The Houston Texans were viewed by many as a strong contender to gain the services of Tony Romo if he was released or traded by the Dallas Cowboys. That is no longer an option, at least for the near future, as Romo has left the NFL to begin a broadcasting career with CBS. There is speculation he could return to the NFL if the right situation arose, but for the time being, he is done in the NFL.
His departure’s impact on the Houston Texans is tough to figure. They traded away Brock Osweiler to gain salary cap space, with many thinking that meant Romo was going to be brought in. Now that Romo is out of the picture, they head into the draft with Tom Savage and Brandon Weeden as their only quarterbacks.
Last week, during the NFL owners’ meetings, Texans head coach Bill O’Brien was asked if he had done any evaluation of Colin Kaepernick. He told Jennifer Chan that they have looked at him and other quarterbacks. However, he said, that presently, “we’re really excited about the guys we have coming back, Tom Savage and Brandon Weeden, very excited about those guys.”
He has to say he’s excited about what he has, but it doesn’t make it any less funny to hear him say he’s excited about Brandon Weeden. No offense intended for Weeden, but I don’t know of any head coach who would legitimately be excited to have him as a starting option on their depth chart.
The question of course for many of us (well, at least me) is whether or not they will consider Colin Kaepernick. O’Brien was complimentary in discussing him, and was particularly complimentary of his coaching when talking to Pro Football Talk.
“We’ve watched him, Mike. We feel real good about where we’re at with Tom and Brandon Weeden. But we’ve watched him, we’ve discussed him, and I think that’s a fluid situation as far as free agency goes — not just for Colin Kaepenrick, but for the teams. As you know, your roster’s not totally set until right before you open that season. But he’s a good football player. He can run, he’s been coached well with Harbaugh and Chip Kelly — those guys are excellent coaches, so you know the background that he has. And we’ll continue to discuss all the positions on our team, but we definitely watched him.”
Texans beat writer John McClain tweeted that he does not see Colin Kaepernick or Jay Cutler joining the Texans. He sees it as Savage starting ahead of Weeden and a first round pick.
Mitchell Trubisky, DeShaun Watson, DeShone Kizer, and Patrick Mahomes are the four names floated as potential first round picks. It seems all but certain the Texans walk away with a quarterback, but I suppose O’Brien could decide he can work some magic on Savage.
In the meantime, Kaepernick and Cutler remain waiting to see how all this shakes out. There is talk of the draft dictating what then happens. Offseason workout programs all begin before the draft, so it makes things a little more complicated. Will any remaining teams start their program and then decide to bring in either of the veteran quarterbacks to learn a new offense and get started after the fact?
My guess is the Texans roll the dice with what they have plus a draft pick. For 49ers fans, and particularly those that don’t care about where Kaepernick ends up, the bigger question will be what quarterback(s) the Texans end up drafting.