Should Daniels Be the Highest-Paid TE in The NFL?

Texans tight end Owen Daniels signed his restricted free agent tender, worth $2.79 million, with the hopes he could still negotiate a longer-term deal with the team. ProFootballTalk is suggesting that the Texans aren't interested in further contract negotiations, given Daniels' expectations.

Typically, the Texans tend to keep contract negotiations pretty quiet, so judge this information as you will. The Houston Chronicle says that the Texans offered Daniels enough money to make him the second-highest paid tight end in the league. PFT, meanwhile. says the offer would make Daniels the fourth-highest paid at his position, but that Daniels wants to be the top-paid tight end in the league. Really?

Given the system nature of the Texans offense, I'm not sure that Daniels is even worth top-five money.

He's a good pass-catching tight end, but doesn't have unique athleticism for the position, nor is he the kind of blocker that other top tight ends are. I don't hold his meager touchdown totals last year against him, because the entire Texans offense struggled in the red zone. Certainly, he is a good locker room guy, but is that worth investing such resources in the tight end position?

You can take the salary cap philosophy that you load up on offense and hope you outscore your opponents. Or with an offensive-minded head coach like the Texans have, you figure that the system makes most of the parts on offense somewhat fungible, and that you direct your cap money toward the defensive side of the ball. I think a number of tight ends would do well in the Texans system with Andre Johnson opening up defenses for them.

If Daniels wants to be paid tops in the league, the Texans don't have any sensible choices other than to not sign him to a long-term deal.