Bill O’Brien refuses to commit to Brock Osweiler as Texans’ starter
Less than a year after giving him $37 million in guaranteed money, the Houston Texans sound ready to make Brock Osweiler earn their quarterback job.
Coach Bill O’Brien refused to commit to Osweiler as his 2017 starter in his year-end news conference Monday.
Bill O'Brien said it's too early to know if Brock Osweiler will be the starting QB next season because they have a lot of evaluating to do.
— Sarah Barshop (@sarahbarshop) January 16, 2017
Houston is likely stuck with Osweiler on the roster whether they like it or not. It would cost $25 million for the team to release him, so that’s not on the table, and no team would have any interest in trading for his contract, which features a $19 million cap hit for 2017.
That contract didn’t stop the Texans from benching Osweiler late in the season, and if Tom Savage impresses in camp, he likely has a real shot to win the job. Houston wanted a franchise quarterback and paid an unproven Osweiler to be one. He hasn’t been, and they’ll be paying for it in both the literal and figurative sense for quite some time.