Texans Sign Brock Osweiler To Four-Year Deal

THURSDAY, 3:46pm: The Texans have formally announced the Osweiler signing, introducing him today a press conference.

WEDNESDAY, 2:31pm: Osweiler got $37MM guaranteed from Houston on a four-year deal, according to Broncos players that spoke with Renck (on Twitter). In total, it’s a four-year, $72MM contract, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (link).

2:28pm: Teammates are hearing that Osweiler got a four-year deal from the Texans with a serious guarantee in money, Troy Renck of The Denver Post tweets.

Meanwhile, a 49ers source insists that the team has no interest in trading quarterback Colin Kaepernick despite reported interest from the Broncos, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets.

2:22pm: Osweiler’s deal will likely come around the $16MM/yr range, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets. Denver offered $13MM originally were willing to move a bit higher, but it sounds like the Texans edged them out by a considerable amount.

Photo courtesy of @ProFootballRumors on Instagram

2:09pm: It appears neither of the two quarterbacks that helped the Broncos reach and win the Super Bowl this past season will be returning to Denver for the 2016 campaign. According to Rand Getlin of the NFL Network (Twitter link), Brock Osweiler had reached an agreement in principle with the Texans. The news comes on the heels of Peyton Manning‘s retirement announcement.

The Texans finished 24th in offensive DVOA last season, and while it’s hard to place all the blame for that ranking on the shoulders of Brian Hoyer, there’s no question that the Texans could benefit from the addition of Osweiler. For a long time, the belief has been that the Texans are a “quarterback away” from becoming a legitimate threat. Now, we’ll find out if that’s really the case. Despite the struggles in their passing game, it should be noted that the Houston’s passing attack actually rated better in DVOA than its running game did. Signing Osweiler goes a long way towards fixing the problem, but it’s not the only issue that needs to be addressed.

Earlier this month, the Broncos reportedly offered Osweiler a three-year deal worth roughly $39MM. The Texans, ostensibly, have topped that offer. The Texans have long been expected to make a “competitive” offer to Osweiler. Per reports, $15-16MM was the figure Osweiler was targeting and it will be interesting to see where his contract falls.

With Osweiler off to Houston, Robert Griffin III is on the Broncos’ list of replacement quarterbacks, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). RG3 could be visiting Denver this week, he adds.

With Osweiler now in the fold, the Texans will likely release one-time starter Brian Hoyer, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Hoyer, 30, was set to enter the second year of a two-year deal, and while he has a base salary of $4MM, none of it is guaranteed. Given that his gameday roster bonuses would also be cleared out, Hoyer’s release would save Houston nearly $5MM in cap space. Hoyer wasn’t awful last season, as he completed about 61% of his passes for 17 touchdowns against just nine interceptions. Still, Hoyer did finish 20th in Football Outsiders’ DYAR metric.

It’s hard to judge Osweiler’s value as a whole, given that he’s started only seven games during his four-year career, but the demand of the open market is what dictates the price. Of course, there are not a whole lot of capable quarterbacks available in free agency and the trade market never offers rock solid signal callers either. In Osweiler, the Texans have added a promising young quarterback who showed glimpses of promise in his time on the field in 2015.

Osweiler, predictably, was rated as PFR’s No. 1 free agent quarterback for the 2016 offseason. Overall, we slated Osweiler as the third-best free agent available, behind defensive linemen Olivier Vernon and Malik Jackson.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.