(SportsRadio 610) - Before I get into speculation that general manager Nick Caserio could be leaving the Texans after the draft – something I believe is preposterous – let me point out a few things: Caserio loves DeMeco Ryans and recommended him to Cal and Hannah McNair. Caserio still has final say on every personnel decision going into the draft.
Anybody who believes anything else is clueless about how the Texans operate.
Now, let’s address the Caserio speculation, which I heard for the first time at the NFL meetings in Phoenix late last month. A longtime member of an AFC front office I’ve respected for years told me he heard Caserio was leaving after the draft to return to New England. I told him it didn’t make sense on any level, but I checked with people in the Texans’ organization I trust, and they said they didn’t believe it, either.
This week, former NFL general manager and personnel director Michael Lombardi said on his podcast on VSiN.com that change could be coming to the Texans’ front office after the draft. As relayed by John Crumpler from the TexansWire, Lombardi said, “There’s a longer game being played in Houston. I think there’ll be some organizational changes in Houston after the draft. I’m not saying people will be fired, but, organizationally, things will be shifted.”
To me, shifted means moved around. When I was asked about it on SportsRadio 610’s Payne and Pendergast show Wednesday morning, I mentioned what I heard about Caserio at the league meetings. I immediately shot it down.
There are a lot of reasons I don’t believe it, starting with there are no GM jobs open, Caserio has three years left on his contract that pays him $5 million a year, he has 12 draft choices and two first-round picks, he loves working with Ryans and -- last but not least – any team trying to sign Caserio would have to cough up substantial compensation.
And, of course, there’s this little matter about no opening in New England because Bill Belichick is the czar who controls everything. Caserio tried to come to the Texans three times beginning in 2017 as Rick Smith’s replacement, and Belichick blocked him the first two times before the rules changed and he was allowed to come to Houston.
Why would Caserio want to return to the Patriots after trying to leave them three times to become a general manager? Oh, by the way, he would have to take orders from Belichick again rather than have final say on all personnel decisions.
And the McNair family is happy with the job Caserio was hired to do. They’re in the third year of the rebuild. He did a tremendous job getting draft choices from Cleveland for Deshaun Watson. And he said after the Zoom interview with Ryans that he told the McNairs he wanted to get Ryans to NRG Stadium for an in-person interview and not allow him to leave. And that’s exactly what happened.
What do Cal and Hannah McNair think about the job Caserio is doing? Here are quotes from them when I interviewed them in Phoenix on that subject:
From Cal McNair: “None of us knew the storm he was walking into. I think he’s done a fantastic job getting the Texans’ ship through some bad weather. A lot of that was unforeseen. I don’t know that other teams have gone through what we went through. I think he grew through that process. He’s got us in a great spot with the assets we have with DeMeco, draft choices, free agents and the cap space he’s been using to help put our roster together.”
From Hannah McNair: “DeMeco’s in lockstep with Nick, and they have the same mindset and work ethic. If you don’t have a GM and coach working together, you’re in (trouble). They’re in alignment, and it’s nice to see. They’re working really well together.”
They don’t sound like owners who are unhappy with their general manager, or expect him to leave. Maybe Caserio is unhappy for some reason. Maybe the Lombardi report was about James Liipfert, the assistant director of player personnel who’s in his sixth year with the Texans.
Or maybe, just maybe, none is true. That happens a lot every year around draft time.
John McClain can be heard Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday on SportsRadio 610 and Thursday on Texans Radio. He writes three times a week and does two Houtopia Podcasts for SportsRadio610.com. He also can be read four times a week on GallerySports.com.