2002 NFL Expansion Draft

The Houston Texans selected the first players in franchise history.

The 2002 National Football League Expansion Draft was the most recent National Football League (NFL) draft in which a new expansion team, named the Houston Texans, selected its first players. On October 6, 1999, in Atlanta, NFL owners had unanimously voted to award the 32nd NFL franchise and the Super Bowl XXXVIII to the city of Houston, Texas.^[1] So that the Texans could become competitive with existing teams, the league awarded the Texans the first pick in the 2002 NFL Draft and gave them the opportunity to select current players from existing teams. That selection was provided by the expansion draft, held on February 18, 2002.^[2][3][4][5]

In this draft, held months before the regular draft, the existing franchises listed players from which the Texans could select to switch to the new team. This was the second expansion draft after the NFL had instituted the salary cap, which limited the total amount teams could spend on the their roster of players. Teams placed many quality players on the list who had large contracts, as the Texans were required to assume the contracts of those players if selected.^[6][7] The Texans selected three players with a total salary-cap value of $14.9 million from the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were $23 million over the cap; three players with a total salary-cap value of $14.1 million from the New York Jets, who were $16 million over the cap; and two players with a total salary-cap value of $7.1 million from the Baltimore Ravens, who were $23 million over the cap.^[8] The list included 155 NFL players,^[9][10] 25 of whom were Pro Bowl players. The draft took place live and aired on ESPN. The Texans drafted a total of nineteen players.^{[2][3][5][11]}

Rules of the Draft

Process

Each NFL team listed five players that the Texans could select,^[6][7][9] and the Texans were required to claim either 30 players^[6][7][9] or $27.2 million in contracts (38% of the 2002 salary cap).^[7][9][12] After the Texans selected a player from an existing team, that team could remove a player from their remaining list.^[7][9][12] If a second player was taken, the existing team could then pull back its remaining two players.^[7][9][12] However, teams were not required to remove players from the draftable list, resulting in three Jets and three Jaguars being drafted to the Texans. The Texans were prohibited from selecting a player from a team and trading the player back to that club.^[12]

Player limitations

Existing teams were not allowed to put punters or kickers on the list,^[7][9] nor any player from their 2001 roster who would have become an unrestricted free agent in 2002.^[7] They could not list players who went on injured reserve during the 2001 summer's training camp^[7][9] nor any player who would become a restricted free agent after the 2001 season.^[7] Their list could include only one player with more than 10 years' experience.^[7][9]

Salary cap ramifications

The Texans assumed the contracts of the players they selected, including all future portions of their signing bonuses and any guarantees or other terms.^[12] If the Texans cut a selection and he re-signed with his old team, the existing team re-assumed his signing bonus.^[12] Extra bonuses that did not count against the Texans' salary cap were given to veteran players who were selected.^[12] Those selected received $10,000 immediately, an additional $20,000 bonus for reporting to training camp, and another $30,000 for making the active roster during the regular season.^[12]

Player selections

= Pro Bowler [13]

Pick	Player Name	Position	Original NFL Team	Salary Cap Figure
1	Tony Boselli	Offensive Tackle	Jacksonville Jaguars	$6,883,332
2	Ryan Young	Offensive Tackle	New York Jets	$563,000
3	Aaron Glenn	Cornerback	New York Jets	$8,013,177
4	Gary Walker	Defensive Tackle	Jacksonville Jaguars	$5,250,000
5	Jamie Sharper	Linebacker	Baltimore Ravens	$2,875,000
6	Jermaine Lewis	Wide Receiver	Baltimore Ravens	$4,289,333
7	Marcus Coleman	Cornerback	New York Jets	$5,480,750
8	Seth Payne	Defensive Tackle	Jacksonville Jaguars	$2,775,000
9	Matt Campbell	Offensive Guard	Washington Redskins	$875,000
10	Matt Stevens	Safety	New England Patriots	$565,000
11	Jeremy McKinney	Offensive Guard	Cleveland Browns	$405,760
12	Ryan Schau	Offensive Tackle	Philadelphia Eagles	$563,000
13	Charlie Rogers	Kick Returner	Seattle Seahawks	$563,000
14	Sean McDermott	Tight End	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	$300,000
15	Jabari Issa	Defensive End	Arizona Cardinals	$397,666
16	Avion Black	Wide Receiver	Buffalo Bills	$460,000
17	Danny Wuerffel	Quarterback	Chicago Bears	$555,760
18	Brian Allen	Linebacker	St. Louis Rams	$452,000
19	Johnny Huggins	Tight End	Dallas Cowboys	$300,000

References

General

• "2002 expansion draft: Veteran players drafted by Houston Texans". Pro Football Weekly website. February 18, 2002. http://archive.profootballweekly.com/content/archives2001/features_2001/expansion_draftpicks.asp. Retrieved October 3, 2008. 
• "Houston Texans Expansion Draft Choices". Sports Illustrated website. September 5, 2002. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2002/02/18/texans_expansion_picks. Retrieved October 3, 2008. 
• "Boselli Leads Texans' Expansion Draft". CBS-KGTV San Diego. February 18, 2002. http://www.10news.com/sports/1240874/detail.html. 

Specific

1. ^ "Houston Texans - Pro Football Hall of Fame". Pro Football Hall of Fame website. http://www.profootballhof.com/history/team.jsp?franchise_id=13. Retrieved October 1, 2008. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Texans Transactions 2000-2002". Houston Texans website. http://www.houstontexans.com/news/Transactions2000_2002.asp. Retrieved October 3, 2008. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ ^{a b} "2002 expansion draft: Veteran players drafted by Houston Texans". ProFootballWeekly website. February 18, 2002. http://archive.profootballweekly.com/content/archives2001/features_2001/expansion_draftpicks.asp. Retrieved October 3, 2008. 
4. ^ "Houston Texans Expansion Draft Choices". Sports Illustrated website. September 5, 2002. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2002/02/18/texans_expansion_picks. Retrieved October 3, 2008. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "Boselli Leads Texans' Expansion Draft". CBS-KGTV San Diego. February 18, 2002. http://www.10news.com/sports/1240874/detail.html. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} Gosselin, Rick (January 6, 2002). "As Texans expand, others' caps shrink". Dallas Morning News. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?s_hidethis=no&p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_siteloc=&s_dispstring=As%20Texans%20expand,%20others%27%20caps%20shrink&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(As%20Texans%20expand,%20others%27%20caps%20shrink)&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Pennington, Bill (January 23, 2002). "Pro Football; N.F.L. Expansion Draft: Big Names on the List". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9405E1DA103BF930A15752C0A9649C8B63. 
8. ^ "NFL Texans draft Boselli, Wuerffel". CBC News website. February 19, 2002. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2002/02/19/texans020218.html. Retrieved October 13, 2008. 
9. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} "List of players exposed to Houston expansion draft". Pro Football Weekly website. February 18, 2002. http://archive.profootballweekly.com/content/archives2001/features_2001/expansion_draftlist.asp. Retrieved October 3, 2008. 
10. ^ "Houston Texans Expansion Draft List". Sports Illustrated website. February 17, 2002. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2002/01/25/expansion_list. Retrieved October 3, 2008. 
11. ^ Buchsbaum, Joel (February 25, 2002). "Player-by-player analysis of Texans' expansion draft". Pro Football Weekly. http://archive.profootballweekly.com/content/archives2001/features_2001/buchsbaum_022502.asp. 
12. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Clayton, John (February 14, 2002). "NFL - Rules of expansion". ESPN website. http://static.espn.go.com/nfl/s/2002/0214/1332544.html. Retrieved September 24, 2008. 
13. ^ Players are identified as a Pro Bowler with an asterisk if they were selected for the Pro Bowl at any time in their career. A dagger indicates a player who was selected to the Pro Bowl only as a member of another team.