Bob McNair could have given Houston another Roger Clemens signing, a jolt that shook this sometimes sports sleepy town eyes wide open. That's what Nnamdi Asomugha would have represented if he walked onto the Texans practice field Sunday.

Nnamdi instantly would have become the most important athlete in Houston in this post-Yao Ming era — even if many people in the city had no idea how to pronounce his name only a few days ago.

He would have been Clemens cowboy-walking into the Astros clubhouse in 2004, here to save the day. Drayton McLane got to his only World Series with The Rocket and Nnamdi would have pulled McNair onto the Super Bowl stage before his supersized contract expired.

That's how important he is — and you can believe that Jerry Jones knows it. Don't be surprised if the Dallas Cowboys owner swoops in late to push Rex Ryan and the Jets aside to grab him some Nnamdi now. Now that the Texans have once again ceded the biggest prize.

Houston's NFL franchise got nervous, or cautious, or fiscally responsible — probably a combination of all three — and turned to the second-best cornerback in the free agent market rather than the No. 1 player available overall. They agreed to contract terms with Johnathan Joseph, ex-Cincinnati Bengal, for nearly $50 million — about $13 million less than a former University of Houston quarterback who has more career interceptions than touchdowns picked up on Thursday. Houston also added safety Danieal Manning for another $20 million, which still doesn't make up for no Nnamdi.

With a chance to marry Scarlett Johansson, the Texans settled for Marisa Miller. They let people think they were booking Chris Rock, only to switch to Louis C.K.

It's hard to feel too bad about that. Unless you think about what was lost.

The Texans shored up the worst secondary in pro football. They added the kind of piece that any team would be pumped to get — not just one with defensive backs capable of turning any sure win into a you-can't-believe-it loss.

So why does it feel so hollow?

Because Johnathan Joseph is no Nnamdi. Because as good as Joseph is, teams do not fear him. They will not throw away from Joseph at all costs, like they would with Nnamdi. No one will be naming an island after Joseph like they did with the Jets' Darrelle Revis.

Nnamdi is the only cornerback in the NFL in Revis' league, the only player in this free agent class who could instantly change a franchise. As Sports Illustrated's Peter King noted in this week's issue, Nnamdi is the "best free-agent corner since Deion Sanders in 1995."

You get a chance to sign a player like that once in a generation — if you're lucky and you play your cards right and things fall your way. The Texans and their seventysomething owner held that opportunity. By all indications, the Texans were the leader in the clubhouse for Asomugha.

But Nnamdi took too long to decide for the Texans liking. He made them nervous and well ... when the second-best DB available is willing to sign, for significantly less than what Nnamdi will get too, why not?

Why not make the safer, surer, more conservative move?

Because that's what the Texans always do. That's one of the big reasons this franchise has never made the playoffs. Houston takes the hard worker out of Wisconsin with an "endless motor" rather than the most disruptive player in college football because Nick Fairley is unpredictable and a little dangerous. Rick Smith, Gary Kubiak, Wade Phillips and McNair — all good, hard-working decent men (with as much vision as a first-year accountant) — end up with Joseph instead of Nnamdi.

It's still a good move. But it's the second-best move.

Bye-bye Superstar

Joseph excels in man-to-man coverage and considering all the holes Phillips is still going to have and try and fill on the rest of the defense, those skills figure to be leaned on. Joseph is younger than Nnamdi (27 compared to 30) and maybe he'll be able to make another breakthrough in Texas. He also went to McNair's university (South Carolina) making him the Texans' version of Felix Jones —let's just hope he doesn't get hurt as often as Jerry's school project.

This corner is also excited to be a Texan (who ever regrets leaving Cincinnati?)

But Joseph isn't Nnamdi. He doesn't bring an instant aura and a swagger (it's a quiet, well-grounded swagger with Nnamdi, but a swagger nonetheless) to the Texans the minute he walks into Reliant. In fact, a big part of Nnamdi's mystique is his do-good, soft-spoken approach with NFL veteran Jay Richardson calling him "the Barack Obama of defensive backs."

Yes, the Texans lost out on a star who would have owned this city in so many ways.

Houston didn't do anything wrong. The Texans needed a cornerback and they got a cornerback. Just not the cornerback. McNair spent plenty of money. Just not super crazy money. The team brass will be able to look at the fans and declare it, mission accomplished, straight faced and confident.

But in a way that almost makes it more frustrating. The Texans did just well enough. Again. It could be enough to push the Texans closer to the playoffs, maybe enough to miss out by a game (again) and allow Kubiak to keep his job (again), maybe even enough to squeak in. But it still doesn't make any team fear Houston.

Not like Nnamdi would.

This idea that the Texans could not have signed safety Danieal Manning as well if they had landed Nnamdi plays right into the defeatist, second-class thinking that many Houston fans still harbor. Who says they couldn't have Nnamdi and Manning instead of Joseph and Manning? McNair has the money and teams that trulyburn to win now — to win big — can make any salary cap work for the short term.

It's disappointing that many Texan fans are as unimaginative as the team's front office.

Is it so bad to want mystique and aura? Is it too much to ask to get the guy walking through the door? McNair had a chance to make a Roger Clemens or Charles Barkley-sized super splash. Instead, he and the Texans grabbed the next best thing.

It's sitting down to watch Curb Your Enthusiasm and getting Everybody Loves Raymond. It's not bad. Just not close to satisfying.

Second choice. First loser.