The Houston Texans acquired more big names in Monday’s NFL expansion draft than the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots acquired in free agency all last off-season.
Bears quarterback Danny Wuerffel was among 19 players selected for the team that will start next season as the league’s 32nd franchise.
Taking advantage of clubs strapped by salary cap cash problems, the Texans assumed $35.5 million in contracts with their first eight players–Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Tony Boselli, New York Jets offensive tackle Ryan Young, New York Jets cornerback Aaron Glenn, Jaguars defensive tackle Gary Walker, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Jamie Sharper, Ravens receiver-kick return specialist Jermaine Lewis, Jets cornerback Marcus Coleman and Jaguars defensive tackle Seth Payne.
Four of the first six have Pro Bowls on their resumes: Boselli, Walker, Glenn and Lewis, prompting Walker to suggest: “You can be an expansion team and be sitting in the Super Bowl this year. I really do believe that.”
Wuerffel spent the Bears’ season behind Jim Miller and Shane Matthews, but the 1996 Heisman Trophy winner started six games in three seasons with the New Orleans Saints, which is more experience than Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Tom Brady had at this time last year.
The Texans, who will play in the new AFC South with Jacksonville, Indianapolis and Tennessee, have the first pick in the April 20 college draft and are expected to take Fresno State quarterback David Carr. After selecting five offensive linemen in their first 12 expansion picks, they are committed to protecting a passer.
Neither the Jaguars nor Jets chose to pull back players from their unprotected list and weren’t unhappy to lose three players apiece because they were both more than $20 million over next season’s projected salary cap of $72 million.
The Jaguars were an expansion team in 1995 and Boselli was their No. 1 draft pick out of Southern Cal. After reaching the AFC title game in 1996 they tried to keep a nucleus of star players under contract in a failed attempt to reach the Super Bowl, knowing they eventually would have problems staying under the cap.
In unloading Boselli, Walker and Payne, the Jaguars instantly erased nearly $15 million of the $26.5 million they need to get under the cap. In losing Young, Glenn and Coleman, the Jets gained $14 million of the $20.2 million they needed.
Texans coach Dom Capers was the Jaguars’ defensive coordinator in 1999-2000 and head coach of the Carolina Panthers when they joined the league in 1995.
Only two of the 37 players drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the last expansion draft in 1999 remained with the team last season, but the Browns had nowhere near the list of big names from which to chose. The Browns’ No. 1 pick, journeyman offensive lineman Jim Pyne, is a long way from the Texans’ No. 1 pick, five-time Pro Bowler Boselli.
“We have a Hall of Famer and we haven’t played a game,” general manager Charley Casserly said.
Boselli missed most of last season with injury and has a history of shoulder and knee injuries, but the Texans considered him a worthwhile gamble.
“I’ve been with a group of guys that no one thought could play before,” Boselli said. “The sooner this team comes together and becomes cohesive, the sooner we can be good.”
After Wuerffel was selected the Bears withdrew the name of safety Than Merrill from their unprotected list. Running back Autry Denson, guard-center Kevin Dogins and defensive tackle Robert Newkirk were on the Bears’ list but not picked.
The new Texans
%% PICK, PLAYER POS HT WT FORMER TEAM
1. Tony Boselli OT 6-7 322 Jacksonville
2. Ryan Young OT 6-5 320 New York Jets
3. Aaron Glenn DB 5-9 185 New York Jets
4. Gary Walker DT 6-2 305 Jacksonville
5. Jamie Sharper LB 6-3 240 Baltimore
6. Jermaine Lewis WR-KR 5-7 180 Baltimore
7. Marcus Coleman CB 6-2 210 New York Jets
8. Seth Payne DT 6-4 303 Jacksonville
9. Matt Campbell G 6-4 300 Washington
10. Matt Stevens S 6-0 205 New England
11. Jeremey McKinney G 6-6 301 Cleveland
12. Ryan Schau OT 6-6 300 Philadelphia
13. Charlie Rogers KR-RB 5-9 177 Seattle
14. Sean McDermott TE-LS 6-4 250 Tampa Bay
15. Jabari Issa DE 6-5 296 Arizona
16. Avion Black WR 5-11 185 Buffalo
17. Danny Wuerffel QB 6-1 212 BEARS
18. Brian Allen LB 6-0 232 St. Louis
19. Johnny Huggins TE 6-3 245 Dallas
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