Boselli to retire

[thesloppy]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/news/2003/0715/1581163.html

Boselli is a class act, and OLers around the league will surely miss Tony, as he was one of the only linemen that the casual fan recognised by name.

On th eone hand you have to feel sorry for the Texans, as they never even got a game out of the guy, but on the other hand this makes their offseason-long failure to address their problems at OL even more dumbfounding. Likewise, it makes their earlier acquisition of Hollings in the supplemental draft a head scratcher, as they not only lose a high pick that could've been used to strengthen the line, but you hardly want a guy with a damaged knee to be testing his wares behind their suspect blocking crew.

For David Carr's sake, I hope the Texans have some sort of ace up their sleeve(s), as I'd hat to see his growth stunted by taking another 50 sacks this year.

[TLK]

Sorry to hear that for Boselli and Texan fans. Guess this means I won't be drafting Mack as a sleeper this year....

TLK

[Abe Sargent]

I am so incredibly sad. He was the one.

-Anxiety

[Darkiller]

Yep, a great player's career comes to an end much too soon...

[sterlingice]

Damn- he was a great one who could never stay healthy.

SI

[Honolulu_Blue]

I wonder if Jesus told him to quit. It'd seem to make sense. Tony talked to Jesus a lot, I think Jesus even told him that they'd beat Denver in the play-offs. I imagine that after stopping off in Dallas to tell Deion how much to pay for the repair job, Jesus hopped into his hot-rod and took I-45 south to Houston to tell Tony it was time to hang 'em up.

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by thesloppy
http://espn.go.com/nfl/news/2003/0715/1581163.html

Boselli is a class act, and OLers around the league will surely miss Tony, as he was one of the only linemen that the casual fan recognised by name.

On th eone hand you have to feel sorry for the Texans, as they never even got a game out of the guy, but on the other hand this makes their offseason-long failure to address their problems at OL even more dumbfounding. Likewise, it makes their earlier acquisition of Hollings in the supplemental draft a head scratcher, as they not only lose a high pick that could've been used to strengthen the line, but you hardly want a guy with a damaged knee to be testing his wares behind their suspect blocking crew.

For David Carr's sake, I hope the Texans have some sort of ace up their sleeve(s), as I'd hat to see his growth stunted by taking another 50 sacks this year.

complete failure to address the O-line?

They signed Zach Weigert, traded for Greg Robinson-Randall, and drafted Seth Wand. They also took Milford Brown in the supplemental draft half way through the 2002 season. Maybe you haven't been following them closely, but I would say their line should be pretty substantially improved over last year. At the very least I would say it's nearly twice as deep - and depth was their major issue last year.

[cthomer5000]

dola


And the Texans needed to take Boselli in the expansion draft anyway to get defensive lineman Seth Payne and Gary Walker. Even though throwing away all that money, it was never a bad move on Houston's part. They still have 2 starters to show for it.

[thesloppy]

Originally posted by cthomer5000
complete failure to address the O-line?

They signed Zach Weigert, traded for Greg Robinson-Randall, and drafted Seth Wand. They also took Milford Brown in the supplemental draft half way through the 2002 season. Maybe you haven't been following them closely, but I would say their line should be pretty substantially improved over last year. At the very least I would say it's nearly twice as deep - and depth was their major issue last year.

ct, I may have been a little harsh in calling their offseason a failure, but I still stand behind the stance that the Texans didn't do enough to address their OL. Wiegert for Young was pretty much a wash in my eyes, and Robinson- Randall's past battles with conditioning and injuries make me hesitant to think of him as anything besides a stopgag. I have always heard Ward mentioned as a huge project, but I admit that I don't follow the Texans religiously, and my impressions could be outdated. I agree with you that they have at least made improvements to their depth, I just have the feelign the OL is always an aterthought for Houston, as they alaways seem to be shuffling players out of their natural positions, and pursuing size rather than talent. Milford Brown does pique my interest, and he should be set-up to succeed with so much time to study the Texans' game plan, do they expect that he will be starting?

Also, just to clarify, I would never consider Boselli a bad pick, for the reason you listed, ans well as the leadership and tutelage he gave to the youth, even if he never got to play a game.

[bigdawg2003]

If a player in the NFL retires, does the team get cap relief ala the T'Wolves and Terrell Brandon.

[scooper]

Originally posted by bigdawg2003
If a player in the NFL retires, does the team get cap relief ala the T'Wolves and Terrell Brandon.

I could be wrong, but I think any remaining bonus money gets accelerated. That's the risk of giving a large prorated bonus to players near the end of their career. But, like I said, I may be wrong.

[thesloppy]

Originally posted by bigdawg2003
If a player in the NFL retires, does the team get cap relief ala the T'Wolves and Terrell Brandon.

According to the Houston Chronicle:

Boselli counted $7.55 million against the Texans' cap in 2002 and initiated negotiations to lower his base salary to $655,000 in 2003. As a result, he will count only $3.05 million against the cap this season and an additional $3.05 million in 2004. If Boselli had played in 2004, his cap hit would have been $8.05 million.

[cincyreds]

Finally!

[tucker342]

That's to bad, he was a great player