Tania Ganguli, ESPN Staff Writer 11y

Matt Schaub's guarantees run out this year

Let's keep talking about Texans quarterback Matt Schaub, shall we?

Earlier today I linked a story by Grantland's Bill Barnwell in which he contends the Texans can win a Super Bowl with Schaub. Now here's a story by my friend Mike Silver of NFL Network, who counts Schaub and Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton as the two quarterbacks holding back their contending teams.

Silver says when the Texans were overachieving underdogs, Schaub was fine. But now that expectations have risen, Silver says, he's not good enough.

"In reality, the bulk of the anger shouldn't be directed at Schaub," Silver writes. "Rather, Texans fans should be ticked off at general manager Rick Smith, who didn't explore other options, and [coach Gary] Kubiak, who clearly has more faith in his quarterback than logic suggests he should."

The Texans have been criticized a lot recently for the four-year extension they gave Schaub last year on the eve of the 2012 season opener that totaled $69.7 million. Here's what I found while examining his contract:

The deal averages $15.5 million per year, with a $17.5 million signing bonus. It guarantees Schaub's base salary of $7.25 million this year. Between the signing bonus, this year's base, last year's base and a few workout bonuses, the Texans will have paid Schaub about $29.7 million of that contract by the end of this season.

If they decide Schaub isn't part of their future, they don't have to pay him one cent more. Schaub's 2014, 2015 and 2016 bases aren't guaranteed and in each of those seasons he has a roster bonus that pays him $1 million total if he's active for 16 games. That's $40 million the Texans would not be on the hook for if they didn't want to be.

Whether they will or not will depend on how Schaub plays the rest of this season. As I've been writing, I don't see his performances so far as evidence that the Texans should move on from him.

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