Texans Don’t Plan To Negotiate With Daniels

Although agents Alan Herman and Dave Butz reportedly hope to continue to negotiate with the Texans on a long-term deal for tight end Owen Daniels, a league source tells us that the team’s current plan is to allow Daniels to play out the 2009 season under his one-year, $2.79 million salary, before taking up the issue of a multi-year contract. Per the source, Daniels wants to be the highest-paid tight end in the sport. To get there, he’d need a deal that averages more than Dallas Clark’s $6.9 million annual package from the Colts. And while John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Texans already have offered a contract that would make Daniels the league’s second highest-paid tight end (the current No. 2, Kellen Winslow of Tampa, averages $6.5 million), we’re told that the Texans’ best offer would put Daniels at No. 4, between Tony Gonzalez’s $6.25 million average and Daniel Graham’s $6 million average. Rounding out the top eight are Jeremy Shockey ($5.1 million), Chris Cooley ($4.8 million), Jason Witten ($4.6 million), and Antonio Gates ($4.4 million). The team’s hard line with Daniels arises in part, we’re told, from the fact that he is represented by the same firm that has cornerback Dunta Robinson, the team’s unsigned franchise player -- and that the Texans are irritated with the manner in which both players have been handled this offseason. Though it’s possible that the Texans will reverse course on their willingness to sign Daniels to a long-term deal if he decides to take the best offer that has been on the table, the current position (as we understand it) is that the Texans won’t be making Daniels the highest-paid tight end in the game. Though he has been a solid player during his first three NFL seasons, does he really merit $7 million per year?