joe Dahl and Kenny Wiggins as the starting guards. The list of suitable free agents is likewise discouraging. Andrus Peat will likely be resigned by the Saints and Brandon Scherff is very good, but the Lions may be once bitten twice shy about giving money to an oft-injured, albeit talented veteran guard. It seems prudent to retain Glasgow and take a flier on a free agent or a mid-to-late-round guard (or both), but if they take another interior lineman in the first, you can bet I’ll be taking a bath in cow blood and flinging myself into whichever big cat pit is nearest the entrance of my local zoo.

It is not impossible for the Lions to adequately fulfill all these needs in a single offseason, but it’s discouraging that many of them are at premium positions (edge, cornerback, wide receiver) and it adds insult to injury that the others are areas in which the team has recently invested significant capital (linebacker, interior offensive line). In all likelihood, they’ll have to make compromises somewhere, so let’s just hope that they prioritize passing game players this time around.