AFC Rumors: Texans, Jets, Fitzpatrick

On Monday, Texans owner Bob McNair said that fates of head coach Bill O’Brien and GM Rick Smith are not tied to the success or failure of new quarterback Brock Osweiler, as Tania Ganguli of ESPN.com tweets. Earlier this month, Osweiler agreed to leave the Broncos for a four-year, $72MM contract with Houston. Osweiler 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.

Here’s more out of the AFC:

• Head coach Todd Bowles says the Jets have discussed an internal deadline to get an answer from Ryan Fitzpatrick but “right now, we’re not close to that,” (Twitter link via Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports).
• The Jets do have contingency plans if Fitzpatrick goes elsewhere, Bowles says. “You better have a Plan A, B, and C,” he said (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com).
• Bowles said Geno Smith “matured a lot last year,” adding “he’s one of the options if Fitz doesn’t sign back,” (Twitter link via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com).
• When asked about D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Bowles said, “Right now, he’s on our team,” (Twitter link via Cimini). The offensive lineman had an up-and-down year in 2015, so Bowles is understandably non-committal when it comes to him.
• Jaguars coach Gus Bradley says the franchise has a five-year plan to construct a team with proper salary-cap management so they can afford their younger players’ second contracts (Twitter link via Mike DiRocco of ESPN.com).
• Colts coach Chuck Pagano admitted that there is some concern regarding the team’s depth at wide receiver (Twitter link via Stephen Holder of Indy Star). Right now, T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief, and Phillip Dorsett are the team’s unquestioned top three receivers.