The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

Sources: Texans sign Campbell

Veteran linebacker agrees to terms National Football Post

AUGUST 17, 2009, 12:06 PM EST

The Houston Texans signed free agent linebacker Khary Campbell today to bolster their depth on defense and special teams, according to a league source.

Campbell, 30, has recorded 104 career tackles and forced two fumbles in seven NFL seasons.

The 6-foot-2, 224-pounder from Bowling Green appeared in 14 games last season for the Washington Redskins and registered 13 tackles. It was one season removed from a career-high 34 tackles with the Redskins.

Campbell had a previous stint with the New York Jets prior to spending five seasons in Washington.

Per the source, the Texans also auditioned free agent linebackers Alex Lewis and Darrell McClover on Sunday.

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Sou ... pbell.html

If I gave my opinion on this, I'd come real close to being banned.

makes you wonder who it is that makes the decisions on which players are going to be able to help make this team better

I've always liked Khary. Good guy and a good special teamer. But in seven years, he's had a career high of 34 tackles. He's always been a career back-up and I'm wondering why you think this is such a big loss. Just curious. Again, I know he was good on special teams, but...

SkinsFreak wrote:I've always liked Khary. Good guy and a good special teamer. But in seven years, he's had a career high of 34 tackles. He's always been a career back-up and I'm wondering why you think this is such a big loss. Just curious. Again, I know he was good on special teams, but...

I was wondering the same thing.

SkinsFreak wrote:I've always liked Khary. Good guy and a good special teamer. But in seven years, he's had a career high of 34 tackles. He's always been a career back-up and I'm wondering why you think this is such a big loss. Just curious. Again, I know he was good on special teams, but...

He has been our best special teams defender the last five years. That's the whole point. He's led the team in special teams tackles most, if not all, of his time here and now the team is replacing him with two unknowns from the draft. Just another example of the team NOT rewarding their own guys. It's very irritating.

He was a special teams captain last year. His whole forte is special teams. He wasn't on the team for actual time at linebacker. He played special teams and played it very well. It was a HUGE mistake to let him go. Just because he's not a big name guy doesn't mean he didn't make big contributions. Just like Demetric Evans. The team shouldn't have let him go either.

Maybe they weren't satisfied with his LB play and were looking for someone who they could work in to LB situations...

Jake wrote:

SkinsFreak wrote:I've always liked Khary. Good guy and a good special teamer. But in seven years, he's had a career high of 34 tackles. He's always been a career back-up and I'm wondering why you think this is such a big loss. Just curious. Again, I know he was good on special teams, but...

He has been our best special teams defender the last five years. That's the whole point. He's led the team in special teams tackles most, if not all, of his time here and now the team is replacing him with two unknowns from the draft. Just another example of the team NOT rewarding their own guys. It's very irritating.

He was a special teams captain last year. His whole forte is special teams. He wasn't on the team for actual time at linebacker. He played special teams and played it very well. It was a HUGE mistake to let him go. Just because he's not a big name guy doesn't mean he didn't make big contributions. Just like Demetric Evans. The team shouldn't have let him go either.

Well, that's fair and I understand your point. But with the 53-man roster that teams are forced to abide by, very few players can take up one of those roster spots just to play special teams. Kickers, punters and long snappers, yes, but that's why most teams expect other players to also play special teams. James Thrash did this, as well as Rock Cartwright, and I think both can also be pointed to as top special teamers over the past five years.

I don't think Campbell was released just because he wasn't a big name. I think another primary factor in his release is that the team is trying to move in a direction of youth. Will our ST's suffer without Khary? Perhaps, but that remains to be seen.

As far as Evans is concerned, we drafted Brian Orakpo and Jeramey Jarmon, both young players with very strong potential and both could prove to be significant upgrades. But again, that remains to be seen. So in my opinion, it's not always so cut and dry to conclude the team made a mistake or just wanted bigger name guys. They wanted youth and upgrades, and to this point, none of us can conclude, one way or another, that those decisions were a mistake. We may have gotten significant upgrades and I can tell you that our draft choices, from this year and last year, are going to be expected to contribute on teams. We always want to "build" through the draft, right? Just saying. It's tough sometimes, especially when we like certain players, but in this game, older players eventually get replaced with younger players. It's just the nature of the game.

The Texans' have released Khary Campbell

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/Story ... ry_id=5531

Jake wrote:He has been our best special teams defender the last five years. That's the whole point. He's led the team in special teams tackles most, if not all, of his time here and now the team is replacing him with two unknowns from the draft. Just another example of the team NOT rewarding their own guys. It's very irritating.

I'm a little late to this party and missed the original thread. But don't you think it's possible, Jake, that the Redskins rewarded their own guy (Khary Campbell) when they paid him millions of dollars to play here?

I don't remember him ever receiving a mulit-million dollar contract and the contract they offered him this spring was only the veteran minimum and with someone of his experience, isn't $1 million to my knowledge.

Not very rewarding to only offer the veteran minumum to someone who has put out exemplary special teams work over the past five years if you ask me.

Vet minimum over a five year span = millions of dollars. And when STs are your only significant contribution, even if you are a standout, that is a major reward.

Jake wrote:I don't remember him ever receiving a mulit-million dollar contract and the contract they offered him this spring was only the veteran minimum and with someone of his experience, isn't $1 million to my knowledge.

Not very rewarding to only offer the veteran minumum to someone who has put out exemplary special teams work over the past five years if you ask me.

I did the quick math before I posted the first time. Even if he made the minimum the entire time he was here, as Deadskins points out, it adds up to more than $2 million. That's a lot of money for a 5-year job assignment—especially as a special teams, LB backup.

(I'm in a 5-year post myself, as it happens. . .and I'm trying very hard not to do the 'quick math' on mine. It would be far too depressing.)

I'd have to see the contract details and not heresay to know what he really got. Regardless, I feel he was underappreciated.

Vet minimum is not hearsay. He either got that or more. Which is still a whole lot more than most people make. So he was highly rewarded for playing a game, even if not in relation to others playing games.

Deadskins wrote:Vet minimum is not hearsay. He either got that or more.

Yeah. I did some quick googling and found out that he made about $2.3 million in his four years in Washington (I've been making the mistake of saying he played here five years). He was made another offer this year at the vet minimum, which for him would have been in the $800k range.

I don't know. I just don't see the disrespect. A career ST guy (outside of a P or K) just can't expect to make much more than that, especially as he gets older. Half of the appeal of STers is that you can also train them up into starting roles with the team. At the age of 30+ it's pretty clear that your days of potential have come and gone.

He did play here five years.

http://www.nfl.com/players/kharycampbel ... =CAM488032

And of course over 5 years he should TOTAL something in the millions. He should get at least $1 mil a year especially considering he is a captain as well.

And no matter his age, he is just as good as he was when he got here in 2004. He should still be on this team right now.

Jake wrote:He did play here five years.

http://www.nfl.com/players/kharycampbel ... =CAM488032

Ah, in that case his grand total would be something like $2.6 mil, before considering the final offer the Redskins gave him (which he rejected). . .that would have put the total around $3.5 mil, which is IMO a lot of money to play as a special teamer for 6 years.

No offense to Khary Campbell, but a player like him is mostly lucky to stick around that long in this league, not to mention make multiple millions of dollars.

And no matter his age, he is just as good as he was when he got here in 2004. He should still be on this team right now.

Well remember that him not being on this team was his choice. And even if he's just as good as when he arrived (if not better), it's clear that his days of potential are over. And that's a crucial component of being primarily a special teams player.

I think the team gave up on trying to make him a full time linebacker years ago and gladly accepted his position as a special teams captain so I don't think playing time at linebacker was that big of an issue.

I think the coaches really like Robert Henson's potential on Special Teams. He could potentially replace Campbell's role on Teams AND become a solid backup LB. Younger, more versatile, more upside....sounds like they know what they are doing.