Cleveland is making it clear it has no intention of keeping Brock Osweiler.
The last few days have been a wild start to free agency, and one of the more surprising transactions was the big trade made between the Browns and the Texans. After signing a four year, $72 million deal with Houston a year ago, Brock Osweiler was dealt on Thursday to Cleveland, along with a 2018 second round pick and a sixth round pick for the upcoming draft.
In exchange, Cleveland only had to give up a fourth round pick this year. For those of you who have explored the details, reports have announced that Cleveland solely made the trade to acquire the 2018 second round pick. Essentially, the team bought themselves some draft ammunition. Houston, meanwhile, got Osweiler’s miserable contract off of their books. Now, the Browns are looking to flip the quarterback to gain another valuable selection:
Nobody has more cap space in the league than Cleveland. Thus, the Browns had the flexibility to take on Osweiler’s contract in order to receive draft compensation. In such a QB-starved league, the organization will now attempt to see what they can salvage out of the tall gun slinger. According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com: “The Browns would also eat a portion of Osweiler’s $16 million contract, as much as half, sources say.” Cabot also acknowledges that if the Browns cannot trade Osweiler, they’ll simply cut him.
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Cleveland wisely took advantage of the fact Houston was desperate to part ways with Osweiler. Their abundance of cap space has now bought them valuable assets that they can use in a variety of ways. Speculation still remains that the Browns are pursuing New England’s Jimmy Garoppolo, so maybe these moves are premeditated to finally acquire a franchise quarterback, whether it be Jimmy G or someone else in the draft.