The Houston Texans are without an official general manager, and maybe for the 2019 season they just need to show great patience as they make a decision.
The saga of the general manager position for the Houston Texans took a turn for the worse on Friday when they franchise announced they would no longer pursue Nick Caserio of the New England Patriots due to tampering allegations and terms in Caserio’s contract, which he has one year left on with the Patriots.
Caserio is a big part of the Patriots’ success in their Super Bowl championship teams as he’s the director of player personnel for the Patriots, meaning he’s one of the main decision-makers in who joins the team and which players they show interest in.
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Since the Texans are without a general manager after firing Brian Gaine a little over a week ago, the Texans — as they have in previous years — showed great interest in acquiring Caserio as their next GM, but the Patriots wouldn’t grant official permission to speak with Caserio to hire him.
That brings us to Friday evening when Texans announced in a statement from CEO Cal McNair they would no longer pursue the services of Caserio, and with that, the Patriots dropped their tampering charges. The statement from HoustonTexans.com stated the following on the matter:
"“When we started the process to interview Nick Caserio for our EVP/GM position, we consulted the League office on numerous occasions, followed the procedures outlined in the League’s rules and believed we were in full compliance. We have now been made aware of certain terms in Nick’s contract with the Patriots. Once we were made aware of these contract terms, I advised Mr. Kraft that we would stop pursuing Nick.”"
That statement brings us to the word of the day, or even year, which is “patience.” The Texans as an entire franchise need to take a step back, take a deep breath and be patient as they wait for the final year of Caserio’s contract to run its course, then make an offer for him without being accused of tampering or having to give up a draft choice in the process.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk brought up a good point for the Patriots as they and Caserio are still together this season with the following statement in a recent article:
"“By all accounts, the Texans wanted Nick Caserio and Nick Caserio wanted the Texans. Now that the Texans have agreed to abandon their pursuit of Caserio, the question becomes whether he wants to stay with the Patriots.”"
If the Texans and Caserio are that interested in each other — and it seems the Texans have been very interested in him for quite a while — they just need to have a de facto general manager by committee for 2019, then once everything is allowed and by the rule book, make the offer to Caserio to become the next GM of the Texans.
That will take extra work by more than a few people, but by showing patience for the 2019 season and keeping a close eye on Caserio, they can eventually get the person they want to run their organization the way that person sees fit.
Remember, for the Texans the word for the next year is “patience,” but if they show that great patience, and Caserio doesn’t change his mind, the year 2020 could be the year where the front office is finally the way the franchise wants it to be.