Loyalty ?

I am among some who agree with the move the Texans made by trading Demeco Ryans. Lets all be honest, he was not and would never be the dominating force he was a few seasons ago. And Wade Phillips’ scheme didn’t exactly use him how he had been used in the past. There’s no need to pay a player millions of dollars to only be on the field 40% of the time. BUT after hearing WR Andre Johnson talk about the Ryans trade, it makes me wonder if moves like this will affect players even going into next season.

Here is Johnson’s interview on Sirus radio http://siriusxmsports.posterous.com/texans-wr-andre-johnson-told-nfl-radio-that-h. Now these players know this is a business and they know sometimes tough choices have to be made. But listening to this makes me feel like he thinks he and Ryans have been wrongfully treated. Johnson has always been loyal to this franchise, even signing an extension after the team had failed to make the playoffs during his tenure with the team. He has played his heart out for the Texans, even sacrificing his body to help the team. In 2010 he played on a bad ankle after getting it rolled in Week 2 against the Washington Redskins. He left the field for a short time and later came back to catch the game-tying TD with just over 2 minutes left in the game. He fought through the ankle all season long trying to keep the Texans in the hunt before finally sitting out the final 2 games after the Texans had been eliminated from the playoffs.

Now the Texans front office, who has always been loyal to players for longer then they generally needed to, have cut one of their starting offensive tackles in Eric Winston and LB Demeco Ryans. I remember years back when they held onto the likes of QB David Carr, DT Omobi Okoye and DT Travis Johnson for far too long. Where was this cut throat front office back then?

Will the Texans and Andre Johnson respond to the challenges ahead? And will certain players continue to show this franchise the loyalty that they have shown in the past? Sure, cutting Demeco Ryans will help out with the cap, and free up money to re-sign players like Connor Barwin and Brian Cushing next season, but was it really a good move for the team? After the Texans’ first ever playoff season, I sure hope so.