The loss of Arian Foster for the Houston Texans was a pretty crippling one. Right as he was starting to hit his stride, a ruptured Achilles sidelined Foster and put his future with the Texans in serious doubt. Ever since then, Foster’s presumed release has been treated as almost a foregone conclusion as the team would save about $6.6 million by cutting him. But I think they won’t have to go that far — I think the Texans can and should keep Foster around.
I know a lot of people saw his injury this year as the end of his Texans career, but I see it as what keeps him around longer. Coming up on 29 years old, at an easily replaceable position with a big cap hit, typically spells doom for the player. And in more normal circumstances, I’d say Foster would be hunting for a job this offseason with almost complete certainty.
But now that he’s coming off an injury, his value is shot to the rest of the 31 teams that might pay him a bigger contract than Houston would offer. Knowing this, I’d bet Foster is much more open to the idea of signing a cheaper extension that lowers his 2016 cap hit dramatically. That route not only gives him a job — one he can still do well for a few more years — but it keeps him in familiar Houston waters.
For the Texans, that’s a slam dunk move to make. Look at what the Texans’ ground game did between Alfred Blue, Chris Polk and Jonathan Grimes. None of them looked like they could hold a candle to Foster, not even if you put the three of them together. Foster asleep is better than the three of them, and even with his troubling injury history he’s still the best option Houston has in house. If you can keep a player like that, and have the chance to get him cheaper than he is now, the problem solves itself.
Also, extending Foster does absolutely nothing to stop the team from grooming someone behind him. If they grab a mid-round pick or undrafted guy somewhere and he shows the upside, a cheaper Foster is easy to move on from. Get whatever great football you can get out of him and enjoy the time to find an actual successor behind him.
A player of Foster’s caliber is worth the gamble. Especially when it’s a cheap gamble. If both sides are smart, Foster will be in Houston a little while longer and everybody wins.
