Category: Texans

Houston Texans releasing star defensive lineman J.J. Watt

The tumult continues with the Houston Texans as star defensive lineman J.J. Watt met with team owner Cal McNair and the sides agreed to part ways

Stunning NFL news on a Friday as the Houston Texans are releasing star defensive lineman J.J. Watt, per a report by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Watt subsequently confirmed the news, making an announcement in a video. He had met with team owner Cal McNair and the sides agreed to part ways.

Watt received the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award three times in his first five seasons. He holds the Texans’ franchise records for both sacks (101) and forced fumbles (25).

Watt will turn 32 on March 22. He was the 11th overall pick out of Wisconsin by the Texans in 2011.

This is the continuation of a tumultuous off-season in Houston that has seen star quarterback Deshaun Watson seek a trade after he sought to have input on the team’s hiring of a GM and coach. It was ignored leading to the trade request.

Houston went from a playoff team in 2019 to a 4-12 mark in the AFC South in 2020. Its coach, Bill O’Brien, was fired after an 0-4 start. Romeo Crennel finished the season as interim coach. Of the seven NFL teams to hire coaches, Houston was last before finally settling on longtime NFL assistant David Culley.

Texans say they have no interest in trading Deshaun Watson

The Houston Texans say they have no interest in trading star quarterback Deshaun Watson

An old-fashion Tussle in Texas is setting up between Houston Texans star quarterback Deshaun Watson and team management.

Watson has asked for a trade. However, the team says it has no interest in granting his wish.

At a press conference to introduce head coach David Culley on Friday, new GM Nick Caserio said Watson is a Texan and he plans on it remaining that way.

“We want to reiterate our commitment to Deshaun Watson,” said Caserio, who came to Houston from the New England Patriots’ organization. “We have zero interest in trading the player.”

Culley, hired this week after 27 years as an NFL assistant, added his decision to take the Houston job was because he wants to coach Watson.

“He is a Houston Texan. I want him to be a Houston Texan,” the former Baltimore Ravens assistant said. “The reason I’m in this position today is because I know he’s going to be a Houston Texan.”

The issue is Watson wants out and the Texans had no choice but to come out and say they were unwilling to move the quarterback.

Had they said he was on the block, that would have been a massive loss of leverage in trade talks. In saying they don’t want to trade their star, the Texans can drive up the offer price … or at least hope they can.

What will be fascinating to watch as this plays out is whether Culley is able to soothe the differences between Watson, who threw for 4,823 yards and 33 touchdowns on a 4-12 team, and the organization.

Defensive star J.J. Watt apologized to the quarterback after the final game of the season, saying the team had wasted his great year.

This is going to be one of the major storylines to follow through the offseason and one has to wonder whether it will resolve itself before the NFL Draft or could it carry on to the regular season?

Houston Texans hiring Ravens’ David Culley as head coach

The Houston Texans filled their head coaching position by hiring David Culley, a longtime NFL assistant most recently with the Baltimore Ravens

The Houston Texans are closing in on becoming the seventh NFL team to fill a head coaching vacancy with news Wednesday they will hire Baltimore Ravens assistant David Culley.

The news was first reported by the Houston Chronicle, which reported Culley and the Texans were working toward a contract.

Culley spent the past two seasons in Baltimore. He has been an NFL coach for 27 years. Culley was Baltimore’s passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach. The Ravens finished the 2020 season ranked last in the NFL in passing.

Culley is stepping into a challenging situation. Texans star quarterback Deshaun Watson is at odds with management over its indifference toward his suggestions while looking for a GM and coach.

The Texans previously hired Nick Caserio from the New England Patriots’ organization as GM.

Watson had suggested team speak with Chiefs Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy about the opening, which came about after Bill O’Brien was fired following an 0-4 start and Romeo Crennel finished as interim coach with a 4-8 mark.

The Texans were a playoff team in 2019 and sunk to 4-12 in 2020. They also traded All-Pro WR DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals in the offseason in a controversial move.

The Ravens, meanwhile, will receive two third-round compensatory picks (one in 2021 and another in 2022) for Culley getting hired from their staff. This comes from a resolution adopted in November that is meant to incentivize NFL teams to develop and hire minority candidates for head-coaching and general manager positions.

 

 

Houston Texans interview Jim Caldwell, Josh McCown

The Houston Texans revealed they have interviewed Josh McCown and Jim Caldwell for their head-coaching job

The Houston Texans’ soap opera added another episode on Friday when the team announced it is going to continue talks with Jim Caldwell and Josh McCown about the vacant head-coaching position.

Caldwell brings seven years of experience as a head coach to the discussions. He was 36-28 in three seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. His greatest accomplishment could be considered going 28-22 with the Detroit Lions, who never seem to approach .500.

Overall, 62-50 is a .554 winning percentage.

Caldwell has been a part of two Super Bowl-winning teams in his career; as the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach of the 2006 Colts (Super Bowl XLI), and as offensive coordinator of the 2012 Baltimore Ravens (Super Bowl XLVII).

NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo floated the idea of hiring McCown, who was a journeyman from 2002-2019 in the league. He played for nine different teams, going 23-53 as a starter, and surrounding him with at least one former head coach.

McCown, 41, retired in 2019 after 17 years in the NFL and took a job as a high school quarterbacks coach in Charlotte, NC, where his sons played. He continued to coach after coming out of retirement and signing with the Eagles later in 2019.

Of course, the biggest issue in Houston is trying make things right with quarterback Deshaun Watson or finding a way to make a trade for their star.

If the job goes to McCown of Caldwell, they are stepping into a tricky spot with the team having gone 4-12 after making the playoffs in 2019.

Deshaun Watson weighs in with another cryptic tweet

Deshaun Watson playing the long game with a cryptic tweet

The Houston Texans and Deshaun Watson are doing a dance this offseason and no one seems to be in-step.

There is a fracture between the star quarterback and the organization. And neither side is offering clarity.

Watson dropped a tweet on Thursday that was open to plenty of interpretation.

Watson has a no-trade clause but that has not prevented speculation from running wild on where he could end up if Houston moves him.

Everything is bigger in Texas so why shouldn’t this play out in the largest way?

Deshaun Watson asks Texans’ fans to call off protest march on his behalf

Deshaun Watson wants Texans fans to stay safe and not protest for him during the pandemic

Deshaun Watson is one of the athletes who gets it. He understands the dangers of COVID-19 and the risk that comes with any sort of gathering during the pandemic.

The Houston Texans’ quarterback — for now — took to social media Monday and asked the team’s fans not to conduct a march on his behalf.

The relationship between Watson and Houston management has disintegrated and Texans fans are furious.

There’s a good reason for them to be upset and there is also a good reason for them to heed the advice of the quarterback. Be smart. Be safe. Your message is being heard.

Report: Deshaun Watson is done with Houston Texans

Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans appear headed for splitsville, per a report

The relationship between Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans is fractured and continues to splinter as reports leak out day by day.

On Sunday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the star quarterback and team that drafted him 12th overall in 2017 appear headed for a split.

Per the ESPN report:

One source told ESPN’s Sarah Barshop that the Texans have had internal conversations about possible trade partners and what their quarterback position would look like in the future without Watson.

Watson has a no-trade clause in his five-year, $156 million deal with the Texans, and some team sources believe that the three-time Pro Bowler could force Houston’s hand into trading him. The no-trade clause would give Watson some control over where he is traded because if it wasn’t the destination he wanted, he could decline to report

Schefter said fellow insider Chris Mortensen added more fuel to the trade fire.

Per ESPN:

There is a growing consensus within the NFL, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, that Watson will force his way out, and the Texans believe he will command a high compensation package in a trade.

… There are several franchises monitoring the events surrounding Watson if he becomes available on the trade market, league sources told Mortensen.

Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins blast Houston Texans’ exec Jack Easterby

Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins have no love for Texans’ exec Jack Easterby

Things are ugly in Houston. Deshaun Watson is unhappy over the hiring of Nick Caserio’s hire as Texans GM and their failure to listen to his input about that hire or suggestions in the coaching search.

Now, two former Houston wideouts have put exec Jack Easterby squarely on blast for ruining players’ careers in their opinion.

And on the coaching front, Houston suddenly is interested in interviewing Chiefs’ OC Eric Bienemy after showing zero interest despite Watson suggesting him.

The bad news is the Texans must wait as the window to speak to coaches involved in the playoffs has closed.

The window for fixing things with their star quarterback also might closing if it isn’t shut already.

Report: Why Deshaun Watson is miffed at the Houston Texans

Deshaun Watson is the franchise QB and isn’t being heard by Houston Texans’ management

Troubled times in Texas, specifically Houston. The trade of DeAndre Hopkins didn’t sit well. Bill O’Brien was fired as head coach. And now, quarterback Deshaun Watson isn’t a happy Texan.

On Tuesday, the Houston Texans hired New England Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio as general manager. Watson then tweeted “some things never change.”

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Thursday the reason Watson was disturbed.

Watson offered his input on potential general manager candidates, but the Texans neither considered nor consulted with those endorsed by their franchise quarterback, league sources told ESPN.

Additionally, the Texans did not inform Watson that they intended to hire Caserio, and he found out about the hire on social media. That contributed to Watson taking to Twitter that night to post “some things never change….”

Watson’s feelings were not directed toward Caserio, sources told ESPN, but instead were indicative of the way business was again conducted by the Texans.

This comes after Watson was not consulted or made aware of the Hopkins trade until after it occurred. Either instance is problematic when it comes to your franchise quarterback.

This time, Watson had met with Texans owner Cal McNair on several instances, sharing thoughts on certain candidates that came highly recommended, with Watson suggesting that the team at least talk to them, sources told ESPN. He did not expect Houston to hire those that he endorsed, but he was hoping the Texans would be respectful of the feelings of the group of his teammates that he was trying to represent, sources told ESPN.

The Texans, however did not act on their quarterback’s thoughts and charged ahead with a hire that mattered to a much smaller circle than the one that Watson was trying to aid, sources told ESPN.

Following the end of the regular season, star defensive lineman J.J. Watt apologized to his quarterback for “wasting one of his seasons.”

“I’m sorry. We wasted one of your years.” Watt told Watson, “We should have 11 wins.”

2021 NFL draft order: Jaguars are on the clock at No. 1

2021 NFL draft order: Jaguars are on the clock at No. 1