DOOMSDAY PREDICTION
Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report did a breakdown of every major potential quarterback who could factor into the free agency landscape over the next month. What their situation is on their current teams and then offered a prediction as to what will likely happen to them once the year goes active. There were plenty of surprises.
Tyrod Taylor will end up with the New York Jets. Jay Cutler will take his place with the Buffalo Bills. Colin Kaepernick challenges for the starting job in Denver and Jimmy Garoppolo stays in New England. The biggest surprise though, and most chilling for Bears fans, is what he had in mind for Brock Osweiler.
Plenty of eyebrows were raised when the Houston Texans signed four-year Denver Broncos backup quarterback Brock Osweiler to a monster contract in the 2016 offseason (four years, $72 million), mainly because the 26-year-old had just seven career starts under his belt.
But that goes to show how desperate teams get in search of stud quarterbacks, and it might indicate that Houston could be willing to move on from Osweiler after just one stinky season. Osweiler was the second-lowest-rated qualified passer in 2016, and the Texans know they have Super Bowl-level talent elsewhere.
Osweiler’s big contract probably isn’t tradable, and the team will owe him $16 million regardless in 2017. Still, the Texans have a decent amount of cap space, and they’re likely desperate enough to swallow that and give someone like (Tony) Romo a shot.
Prediction: The Texans go all in on Romo. Osweiler signs a one-year deal with the Bears, reuniting with John Fox.
AVOID THE QUICKSAND
Yes, it’s a one-year deal but just the idea of bringing Osweiler in is unnerving. It’s not like Fox has had a ton of success bringing in players he used to coach from other teams. Osweiler would be a pointless addition considering his track record to date. Understand that this man completed just 59% of his passes in 2016. This despite an NFL rule book clearly skewed towards helping the passing game thrive. Then of course there’s the laundry list of ugly performances.
Nothing about the guy signals somebody worth having at the quarterback position. Yes, even as a backup. He just isn’t good. Why open up the franchise to even the conversation of him actually playing games in navy blue and orange? It’s not worth it.
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