Texans sign Mario Williams!

[mduffy31]

From the Texans website:

HOUSTON - The Houston Texans have signed North Carolina State DE Mario Williams and plan to take him with the first overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. Williams becomes the second Texans number one pick in team history.

Williams (6-6, 291) becomes the first North Carolina State player to be taken with the first pick in the NFL draft. QB Roman Gabriel was the top overall pick of the AFL draft and went second overall in the NFL draft in 1962.


find the rest of the story here:http://www.houstontexans.com/news/detail.php?PRKey=2543§ion=N%20Latest%20News

:wow:

[PDittie]

1. Unbelievable.

I think they may have horse-fucked themselves severely.

[Broken_Hero]

2. holy shit

i do believe, the texans screwed themselves....but, whatever.

[kurth]

3. 6-year, $54 million contract, with $26.5 million guaranteed

Nice.

[Zech Marquis]

4. I thought I was dreaming

all this time I exoected Houston to sign Reggie Bush..now williams is a top line pick, but to pass the only guy named Bush that I actually like?! i suspect the Jets will be calling New orleans to make a serious trade up for that second pick now!

[joeybee12]

5. My first thought was that the Texans are concerned Reggie has

some baggage. The free house really shouldn't affect him (it'll affect USC if it's true) but maybe there's more to the story.

[Bill McBlueState]

6. i didn't know they could do this

I've never followed the draft too closely in the past, but it surprised me that the Texans could sign someone before draft day. Are they free to select someone at any point between the end of the season and 12:15 today?

And are the Saints free to make a choice as soon as the Texans do?

[erpowers]

8. Out of Draft?

I always thought that once a team signed a player he was automatically taken out of the draft and the pick would just go to the next team.

[rocktivity]

7. They PLAN to pick him in the draft?

Even if they do get the first overall pick, they shouldn't be able to sign a player before they draft him.

:shrug:
rocknation

[mduffy31]

12. They have rights to all players first until they make the first selection

So they can sign anyone that they want. No other team is allowed to pick before them, so they could sign anyone that they wanted so therefore that player would then become the 1st pick. It is not that unusual for that to happen.

[northzax]

13. they make a handshake deal

on a contract. It's not formal until after the draft, from what I understand.

[erpowers]

9. Casserly's Head on Platter

I would think that Casserly is hoping that Reggie Bush does not have a good year this season and that he does not rush for 1,000 or more yards. If Bush rushes for 1,000 or more yards, the Saints have a good year, and the Saints make the playoffs while the Texans have a bad year and miss the playoffs Texans, fans are going to be calling for Casserly's head on a Platter. So what do people think of the Texans chances of making it to the playoffs? I am not sure they will make it in that I do not think the took care of many of the problems they had from last year. I do not think their problem last year was their defense. I mainly think it was their offensive line. So it seems to me that they will miss the playoffs again this year. Man if they go 2-16 again this year there is going to be a large amount of trouble in Houston.

[PDittie]

10. Hasn't Charlie been offered a league job?

I don't think he turned it down flat, either...

This move strikes me as either incredibly gutsy -- which would be way out of character for Casserly, and for it to make sense Mario Williams is going to have to be the second coming of Lawrence Taylor -- or a rather subtle FU to Bob McNair. Why McNair went along with this pick is a mystery to me.

I think the franchise made one of those mistakes you pay for over a decade.

[trotsky]

14. Even if they had taken Bush, the Texans would have no chance for playoffs.

One superstar, even if he panned out, would not be enough to put them over the top. They need a complete overhaul.

[Robbie Michaels]

11. I Think This Was A Great Move

You can always find a good running back every year. You can only find the second coming of Reggie White (the player) once every twenty years.

I know I'm in the minority, but I'm not sold on Reggie Bush. I don't remember him outrunning Michael Huff during the Rose Bowl.

[PDittie]

15. Casserly to resign today

I fucking knew it:

Texans general manager Charley Casserly is expected to resign during a meeting with owner Bob McNair today, ending weeks of speculation regarding Casserly's future with the organization.

Casserly, who joined the franchise in 2000, has spent more than a month deflecting questions regarding his plans beyond this past month's NFL draft. He and McNair said repeatedly that they preferred to focus on the draft for the past few weeks.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3852825.html

Don't let the door hitcha, jackass...