Event Spotlight:
Houston Texans Hold National Conference Call Regarding Upcoming Expansion Draft
Thursday, February 14, 2002
By David W. Unkle
SJSports Staff Writer
The Houston Texans held a conference call yesterday to review their strategy for the upcoming NFL Expansion Draft. The 2002 entry into the AFC will select players from a pool of 155 qualified veteran players on February 18 at 3:00 PM Eastern. Participating in the call with the national media were Houston"s Charley Casserly, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Football Operations and Dom Capers, Head Coach.
Casserly stated that the Texans must either take 30 players or 38% of the $71.7 million salary cap ($27.24 M) which must be on the Texans" roster on July 15, 2002. On June 1, 2002, all minimum salaries of players are guaranteed regardless if they get cut. In looking at the most recent expansion drafts (Cleveland, Jacksonville, and Carolina) teams have stayed away from the cap, opting to take between 30-35 players. On average, seventeen players made the team. In looking at the experience of the Cleveland Browns, they paid off $5 million worth of salary.
Casserly said "we will take anywhere from 15 to 25 [players]...the whole objective is to get good football players. Free agency is very weak this year; this is the thinnest free agent group there's ever been." Casserly outlined that "any player over 30 years old we eliminated from our thinking...the one thing you don't want to do...is to take a player that's not going to play his contract so you're going to have dead money on your cap."
Head Coach Dom Capers' perspective was "we've go to focus number one on what we think is going to be best for the Houston Texans, to try and strengthen this team as much as we can from the very beginning. This is a very important step for us; it's going to be one that will have a tremendous impact on the foundation of our team."
Both Casserly and Capers stated that they would not announce which players they were going to take. "We just don't think it's professional at this point to announce to the world who we're taking before the time comes" said Capers. "There's a strategy involved at this point. How small it is, there still is some, so we don't feel that it's right for us, for what's best for the Texans, to tell everybody who we're taking at this point in time" said Casserly.
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Topcat's Expansion Draft Picks
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| Player |
Position |
Team
|
Salary
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| Jermaine Lewis |
WR
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Ravens
|
$4,164,333 |
| Jamie Sharper |
LB
|
Ravens
|
$2,875,000 |
| Robert Newkirk |
DT
|
Bears
|
$440,000 |
| Danny Wuerrfel |
QB
|
Bears
|
$555,760 |
| Ben Fricke |
C
|
Cowboys
|
$563,000 |
| Reuben Droughns |
RB
|
Lions
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$389,000 |
| Tony Boselli |
OT
|
Panthers
|
$8,949,332 |
| Jeff Gooch |
LB
|
Buccaneers
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$2,150,000 |
| Kevin Lockett |
WR
|
Redskins
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$1,250,000 |
| Charlie Rogers |
WR/KR
|
Seahawks
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$563,000 |
| Matt Stevens |
S
|
Patriots
|
not available |
| Ryan Young |
OT
|
Jets
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$563,000 |
| Shane Burton |
DT
|
Jets
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$1,166,666 |
| Ryan Tucker |
OT
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Rams
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$3,859,333 |
| Robert Tate |
CB
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Vikings
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$2,442,668 |
| Darrel Crutchfield |
CB
|
Eagles
|
not available |
The Texans take the field for the first time on Monday, August 5 versus the New York Giants in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. Rounding out the Texans' pre-season schedule are road games against the New Orleans Saints and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Texans face the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home. Houston travels to Veteran's Stadium this year to face the Philadelphia Eagles in a regular season contest.
For more information, log onto the Houston Texans website at: www.houstontexans.com
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