(UPDATED) NFL Free Agency 2013: Your Texans Cheat Sheet (Cap Numbers, Restructure Candidates and More!)

By Sean Pendergast Tue., Mar. 12 2013 at 6:00 AM

Categories: Football, Game Time, Sports

Continued from page 2

8. Safety (Quin)
Quite simply, the Texans' highest priority on the free agency board -- re-signing Glover Quin.

7. Outside linebacker (Barwin)
Lots of moving pieces here -- the development of Whitney Mercilus, the possible move inside for Brooks Reed, the perceived worth of Barwin, the possibility of drafting this position again. If Barwin comes back, it'll be on a short-term deal because he wants to be here and thinks he can regain his 2011 form. If someone is willing to pay more than that, and Barwin wants to go, he will go.

6. Wide receiver not named Andre (Walter, Jean, Posey, Martin)
Unlikely to be filled in free agency in any meaningful way. More likely a draft thing.

5. Fullback (Casey)
The only way Casey is back is if he takes fullback money, and I think someone will pay him as a tight end. Variable in this equation is the aforementioned treatment of Owen Daniels' contract. If you could do a Graham/Casey tight end tandem for, say, $2 million less in cap hit in 2013 than Daniels/Graham, would you do it?

4. Nose tackle (Cody)
Cody's back issues are troublesome, and I think Earl Mitchell is ready to eat more on his plate. I will miss Cody's hilarious "On The Nose" videos on Texans TV, though. That alone made him a relative bargain.

3. Nickel cornerback (McCain)
McCain is an underrated important re-signing for this team, assuming he's healthy. Do you want a full season of Brandon Harris, nickel corner?

2. Punter (D. Jones)
Jones was one of the bright spots on a dismal special teams unit last season. I'm good with him coming back at the right price or Shane Lechler taking a hometown deal.

1. Cheaper options for guys who may get cut loose in a cap-triggered purge
We will have to wait and see who this entails, if anybody.

So there you have it. Now let's watch Gary Kubiak and Rick Smith, cash in hand, go shopping. And let's hope that they don't become a Wheel of Fortune cautionary tale, like this poor gal....

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