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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. 
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.
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 Nerdy Football’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.
