Houston Texans: D’Onta Foreman’s cut is a colossal mistake by the team

Houston Texans running back D’Onta Foreman was surprisingly cut after just two seasons of service with the team. Here’s why the decision was a mistake.

The Houston Texans are gearing up for their first preseason game this week as they head up to Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay Packers.  For the first time in a little over seven months, we’ll be seeing our guys trot on the field once again.

There’s a lot of uncertainty of how this team will perform, especially with this schedule being a hell of a lot tougher than it was last season.  I don’t see the Houston Texans notching more than about nine wins on their belt but I hope that they continue to prove me wrong.

But with the shrewd investments made in the draft as well as the team modestly spending in free agency, there’s no telling what trajectory this team is headed for.  All we can do is hope for the best and let the chips fall where they may.

Although Bill O’Brien has guided the Houston Texans to just one losing season in his tenure, the fact that he has just one playoff win is alarming.  This is his sixth season with the Houston Texans and it now comes a time where winning playoff games is just as important as seizing the regular season.

For that reason, I’d like to think his seat has warmed up a bit but it’s definitely not hot because of the success that he has had as of late.

Time is such a precious thing and he may be running out of it…

Speaking of time running out, the Houston Texans have decided to part ways with running back D’Onta Foreman after just two seasons with the team.

The Houston Chronicle’s John McClain — not Ian Rapoport — was the first to break the news about the club’s decision to put an end to a short-lived, injury-riddled era.

Aaron Wilson also reported on Foreman’s status with the coaches in this tweet which is quite telling of what was going on behind closed doors:

Wilson adds that O’Brien said that the backup running back position was “wide open,” as it seems as if Foreman was never able to close that gap in the competition between the other backs.

So here’s the deal — it’s one thing if the guy just plain didn’t give a damn and not give an effort in practice at all but I there’s no question that he was giving his earnest this time around.

I’m sure Foreman wanted to close the chapter of his professional career that involved his Achilles’ injury.  Just last month, Foreman was reportedly “in the best shape of his life” and was “light-years ahead” of where he was in 2018 in terms of readiness.

So what has happened over the past month?

There’s got to be something else to piece this puzzle together because I don’t understand how do you give up on a third-round pick that quickly.

I’m afraid the Houston Texans decision to cut him is a colossal mistake and he’s going to make them remember which each stride he makes out on the gridiron with another team that he belongs in the NFL.

He was still on his rookie deal, making him quite inexpensive so I don’t see what the rush was cut him now rather than when he’s gotten some meaningful work out on the field in an actual game.  If he didn’t perform up to standards, then it would be prudent to cut him after this season.  But he hasn’t had enough an opportunity to make his mark once again!

C’mon man!

He’ll be picked up quickly by another team but I’m shocked that he wasn’t able to be traded because he still has value at this point in his career.

McClain wants us to watch out if the Buffalo Bills will pick him up — former general manager Brian Gaine is a senior personnel advisor there now — but I don’t see how the two would connect.  Although he’s worked with Foreman during his short, 17-month tenure with the Houston Texans, Gaine didn’t draft Foreman.  But if the Bills’ situation gets dire, that’s a possibility.

Both of their featured backs are over 30 — Frank Gore (36) and LeSean McCoy (31) — so it depends on if they feel that the 23-year-old Foreman would be a fit into their scheme and give that unit a jolt of youth.

We’ll see about McClain’s notion but I think it’s an unlikely scenario.

But Foreman’s made about $1.4 million in his career so far and was due to make $869K for 2019

More from House of Houston

• Are you the 2021 FanSided Sports Fan of the Year?
• Houston Texans: 4 reasons Romeo Crennel is right coach right now
• Astros-Twins Wild Card Series: 5 things to know as MLB postseason begins
• Houston Texans: The Most Underrated Sports Drought Ever
• Houston Texans: J.J. Watt’s early case for NFL Hall of Fame

had he been retained.  His 2018 salary was around $778K last season so I guess a $100K bump in pay was just too much for the Houston Texans vast amount of cap space.

His salary constitutes less than one percent of the team’s cap (0.35) but in the NFL it’s all about the old adage of “what have you done for me lately?” and Foreman hasn’t been able to do much as of late which isn’t necessarily his fault.

But as it stands, outside of Lamar Miller, the Houston Texans have Josh Ferguson — the presumptive favorite — as well as Buddy Howell and Taiwan Jones as candidates to usurp the backup role.  They also have Damarea Crockett and Karan Higdon Jr., who are two rookies that went undrafted to also take a crack at the job.

Those guys have a great chance but the Texans could likely seek help from the outside by signing somebody off the street so we’ll have monitor this situation.

I just want to wish D’Onta nothing but the best as he continues his career elsewhere.

Foreman had eight carries for 111 yards — 7.7 yards per attempt — through his three seasons with the team.