Duane Brown - Arian Foster's podcast

[ET80]

So, if you haven't heard - Arian Foster has his own podcast, "What Now with Arian Foster". This past week, Foster had his former Texans' teammate Duane Brown, and there was a lot of time dedicated to the contract situation and eventual trade to Seattle; Here's a recap of the discussion:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.chron.com/sports/texans/amp/Duane-Brown-Arian-Foster-leaving-Texans-Bob-McNair-12614513.php

Here's the full podcast, for those who'd like to listen:

Any thoughts on the comments? Or reaffirming what we already knew?

I distinctly remember Rick Smith not calling this a contract dispute, but Brown coming in from the opposite direction - basically saying it was all about money.

[Apollo Stallion]

Nothing shocking other than him actually acknowledging that the front office didn't believe or support his ridiculous bye week Mexican meat defense for his 2nd positive steroid test and weren't really keen on offering up a bunch of guaranteed money to a guy who either a) couldn't maintain size/strength without juicing or b) tore his quad because he was juicing and/or c) was looking at a season-long suspension if he was caught again after throwing away 14 games to steroid suspensions.  DB acts as if the Texans were supposed to throw him a parade because his agents/lawyers found a loophole to get him off, but fails to acknowledge that this was his 2nd offense and that there is a difference between getting off on a technicality and being innocent. Greg Hardy wasn't convicted of beating his girlfriend because he bought her off and they couldn't convict without her testimony, but those pictures most certainly affected his ability to get another contract.  Everyone before and everyone after Duane Brown was or will be suspended for having Clenbuterol in their system (an illegal anabolic steroid commonly used in body building to beef up or protect muscle mass in a post cycle regimen), DB's agent was just able to leverage the NFLs planned game in Mexico (featuring the Texans), some tainted meat samples his "defense" team was able to produce along with receipts for a dozen burgers and steaks.  Sorry dude, as we have learned with Cushing there is an absolute business and performance risk in guaranteeing money and capspace to a player who's proven himself to be a heightened risk for injury and suspension and likely performance dropoff when not using those substances.      

His take on his protest is even more ridiculous.  He apparently was surprised that being the only player taking a knee during the anthem during a national TV game against a team with "Patriot" in its name would be controversial in red(dest) state Texas.  Of course, we were blown out with him in street clothes because of an injury the team knows to be associated with steroid abuse and the team didn't want him holding a press conference to explain his social justice causes following such an ugly loss, so he agreed to hold off a few days.  Then as he's gearing up for his press conference JJ Watt has the gall to upstage him by having season ending back surgery and again the team doesn't feel it's appropriate that DB seek a platform for himself when the team just lost the greatest defensive player in the NFL in the prime of a hall of fame career.  DB clearly has an issue with Watt on several levels and wants to claim some double standard exists because he got an early extension and tries to interject veiled racial bias and what I suspect is a veiled steroid reference with the workout stuff. Well, sorry DB, JJ Watt's deal was an absolutely great business deal at the time for the best defensive player in the game, and while you were again hiding behind lawyers and agents to try to find you guaranteed money from a team who's bridges you hadn't burned, JJ Watt was raising $38 million to help his community. (meanwhile Arian is busy paying off the college chick he knocked up and tried paint as an extortionist and his now ex wife).

[Apollo Stallion]

So my take is that DB is 100% full of crap and the Texans were 100% right in not engaging in contract negotiations with a player with 2 years left on his contract who's not only being paid at or above his market value, but by his own actions has given cause to question whether investing guaranteed money is going to backfire with risks HE introduced into the equation.  He seems to think because the Texans screwed up once with Cushing that we are supposed to do it with him as well, which is like a speeder defending his own speeding by pointing out other people were also speeding. 

All of that being said, it is 100% clear that the Texans had lost trust in DB and he in them and they should have spent the offseason developing "plan b" both to give themselves leverage against the holdout and prevent the exact catastrophe that transpired with the predictable collapse of an o-line without a single NFL caliber tackle, 2 failed guards, and a redshirt rookie center coming off ankle surgery.  Clearly Rick Smith had neither a strategy to placate DB even if he secretly felt DB was a roided malcontent looking for a golden parachute nor a plan to leverage a valuable asset at a premium position into meaningful talent or draft value (a 2019 2nd rounder and 3rd/5th swap in 2018 sounds good only if you ignore that a 2nd rounder a season and a half away is valued as a 3rd rounder or what we would have likely gotten as a comp in 2019 if DB walked after actually playing LT for us for 2 years).  Rick did what Rick always does which is hide behind his spreadsheets and job security based on profitability and comfort over performance and somehow still got praised for salvaging some residual value out of a disaster of his own creation, just like "only" burning $21 million + $9 million in dead cap + a 2nd round pick for one lost season of Osweiler.

Lose / Lose all the way even though I'm sure DB feels like he won big (ask Andre Johnson about how getting a few extra guaranteed bucks worked out for his career and legacy). It's funny how things work out, as things don't look so rosy in Seattle especially for aging vets on a team with almost no capspace to even retain players that took them to Super Bowls while the Texans sit with a new GM who might have been more amenable to a long-term extension and $65 million in capspace burning a hole in his pocket.