Texans are the big winner in the Brock Osweiler trade with the Browns

In a shocking move, the Houston Texans traded quarterback Brock Osweiler to the Cleveland Browns just before free agency officially began Thursday. On paper, everybody wins.

The Texans gave the Browns second- and sixth-round picks in addition to Osweiler, and the Browns gave Houston a fourth-round pick in return. The Browns needed a quarterback, and they got a veteran with experience. But the biggest winner in this deal is the Texans.

When Houston signed Osweiler to a four-year, $72 million contract with $37 million guaranteed last offseason, they expected him to be the answer the team had been looking for at quarterback for years. He wasn’t.

Osweiler finished the season with 2,957 passing yards and 15 touchdowns, with 16 interceptions. He was benched late in the season for backup Tom Savage, but returned to the starting role when Savage sustained a concussion.

It’s understandable why the Texans wanted to move on from Osweiler, but his contract made doing so unpalatable. Had Houston cut him, Osweiler would have been owed his $16 million salary for 2017, as well as the $9 million remaining on his deal in guaranteed money.

Now Houston is on the hook for just $9 million, while Cleveland absorbs Osweiler’s $16 million salary for this season. The Texans are also now free to pursue better options at quarterback, like Tony Romo and Jay Cutler.

While the Texans gave up a second-round pick and a sixth-round pick in the deal, they gained a fourth-rounder, and Houston’s biggest needs are on the offensive side of the ball. This year’s draft is much stronger and deeper for defensive players than offensive players. They should be able to get an impact player with that fourth-round pick.

The Brock Osweiler experiment in Houston failed miserably, but despite giving him a ridiculous contact, the Texans managed to emerge relatively unscathed from the deal.