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Texans exercise 'buy back' to keep Carr through '08

By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

HONOLULU -- In a move that could augur the selection of Southern California tailback Reggie Bush as the first overall pick in the 2006 draft, league sources here for the Pro Bowl confirmed late Thursday that the Houston Texans have exercised a "buy back" clause in quarterback David Carr's contract, paying him an $8 million bonus to secure his services for three more seasons.

The Texans, who announced the extension Friday in a news release but declined to provide terms, scheduled a Friday afternoon news conference.

Retaining the four-year veteran quarterback, who would have become eligible for unrestricted free agency had the Texans not exercised the option, makes it highly unlikely that Houston will choose Texas quarterback Vince Young with the top pick in the draft April 29.

Some fans have urged the Texans to choose Young, a Houston native. But Chris Mortensen of ESPN reported weeks ago that Houston officials are locked in on Bush, the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner.


There is still some chance that Houston could choose Young or perhaps Southern California quarterback Matt Leinart. But doing so would mean keeping a young quarterback on the bench for a few seasons, or trading Carr.


The Texans' confidence has wavered only slightly in Carr in four seasons. Every indication in recent weeks was that the Texans would pay the "buy back" bonus to keep Carr.


Former NFL head coach Dan Reeves, who served as a consultant to Texans owner Bob McNair, recommended keeping Carr, the top overall choice in the 2002 draft. First-year head coach Gary Kubiak, who has a strong reputation around the league for developing quarterbacks and whose presence could enhance Carr's performance, apparently gave him a strong endorsement, too.


Carr, 26, has appeared in 60 games, starting 59. He has completed 941 of 1,628 passes for 10,624 yards, with 48 touchdowns passes, 53 interceptions and a passer rating of 73.7. But the former Fresno State star has suffered from a lack of support, particularly on the offensive line.


He has been sacked an amazing 208 times in his career, including a league-record 76 times in 2002 and 68 times during the 2005 campaign. Carr has a 16-43 record as a starter.


Under the terms of the complicated seven-year, $46.75 million contract Carr signed as a rookie, the final three seasons of the deal were voidable. Early in his career, Carr reached sufficient performance levels to cancel those three years, and technically, his contract would have expired on March 3, the first day of free agency.


But the Texans had the right to "buy back" the voidable years and had two options for doing so. The first would have involved paying Carr a bonus of $5.5 million to buy back two seasons, at base salaries of $5 million for 2006 and $5.25 million for 2007. The second, the deal for which Houston opted, included the $8 million bonus, which bought back three seasons, at base salaries of $5.25 million each in 2006 and 2007 and of $6 million in 2008.


At one point during the season, Houston officials considered the possibility of exercising the two-year option. The Texans also reviewed which NFL franchises might need a quarterback of starting caliber in the next few years, in the event they decided to trade Carr.


They have never come close, however, to putting Carr on the market.



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Winwin

one comment, there is a sucker born every minute.

xan

They were never going to let this guy go without compensation, and that meant signing him for an extended contract. I am surprised, thought that they didn't approach to renegotiate the contract to get more years out of the option, which would make him more marketable in a trade.

papz

Carr is a good quarterback who doesn't have the players around him, the offensive line, to help him fulfill his potential... not that he isn't pretty decent already. I really hope they select D'Brick. All the weapons are there on offense already, they just need a little time to execute. If I were the Texans I'd trade down to the Jets spot and get an extra pick from them. It's a win win situation with Bush being Martin's eventual successor and the Texans being able to address their most important weakness.

TheDeuce

Well I guess this means we're one step closer to getting Leinart....

saintswhodi

cosign.