Happy Friday, Broncos fans! Poor, poor Matt Schaub.
A year ago, some dummies were either predicting he'd lead his Texans to SB 48, or calling him an elite quarterback.
Four pick-sixes (in consecutive weeks) later, and he'd been benched for the undrafted Case Keenum.
Houston lost its last 14 games of the season after a 2-0 start, and now holds the #1 pick in the draft.
It had been expected for quite some time that Schaub would be cut loose, after the Texans had given him a $17.5M signing bonus and $29.15M guaranteed over the past two years.
Finances aside, Schaub had presumably hit professional rock bottom.
But wait, there's more!
Schaub is apparently now headed to where quarterback careers go to die.
That's right - Matt Schaub is expected to become the next starting QB for the Oakland Raiders.
Oakland will reportedly send a late-round pick to Houston for Schaub and his $10M salary.
Hmm, a team that no longer runs the ball very well and has an awful offensive line? That sounds like quite the landing spot for a Shanahan/Kubiak WCO quarterback, huh?
Making matters worse, Schaub will get to see his old pal Joe Mays twice yearly, at least until they're both benched for better players...
Broncos
T.J. Ward says the Browns never made him an offer, which makes sense if they were just looking for a better scheme fit, as Andy Benoit suggested.
Demaryius Thomas seems to have some pretty good perspective on last season, both from a team and individual vantage.
Jeff Legwold lists the Broncos youngsters he thinks face the highest expectations this season.
Free Agency
Reports that Jared Allen had agreed to a deal with Seattle were apparently premature, and he's said to be deciding between multiple offers.
Atlanta landed KR Devin Hester; Houston added QB Ryan Fitzpatrick; Tampa Bay added ex-Raiders CB Mike Jenkins; Minnesota signed DE Corey Wootton away from Chicago; San Francisco extended FB Bruce Miller.
News
The Steelers will not lose a draft pick over Mike Tomlin's sideline tomfoolery.
Richie Incognito, who will be evaluated before he's allowed back into the league, says he'd love to be a Raider. Of course he would.
Analysis
Doug Farrar says trades like the one Oakland may pull off for Matt Schaub "gets people fired."
Mike Tanier reminds us that expanding the playoff field will tend to include a lot more mediocre-at-best teams than deserving squads like last year's 10-6 Cardinals.
Jets GM John Idzik continues to get panned for his inactivity on the cornerback front.
Matt Bowen goes back to basics with a look at 4-3 defensive fronts.
Maths
Jason Fitzgerald is puzzled by Carolina having essentially swapped Steve Smith for Jerricho Cotchery.
No Broncos tallied as many as 100 inconsequential receiving yards in 2013, according to Chase Stuart.
Nate Davis looks ahead to next year's biggest potential free agents, but there's no way Denver is letting Demaryius Thomas or Von Miller get to that point.
Draft
Greg Gabriel scouts defensive tackles Caraun Reid of Princeton (!) and Dan McCullers of Tennessee.
FWIW, Michael Sam performed a good deal better at Missouri's pro day than he did at the combine.
Will Brinson's latest mock has Denver taking UCLA guard Xavier Su'a-Filo at #31.