ADAM SCHEFTER INTERVIEW
Exclusive: Adam Schefter sheds light on Clowney's future and O'Brien's reputation
May 21, 2020, 5:49 pm
ADAM SCHEFTER INTERVIEW
It has been a very controversial offseason for the Houston Texans after trading away All-Pro WR DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals. ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter had no shortage of interesting things to say about how internally the Texans are justifying the trade.
"Bill is running the team with the way that he wants to," Adam Schefter said on The Jake Asman Show on Gow Media's SB Nation Radio. "I can tell you from speaking with people from around the league and in Houston that they (Texans) believe they have a strong justification/validation for every single move that they made. They had numbers on DeAndre Hopkins, with the contract situation being what it was, in their minds they were going to have a tough time justifying paying what he wanted… The issue is that we are living in a world where everybody wants to assess things right away… They can justify that move, their analytics say it was a good move, they believe it was a good move and over time we will find out if they are right."
Former Texans DE Jadeveon Clowney is still a free agent but don't count on Clowney playing for the Texans again even though he has been working out in the Houston area.
"How many teams are out there right now that are going to pay Jadeveon Clowney what he wants," Schefter said. "Cleveland is the one I can think of. Maybe Seattle but it won't be what he wants exactly. I think there are teams out there that won't want to spend money if they don't know if they are going to be losing money this year without fans. Do you want to go and throw all this money at Jadeveon Clowney when we don't know for sure there is going to be a season?"
One under the radar impact caused by the pandemic on the NFL is the future salary cap number for the league. While Schefter said that he still anticipates the league still finding a way to play 16 regular games, he believes that the loss of revenue is going to have a huge impact on all 32 clubs.
"Right now nobody knows the answers to those questions," Schefter said. "If there are no fans, based on the way I calculated it talking to people, it would be roughly about 100 million dollars lost per team... I was told that the number is even higher than that. Again, when you factor in the 2021 salary cap, you take in the revenue from 2020 and if there are no fans in the stadium, it is going to be down. The pandemic impacts just about everybody and I don't believe in the end that NFL owners and NFL players are going to be immune to that.
Kyle Tucker launched a three-run homer and matched a season high with four hits against the team that traded him in December, and the Chicago Cubs routed Houston 12-3 on Saturday night to stop the Astros' five-game winning streak.
Tucker also scored four times to pace a Cubs lineup that pounded out 15 hits, including three by Dansby Swanson. Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch and Nico Hoerner also went deep.
Chicago hit three homers in an inning for the second time this season during a seven-run fourth. Busch and Hoerner had back-to-back solo shots to put the Cubs on top 3-2, and Tucker’s drive made it 7-2.
The offensive outburst came in support of Colin Rea (5-3), who allowed two runs and five hits over five innings. The only blemish on his line was rookie Cam Smith’s two-run homer in the third, which briefly gave the Astros a 2-1 lead.
Smith, part of the package Houston received for Tucker, finished with two hits and has homered in consecutive games for the first time in his career.
Lance McCullers Jr. (1-3) came off the injured list and allowed eight runs on seven hits over 3 1/3 innings.
Isaac Paredes, also part of the Astros' trade return for Tucker, hit his 17th home run.
Tucker’s three-run homer in the fourth that put the Cubs ahead 7-2.
McCullers has a 10.89 ERA in five home starts this season, but hasn’t allowed an earned run in three road starts.
Houston LHP Framber Valdez (8-4, 2.88 ERA) opposes RHP Jameson Taillon (7-5, 4.77 ERA) when the series concludes Sunday.