Duane Brown

Texans Open To Trading LT Duane Brown

October 22nd, 2017 at 1:54pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Texans are “willing to consider” trade offers for left tackle Duane Brown, who is currently engaged in a contractual holdout, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

Brown, who has missed the entirety of the 2017 season in search of a new deal, is reportedly an option for the offensive line-needy Seahawks, who have also been in negotiations with free agent tackle Branden Albert in recent weeks. Whether or not other clubs have been or will be in touch with Houston regarding Brown’s availability is unclear, but the Texans are open to recouping some of the 2018 draft pick capital they’ve already traded away (Cleveland owns Houston’s first- and second-round picks in next year’s draft).

Brown, who is due $9.65MM and $9.75MM over the next two respective campaigns, doesn’t seem any close to working out a new pact with the Texans. In late September, Florio reported there was “no end in sight” between Brown and Houston, while Florio indicated last week that nothing had changed between the two sides.

Houston has turned to Chris Clark (five starts) in the wake of Clark’s absence, but he’s offered a sub-par performance thus far, Pro Football Focus ranks Clark as just the No. 52 tackle among 71 qualifiers. While the Texans’ offensive line has played well in the run game, the unit is 31st in adjusted rack rate, according to Football Outsiders.

NFC Notes: Vikings, Ngata, Seahawks

October 15th, 2017 at 11:33am CST by Rory Parks

The Vikings are facing a quarterback crossroads, as are the quarterbacks themselves. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Sam Bradford traveled to New York late this past week to begin Regenokine treatments in hopes of getting inflammation out of his ailing knee (the treatment involves drawing blood, spinning it down, and re-injecting it into the knee over the course of a few days). He is doing everything he can to ease the pain in his knee, but the fact that he missed three games due to the injury and then was pulled in the second quarter of last week’s contest is obviously not a good sign. In fact, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports said today that Bradford’s knee situation is worse than people know (Twitter link).

Teddy Bridgewater, meanwhile, will receive an important checkup tomorrow. He is eligible to begin practicing this week, and the physical will determine whether that is feasible. Sources close to Bridgewater say he is ready to go, and if he is, in fact, activated from the PUP list this season, Rapoport says his contract will not toll, which means he will be a free agent at the end of the season. If he is not activated, the contract will toll and he will remain under club control through 2018.

Now for more from the NFC:

Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press says it is possible that DT Haloti Ngata, whose contract expires at the end of the year and who suffered a season-ending bicep injury last week, returns to the team in 2018. However, Birkett believes it is more likely that the longtime star retires.
The Seahawks are making a concerted effort to improve their O-line via trade, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, who says the team is focused on landing disgruntled Texans star Duane Brown. We heard last week that the Texans intend to retain Brown, but that could always change if Seattle’s offer is strong enough.
The 49ers released NaVorro Bowman earlier this week, and Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle says the team will continue to look to trade and/or release some of its long-term veterans over the next couple of weeks as it embarks on a full-fledged youth movement.
The 49ers will carry $4.774MM of dead money on the books in 2018 following Bowman’s release, but they will save all $9.45MM of his 2018 pay, per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Rapoport believes the Saints may be in the trading mood after failing to trade for Bowman, and he says the team could consider trading LB Hau’oli Kikaha (Twitter link). Josh Katzenstein of the Times-Picayune, however, suggests (via Twitter) that is not likely.

Texans Want To Keep LT Duane Brown

October 9th, 2017 at 2:32pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Texans hope to retain left tackle Duane Brown — who is currently in the midst of a contractual holdout — and don’t intend to trade him, a source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. However, Houston could conceivably consider an “appropriate offer” for its starting blindside protector, per Florio.

Brown needs to play in at least eight games this year in order to accrue credit for his 2017 season. However, Brown will likely need to report following Week 6 in order to be safe, as Florio outlines. The Texans are expected to be granted a roster exemption for Brown that could last as long as three weeks. If Houston’s front office holds out Brown for that maximum timeframe, Brown won’t be able to be present for his needed eight contests.

Brown, 32, has been pushing for a new deal since at least May, and didn’t participate in Houston’s minicamp, training camp, or preseason. The Texans don’t seem inclined to work out a fresh pact with Brown, while Brown himself has indicated that he will in fact play at some point in 2017. As of September, general manager Rick Smith and Brown’s representatives weren’t talking.

Houston has turned to Kendall Lamm (one start) and Chris Clark (four starts) in the wake of Clark’s absence, but both players have offered sub-par performances. Specifically, Pro Football Focus ranks Clark as the No. 55 tackle among 72 qualifiers. While the Texans’ offensive line has played well in the run game, the unit is 31st in adjusted rack rate, according to Football Outsiders.

Brown is currently signed through the 2018 season, and is due non-guaranteed base salaries of $9.65MM and $9.75MM over the next two years.

Latest On Texans OT Duane Brown’s Holdout

September 27th, 2017 at 8:30pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Texans have now played three games without stalwart left tackle Duane Brown, and there is “no end in sight” as the veteran offensive lineman continues his holdout in search of new contract, a source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

Brown, 32, has been pushing for a new deal since at least May, and didn’t participate in Houston’s minicamp, training camp, or preseason. The Texans don’t seem inclined to work out a fresh pact with Brown, while Brown himself has indicated that he will in fact play at some point in 2017. As of earlier this month, general manager Rick Smith and Brown’s representatives weren’t talking, but Brown is likely to report following an eight-week absence (a timeline that would allow him to accrue a season towards free agency).

Houston has turned to Kendall Lamm (one start) and Chris Clark (two starts) in the wake of Clark’s absence, but both players have offered sub-par performances, as Clark and Lamm have ranked No. 55 and No. 58 among 72 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus. While the Texans’ offensive line has played well in the run game, the unit is dead last in adjusted rack rate, according to Football Outsiders.

Brown is currently signed through the 2018 season, and is due non-guaranteed base salaries of $9.65MM and $9.75MM over the next two years.

AFC Notes: Butler, Kizer, Texans, Ravens

September 23rd, 2017 at 10:15am CST by Ben Levine

DeShone Kizer will surely see his fair share of struggles during his rookie campaign, similar to his four-turnover performance last weekend. However, the Browns are seemingly willing to be patient with their signal-caller, and this sentiment was emphasized by head coach Hue Jackson.

“He’s playing with a bunch of men,” said Jackson (via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com). “He’s 21 years old. He’s leading an organization that hasn’t been what it needs to be. He’s surrounded by a ton of guys who, we haven’t won a ton of games, and he’s trying to uplift everything. There’s a lot of pressure. Let’s just be honest — it is.”

In two NFL starts, Kizer has completed 57.4-percent of his passes for 404 yards, one touchdown, and four interceptions. He’s also collected 43 rushing yards and one touchdown on 10 attempts.

“Like many rookies, I can name many guys in this league who have thrown three interceptions in a game, four interceptions in a game and came back the next week and played their tails off,” Jackson said. “That’s going to happen. I don’t like it. Nobody does. But hopefully he will keep growing from it and keep getting better.”

Let’s check out some more notes from around the AFC…

Texans left tackle Duane Brown is the lone veteran to continue his hold out into the regular season. Former NFL agent Joel Corry notes that his team could certainly use some reinforcement on the offensive line, although precedent says Brown won’t receive his desired contract. Not only is the organization reluctant to hand out extensions during the regular season, but they also don’t want to find themselves in similar situations in the future. Ultimately, Corry believes there’s little incentive for Brown to sit out the entire regular season, so he ultimately thinks the Texans will win the stalemate.
The cash-strapped Ravens cleared $2.66MM in cap space today, reports ESPN’s Field Yates (via Twitter). The organization converted Tony Jefferson‘s $1.96MM salary and Justin Tucker‘s $1.79MM salary into signing bonuses, leading to the additional cap space.
Could the Colts be eyeing a coaching change if they fall to 0-3 this weekend? ESPN.com’s Mike Wells isn’t sure, although he says a loss to the lowly Browns wouldn’t be a good look for head coach Chuck Pagano. For what it’s worth, owner Jim Irsay has never fired a coach during the regular season, and Pagano can use the excuse that he’s been without his franchise quarterback in Andrew Luck. However, if the team doesn’t put up a fight at home, Wells believes the hot seat will certainly get warmer.
Impending free agent cornerback Malcolm Butler has struggled through the Patriots‘ first two games, writes CSNNE.com’s Mike Giardi. In fact, the coaching staff knocked the former Super Bowl hero out of the starting lineup last weekend, replacing him with Eric Rowe. Trade rumors surrounded Butler throughout the offseason, and he watched as the team handed a hefty payday to a cornerback from another organization (Stephon Gilmore). While Butler presumably isn’t happy with his current situation, the writer believes it’s up to the player to turn his season around.

Latest On Duane Brown, Tom Savage

September 17th, 2017 at 9:14am CST by Rory Parks

Texans left tackle Duane Brown said he will not report to the team until after its Week 7 bye at the earliest, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. There is some significance to that date, as Brown could skip eight weeks before returning and still receive credit for an accrued season toward free agency, and La Canfora suggests that Brown will report in enough time to earn that credit.

However, Houston needs him back much sooner than that. The Texans’ offense has been anemic through their first two games of the season, and that is thanks in large part to their poor pass protection. Brown’s return would provide a much-needed boost to the team’s O-line, but La Canfora says there has been very little progress towards a new deal. The Texans have been unwilling to negotiate to this point, and that may not change given that the relationship between the two sides has become quite strained. However, Houston has also been unwilling to discuss trading Brown, even though there may be a number of potential trade partners given Brown’s talent and reasonable salaries in 2017 and 2018 (of course, those reasonable salaries are the cause of Brown’s discontent, so any acquiring team would need to satisfy at least some of his contract demands).

Houston quarterback Tom Savage may have been hurt the most by Brown’s absence during the team’s Week 1 loss to Jacksonville. Savage’s play was certainly sub-par, but he was under duress virtually the entire time he was in the game. Nonetheless, head coach Bill O’Brien felt compelled to make an in-game switch to Deshaun Watson, which almost certainly ended the short-lived Savage era in Houston.

That has fueled speculation that Savage could be traded, but La Canfora reports in a separate piece that Savage is not requesting a trade. His agent, Neil Schwartz, who went public with his displeasure over Savage’s benching earlier this week, said, “I’m not happy and Tom is not happy about this, but we’re not asking for a trade.”

Per La Canfora, at least four teams have expressed some level of interest in Savage over the course of the last year or so, but all were convinced that Houston was very high on the former fourth-round pick and that it would take a lot to pry him away from the Texans. That, combined with the support of veteran teammates that Savage enjoyed, made O’Brien’s quick hook somewhat puzzling, but given that Savage will be a free agent at the end of the year, it is perhaps not surprising that he is content to wait to see what the open market has in store for him rather than push for a trade now.

Texans, Duane Brown Not Talking

September 11th, 2017 at 5:38pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Texans and holdout Duane Brown have not engaged in any discussions about a new contract since the left tackle has been away from the team, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports. Brown has been pushing for a raise dating back to the spring, and his dissatisfaction with his current compensation caused him to miss voluntary workouts in May, mandatory minicamp in June, all of training camp and the preseason, and the Texans’ Week 1 loss to the Jaguars.

Brown’s absence from training camp subjected him to a $40K-per-day fine, and it led the Texans to place him on the reserve/did not report list, thereby reducing his 2017 salary from $9.65MM to $9.4MM. He also lost his $411K game check Sunday, which will be the case for as long as he doesn’t show up. Brown will need to report by Week 8 in order to get credit for an accrued season, Florio notes. The 32-year-old indicated last week that he does plan to play in 2017.

While holding out has backfired on Brown to this point, it’s clear the Texans need the three-time Pro Bowler. Their offense was in disastrous form on Sunday against Jacksonville, which dubbed itself #Sacksonville on Twitter after taking down Texans quarterbacks Tom Savage and Deshaun Watson 10 times in a 29-7 rout. Unsurprisingly, Pro Football Focus assigned horrid grades to Texans tackles Kendall Lamm and Breno Giacomini for their roles in the loss. The outlet has typically given favorable reviews to Brown, a nine-year veteran who has started in all 132 career appearances.

Brown’s under Texans control through next season at a combined $19.15MM, though it’s clear that figure doesn’t suffice for the longtime franchise linchpin.

Duane Brown Confirms He’ll Play In 2017

September 4th, 2017 at 6:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

Entering what would be his 10th NFL season, Duane Brown remains a Texans holdout. But the longtime Houston left tackle said Monday he intends to play in 2017.

What Brown did not confirm, though, was when he’ll show. He and the Texans remain at an impasse regarding compensation, and with Houston’s first game Sunday, we’re firmly in the 11th hour of this process.

“I’m definitely playing football this year,” Brown said, via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, before declining to specify when he will return.

The Texans placed Brown on their Reserve/Did Not Report list after he failed to attend training camp, and it’s been quiet on this front since. We heard in late July Brown wasn’t expected to miss games, but at this point, it’s hard to describe that as a certainty.

Brown has started all 132 regular-season games he’s played for the franchise, but he’s signed through 2018 for $9.4MM and $9.75MM — all of which is nonguaranteed. The spate of 2017 tackle extensions or UFA signings — for the likes of Russell Okung, Riley Reiff, Matt Kalil and now Charles Leno — have bumped Brown down to a middling left tackle salary. Fifteen left tackles’ contracts average more per year than Brown’s deal does. The three-time Pro Bowler is entering his age-32 season.

Brown will lose $411K in salary for each week he misses, and Smith notes the edge blocker could skip eight weeks before returning and still receive credit for an accrued season toward free agency. With Brown still profiling as one of the Texans’ best players, a lengthy absence would damage the team’s chances at winning a third straight AFC South title.

Veteran Chris Clark is listed atop the Texans’ depth chart at left tackle, with third-year UDFA Kendall Lamm manning the right side in place of the sidelined Derek Newton.

But when Brown does return this season, as he confirmed he will, he doesn’t expect to need much seasoning.

“I’m always in shape,” Brown said, via Smith. “I’m in shape year round, 24/7, 365, so I’m just working out, doing what I do and when I’m out there I’ll handle business.”

Texans Place Duane Brown On Reserve/Did Not Report List

July 25th, 2017 at 5:06pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Texans announced that they’ve placed offensive tackle Duane Brown on the reserve/did not report list. Brown is currently holding out of training camp as he pushes for a new contract.

For the most part, Brown’s new roster designation has minimal effect: he doesn’t count towards Houston’s 90-man roster, and he can be removed from the list at any time. However, Brown is costing himself money by not attending camp, as Field Yates of ESPN.com reports Brown has triggered a de-escalator clause in his contract by not taking part in a predetermined amount of workouts. Per Yates, Brown’s 2017 base salary has been reduced from $9.65MM to $9.4MM.

The 31-year-old Brown does hold a certain amount of leverage, however, as the Texans have extremely limited options at left tackle behind him. Chris Clark would probably step in as the starter, but he graded as a bottom-five guard in the NFL a season ago, per Pro Football Focus. Free agent signee Breno Giacomini and rookie Julien Davenport, meanwhile, are considered right tackles only.

The Texans and general manager Rick Smith don’t seem inclined to cave to Brown’s demands, however, as Smith explained to Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com. “There’s no contract dispute,” Smith said. “Duane’s under contract for two more years. That’s our position. We’re here to get our football team ready for the season, and he should be a part of it.”

Duane Brown Not Expected To Miss Games; Latest On DeAndre Hopkins

July 23rd, 2017 at 10:07am CST by Rory Parks

Texans left tackle Duane Brown stayed away from the team during voluntary OTAs and mandatory minicamp to express his displeasure over his current contract. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports, unsurprisingly, that Brown is expected to miss the start of training camp as well.

Brown is subject to fines of $40K for each day of camp that he holds out, though Wilson concedes that the 31-year-old has some leverage considering that Houston, which has championship aspirations this season but virtually no experience at the quarterback position, does not have an adequate replacement at left tackle. Nonetheless, there have been no negotiations between player and team, as Brown still has two years remaining on his current contract and the Texans do not renegotiate deals with two or more years remaining (Houston made exceptions to that rule for franchise icons Andre Johnson and J.J. Watt, but as good as Brown has been, he is not at that level).

Wilson adds, however, that Brown is not expected to miss any regular season games, so if the team does not give in, it sounds as if Brown will ultimately report. He ranks 11th among left tackles in cash compensation this year, as the six-year, $53.4MM deal he signed with Houston a few years ago has been surpassed by larger deals. He stands to earn $9.65MM in 2017.

In other Texans news, Wilson writes that the team and star wideout DeAndre Hopkins remain “highly motivated” to come to terms on a long-term deal, although negotiations have yet to pick up steam. However, there has been no “acrimony” on either side, and Hopkins is expected to report to camp on time, in contrast to his one-day holdout last year. Hopkins is entering the final year of his rookie contract and is due to earn $7.9MM in 2017.

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