The Houston Texans selected 19 players in Monday's expansion draft, including former Patriots safety Matt Stevens, who was chosen with the 10th pick.
The Texans chose a much different path than their three most recent predecessors – the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers – who didn't have near the caliber of talent to choose from and opted for small money players.
Houston had the option of selecting anywhere from 30-42 players or using at least 38 percent of the salary cap. General Manager Charlie Casserly chose the latter route, and needed just six picks to exceed the $27.02 million dollar figure that represents the requisite cap percentage.
With their first eight picks, the Texans chose three New York Jets (Ryan Young, Aaron Glenn, Marcus Coleman), three Jacksonville Jaguars (Tony Boselli, Gary Walker, Seth Payne) and two Baltimore Ravens (Jamie Sharper, Jermaine Lewis). Those eight players counted for $35.5 million against the cap. Young, as a restricted free agent, does not count in that total.
The Patriots did not pull back any of their four remaining players – Ted Johnson, Willie McGinest, Charles Johnson and Terrance Shaw – but the Texans chose not to select any of them.
Once the Texans picked those first eight players, they switched their approach and went for younger, cheaper players who figure to provide depth for the first-year club. The Texans spent $39.8 million against their 2002 salary cap, as 16 of the 19 players they chose will count against that number.
Here's a list of the players chosen by the Texans:
- Tony Boselli, T, Jacksonville
- Ryan Young, T, New York Jets
- Aaron Glenn, CB, New York Jets
- Gary Walker, DT, Jacksonville
- Jamie Sharper, LB, Baltimore
- Jermaine Lewis, WR, Baltimore
- Marcus Coleman, CB, New York Jets
- Seth Payne, DT, Jacksonville
- Matt Campbell, OL, Washington10. Matt Stevens, S, Patriots
- Jeremy McKinney, OL, Cleveland
- Ryan Schau, T, Philadelphia
- Charlie Rogers, Ret., Seattle
- Sean McDermott, LS, Tampa Bay
- Jabari Issa, DE, Arizona
- Avion Black, WR, Buffalo
- Danny Wuerffel, QB, Chicago
- Brian Allen, LB, St. Louis
- Johnny Huggins, TE, Dallas
