Texans left tackle Duane Brown has not reported to Texans camp in West Virginia because he wants a new contact from the team, but General Manager Rick Smith’s response suggested the team wasn’t of a mind to do anything about it.
Smith said “our position” is that there’s nothing to discuss about the contract because Brown is signed for both the 2017 and 2018 seasons and that Brown should be at camp as a result. On Tuesday, team owner Bob McNair sounded similarly disinclined to open up talks about a new deal for the player.
“He ought to be here,” McNair said, via the Houston Chronicle. “He needs the work just like everybody, so we look forward to his coming back. I’m sure he’ll be here; it’s just a matter of when.”
While the Texans may not share Brown’s desire to work out a new contract, they will have to figure out a different answer at left tackle if Brown’s not going to be part of their team. That’s not ideal when they are breaking in a new starting quarterback ahead of a year that contains promise based on their defense and the fact that they made the playoffs without getting much from their quarterbacks last year.
That may lead to this coming down to which side blinks first and, fines for missing camp aside, it will be some time before Brown’s holdout will jeopardize his 2017 salary.