At 6-7 and 240 pounds, quarterback Brock Osweiler made for an imposing figure on the football field after being drafted in the second round out of Arizona State by the Denver Broncos in 2012.
But, outside of a slate of games in 2015 when he replaced an injured Peyton Manning and helped spur the Broncos to the Super Bowl, Osweiler was very rarely able to impose his will upon opposing defenses.
The seven games that Osweiler replaced Manning for — in which he threw nine touchdowns compared to five interceptions and went 5-2 — were enough to inspire the Houston Texans to ink him to a four-year, $72 million contract with $36 million fully guaranteed.
Though he did help the Texans reach the playoffs the following season, despite throwing more interceptions (16) than touchdowns (15) while compiling an 8-6 record as a starter, Osweiler never came close to living up to his contract and was traded to Cleveland during the offseason. Then the Browns cut him.
From there, Osweiler went back to the Broncos and started a handful of games, going 0-4, before moving onto the Dolphins the following season and going 2-3 as a starter.
In a league where quarterbacks are completing more passes and compiling more yards than ever before, the 28-year-old finishes his career with a completion percentage below 60 percent and less than 7,500 passing yards with 57 yards and 31 interceptions.
However, Osweiler also finished with more than $41 million in career earnings, according to Spotrac. For a guy who only started 30 games and went 15-15, that’s a pretty great haul.
In the NFL, retired quarterback Sam Bradford is notorious for paychecks that far exceeded his production as he ended up making about $1.44 million per game on average and walked away with more than $130 million in total for 83 career starts (34-48-1).
Though Osweiler doesn’t live up to Bradford in total money, he nearly equals him on a per-game basis with an average salary of close to $1.36 million per start. Considering he only won half of his games, that figure is downright ridiculous and may make Osweiler the worst deal in the history of the NFL (besides Bradford).
He sounds like a nice guy though.
“I’m extremely grateful for the time I did receive playing in the National Football League,’’ Osweiler said in an interview with 9News. “The experiences I did have, people I did meet, relationships I did make — I’m not going to dwell on the things that didn’t happen in my career. Being a kid from Kalispell, Montana, playing for the Denver Broncos, winning a Super Bowl, having the opportunity to sign a second contract – when you look back on it, I couldn’t be more appreciative.”
Hard not to appreciate $40 million for 30 weeks of work.
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