Texans Trade Osweiler to Cleveland

The Browns had more than $100 million in salary cap space before Thursday, so it was worth it for them to take on Osweiler’s bloated contract in exchange for adding a second-round pick.

And, upon closer inspection, it’s a brilliant move for the Browns. Cleveland will owe Osweiler $16 million in 2017, but can part ways with the free agent bust after next season with no penalty.

Just like that, the Texans admitted their mistake with Osweiler and moved on with the least amount of damage: a sunk $37 million in Osweiler and a 2018 second round pick. If that could’ve been done, the Texans would’ve done it, they say. The damage done by Osweiler’s cap hit hardly limits what the Browns can do down the road. That’s exactly what the move was, a buyout of a contract.

The Browns have the capital to easily pull off a trade for Garoppolo.

For once, it seems like the Browns have made a prudent move for the future. If the Browns can’t find a suitor, the team will release him. The problem will be turning those picks into productive players.

It’s nice that the Browns keep accumulating draft picks, but they’ve been doing this for years and continue to whiff on their early picks. I can’t speak for coach or anyone else, but they’ve expressed that to me. Schefter reports Cleveland will likely try to trade Osweiler, though it remains uncertain how many suitors they’ll be for his services.

A fourth-round draft pick this year from Cleveland. Didn’t the Browns just acquire a quarterback?

Griffin signed a front-loaded two-year deal with the Browns after his visit with the Jets. He played well at times but went 0-8 as a starter and suffered two concussions.

As for Osweiler, he doesn’t fit Jackson’s criteria for his franchise quarterback: arm talent, processing speed and face-of-the-franchise ability. He ran for 190 yards and two more scores. he had a completion percentage of 59.2, and a quarterback rating of 72.5. The Broncos wanted to keep Osweiler a year ago, so they must see something in him.

There’s more: The Browns now have three quarterbacks: Cody Kessler, Kevin Hogan and Osweiler, but there are several ways that could change in the coming weeks and months.