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Article: Monied Texans not banking on free agents; draft bonanza, thin market equals new way to stock in expansion.(The Dallas Morning News)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- February 23, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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DALLAS _ The Houston Texans have money to spend in free agency but are in no hurry to spend it.
Not after the expansion draft, anyway. The Texans were required to spend a minimum of $27 million in contracts of unprotected players. But owner Bob McNair splurged last week, claiming more than $40 million in the contracts of 19 players.
That was a turnaround from 1999, when the previous NFL expansion team arrived. Cleveland's approach to its expansion draft was to take low-profile players with low-ball contracts, thereby saving its money for free agency.
The Browns then signed 14 free agents, spending $16.075 million of their $57.2 million salary ...