By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
His past denials aside, when the Columbus Clippers finish their season Monday, Drew Henson will have finished his baseball career as well.
Henson, 23, has reiterated several times in recent months that he would continue pursuing a career with the Yankees, who signed the former University of Michigan quarterback to a five-year, $17 million contract in 2001. Over the weekend, Henson denied broadcast reports indicating he would abandon his baseball career when this season with New York's Triple-A affiliate concluded.
But league sources, as well as several sources close to Henson, have confirmed that after two full seasons in Columbus -- years in which his strikeouts outnumbered his hits -- he will end his quest to play third base in Yankee Stadium.
"It's been a frustrating time and reality has set in now," one source said. "The feeling for a while was that he would play in Arizona (in the winter league), then see how he felt, and make a decision before spring training next year. But he's ready to walk away now."
And to walk away, as well, from a guaranteed $12 million that remains on his Yankees contract. Henson was scheduled to have base salaries of $2.2 million in 2004, $3.8 million in 2005 and $6 million in 2006. Under the exit plan, the Yankees will not have to buy out the contract or reach any sort of settlement.
Henson, who hasn't played football since he started eight games for the Wolverines in the 2000 season, was selected by the Houston Texans in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL draft. In recent weeks, contract discussions between Houston officials and representatives for Henson have accelerated.
The gambit by Texans general manager Charley Casserly, whose team holds Henson's draft rights until the 2004 draft, appears like it will pay off. Even on the second day of the draft, after investing a low-round pick to secure Henson's rights, Casserly mentioned a trade as one of several future options.
It now looks as if Henson, who would prefer not to play behind second-year Texans starter David Carr, will forge his NFL career elsewhere. In fact, that issue is one of many that have been discussed, as the two parties have considered their alternatives.
Others elements include contract structure, the timing of a deal, and at what point Houston would trade Henson to another franchise. According to NFL Players Association figures, the Texans only have about $238,170 remaining in their rookie pool allocation, so if they signed Henson to a contract that included a minimum first-year salary of $225,000, that would leave them only able to award a signing bonus that prorated to $13,000 per year.
Both sides, under such financial constraints, would have to exercise creativity -- likely in the form of so-called "unlikely to be earned" incentives.
Casserly said a few weeks ago that one team had already inquired about what it might take to deal for Henson, who almost certainly would have been a top 10 NFL selection had he continued his college football career.
One option for Henson would be not to sign with the Texans, begin work exclusively on preparing for football, and to re-enter the draft in 2004, but sources said that scenario is unlikely at this point.
At Michigan, Henson completed 214 of 374 passes for 2,946 yards, with 24 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. He appeared in 27 games and started eight times, before bypassing his remaining eligibility and signing the Yankees contract.
New York officials projected him to be the starting third baseman by 2003 or 2004, but the Yankees recently acquired Aaron Boone from Cincinnati to play the position and hope to keep him for the long-term. That move may have helped convince Henson that his athletic future did not include pinstripes.
Entering the Monday finale (the Clippers were eliminated from the playoff chase over the weekend), Henson was hitting .234 in 133 games, with 40 doubles, two triples, 14 home runs and 78 RBI. He had 113 hits and had struck out 122 times in 483 official plate appearances. Last season, his first full year in the minors, he hit .240, with 18 home runs, 65 RBI and 151 strikeouts.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/colum..._len&id=1607111
This would be a good pick up at the QB position for the Cowboys. This was also a real smart move by the Texans, spend a low pick on him and if he comes back to football, trade him for a top pick. Smart Move.
However, the Texans CANNOT trade the rights for an actual player. His rights can only be traded for draft picks.
So could Henson be the possible solution to the Cowboys woes at QB?