Report: Bill O’Brien Wanted Ryan Mallett Cut; Rick Smith Vetoed Decision
By Yoni Pollak
Houston Texans QB Ryan Mallett was late for the team flight to Miami this past weekend and ended up missing the flight entirely. The quarterback was then forced to fly commercial and find his way to the Stadium himself.
According to a report by Brian T. Smith (Houston Chronicle), head coach Bill O’Brien wanted Mallett cut following the incident. However, O’Brien was vetoed by general manager Rick Smith and Mallett is still a member of the Texans as of this writing.
Here’s what Brian T. Smith said went down before the game:
"O’Brien wanted – and tried – to cut Mallett before the Texans ever took the field during a 44-26 blowout defeat to the Dolphins, said sources with direct knowledge of the situation who weren’t authorized to speak publicly. But the second-year leader – partly hired by owner Bob McNair for his fierce personality and high standards of personal accountability – was overruled by longtime general manager Rick Smith."
Well, doesn’t this just make the Texans look absolutely pretty? Our front office just gets along so damn well!
D.J. Swearinger does something bad…gets cut. Louis Nix does something bad…gets cut. But Ryan Mallett?!? Nope, not yet.
Bill O’Brien has preached accountability since his first press conference in Houston. So far this season, the only person he’s held accountable was kicker Randy Bullock. They cut him, but that’s the only player that O’Brien has held accountable through the first seven weeks of the season.
Now we see O’Brien wanted Mallett cut and held accountable after missing the flight. Unfortunately for O’Brien and the Texans, Mallett was the only backup on the roster so cutting him before the game didn’t make much sense.
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However, the fact that the Texans have yet to cut Mallett as of this writing is telling. It’s more than 24 hours after the game has ended and the quarterback is still a member of the Houston Texans. That’s just downright inexcusable for the Texans.
Behind Brian Hoyer and Mallett is just practice squad QB Zac Dysert. Second-year QB Tom Savage was put on Injured Reserve just before the season with a shoulder injury. So cutting Mallett before the game didn’t make much sense since they would have had to enter the game with just one quarterback. No, you can’t do that in this NFL.
The irony of the situation is that Savage is probably healthy or close to healthy right now and could be a serviceable backup. However, O’Brien chose to IR Savage for the season instead of giving him the designated to the return tag (giving it to third-string TE Ryan Griffin) and now the Texans don’t have a great backup option for Hoyer. Great work, O’Brien!
The dysfunction continues in Houston and it doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.
Tear it down!
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