This is a recap of I'm giving from memory of the Denver sideline guy who was on 790 this morning. It's a narrative buster and I think it was very interesting. If a mod wants to merge it, so be it. First of all I didn't catch his name so sorry for that. Highlights below: 1) Make no mistake, the Broncos wanted Osweiler back and saw him as the guy to replace Manning 2) He heard all along that the Broncos were expecting to pay $14 million, but the number jumped after Sam Bradford's deal 3) Players loved Osweiler. One guy told him privately off the record that he would hate to be the one who made the decision to bring Peyton back in 4) No one in the organization expected Manning to be back on the field after he got hurt. He wasn't playing well and the team liked Osweiler. 5) Kubiak had kept telling people that Peyton was his guy, but no one, including Osweiler believed him 6) In the game he was benched, it was weird. Team was just completely without energy/effort. The move to Peyton was similar to a hockey coach pulling the goalie to fire up the team. Osweiler was hurt and a lot of guys couldn't believe it happened. 7) There were soft rumblings after the season that Osweiler was done with Denver because of the benching but also because of the offense. Said that Peyton also had issues with the offense. There was hope it would be healed by the superbowl win, but obviously not. 8) Broncos held off on negotiating with Osweiler after season because Peyton's agent is in the same office. They didn't want to make it look like they were forcing out Peyton. This also added to the issues as Osweiler didn't feel wanted. 9) When it came down to it, it wasn't about the money and that became clear to the Broncos. Osweiler wanted out because of the bench, the offense and the negotiations. The Broncos wanted to keep him. On Osweiler the talent: -Not going to pretend he isn't good just because he left. The organization was very excited about him and thought he was going to be THE GUY. People in the organization are angry he left. -Also not going to pretend that he is a finished product. Holds onto the ball too long. His speed at processing his reads and getting the ball out is too slow right now. Doesn't have the pocket clock that he needs. -Concern about getting 3 injuries in 7 games that were a result of him taking hits from holding the ball too long. This is the one concern people/scouts had. Needs to speed up his clock. -Not a finished product. Fans in Houston need to patient. OBrien has a lot of coaching to do to get this guy to a finished product. -A good QB right now, needs coaching to become a franchise QB -Players around him really liked him, responded well to him. How would Peyton feel about this? -Probably thinks Osweiler did the right thing. -Playing in Denver is very hard. They booed Manning off the field this year. -Not a fan of Kubiak's offense at all. Osweiler does right thing to go to another offense. -Good for him to get as much money as he could. Broncos forced him to take a paycut, wouldn't blame Osweiler for getting money. Editorial note: So much for the guy saying "Have to earn the freedom at the line with Kubiak." As a head coach, Kubiak has never relinquished control. Yes, as an offensive coordinator in Baltimore he gave Flacco more freedom than he had given Schaub, but he wasn't the head coach. Flacco had the support of Harbaugh. Manning had serious issues with Kubiak over the offense and Kubiak didn't "trust" Manning, there is no way he was going to "trust" Osweiler!
Thanks for sharing. I just asked about this interview. Still classier than cheering when your own team's QB gets injured.
makes me feel better but i was on board with the signing regardless. i think it was obvious denver didn't want to let him go, not only does he have obvious potential but there are ZERO comparable alternatives to replace him. that's why the salary means little to me - the Texans had NO alternative if they wanted to be competitive next year. good recap.
thanks for the recap, interesting and yes, this! I don't understand the issues with salary. If you're ok with the move for Osweiler, you can't have a salary concern. You have to see the conditions of the market each year. We're in a place now where Case Keenum is getting a high tender and $3M in STL--there is severe scarcity at the position.
And people need to stop pretending rookies are "free" - granted, they don't cost $37MM guaranteed (although they *did* not too terribly long ago) but there are ancillary costs. For instance, would you rather have... best rookie QB available (at #22) or Osweiler + best player available (at #22)? Want to secure Goff or Wentz? Ok... Goff/Wentz or Osweiler + 2-4 additional draft resources you'd still have because you didn't have to trade up for Goff/Wentz? Every indication is that the deal is heavily frontloaded - Osweiler essentially gets two years to make the leap; perfect. If he gets there, he instantly becomes a bargain. If not, you go back to the drawing board with minimal damage. Also, the other "cost" here is time... Maybe a rookie hits the ground running and this is a 10-win team this year. But it's far more likely Osweiler is ready before a rookie would have been - so you don't theoretically waste a year of Hopkins, Watt, etc. If he's just... good, this team will win 9+ games.
Eh, Schaub was mentally an invalid by that point. We were all just waiting for the physical form to match the mental, since the coaching staff obviously wasn't going to let him sit until that happened.
Savage is licking his chops at "getting 3 injuries in 7 games" ....what I love about the Osweiler deal is that all guaranteed money will be paid out in the in the first 2 years. Basically, we are stuck with him for 2 years. If it works out, great, we have 2 more years. If not, not a huge let down, as our alternative would've been a rookie QB (who probably wouldn't have been good for at least 2 years if not longer) or Hoyer/Fitzpatrick (and we know they are limiting and offer next to zero hope for going deep into the playoffs). The texans had to swing for the fences and they did just that. While I don't know much about Brock nor do his stats in limited time tell us a lot, I'm still excited the Texans think so highly of him and obviously the Broncos did too. This is hopefully (finally!...no really...FINALLY) the QB to lead us to the Super Bowl.
Thanks for posting... this really was the "perfect storm" of an acquisition. Very much in the similar scope of how the Saints lucked into Brees, or even how the Colts cut ties with Manning to begin with. Most of the time, you have to be lucky to obtain a young QB with potential... and that includes having a high draft pick in years that Luck, Manning, Newton, and Elway were available in the draft (vs. guys like Carr, Jamarcus, Bradford, Couch). Texans had a number of things going for them here as well... mainly that the Broncos were unable to franchise Brock due to Von, that he happened to have been benched in part because a freakin HOF/GOAT candidate QB was not just going to go down without a fight (and that's part of what makes those guys great... supreme competitiveness/drive), and that the Broncos actually did win the SB last year (which rightly creates a sense of complacency/confidence that could cloud judgement when it comes to retaining players). And perhaps Brock has a semblance of that drive as well... which is why he didn't appreciate the benching, and wants to start fresh on his own team (rather than riding the coattails, or be a Elway/Kubiak puppet).
Thanks for posting; we really need to address the OL given the slowness of Brock's clock but that should get better here. All this stuff Elway is spinning is what I thought in the first place; it's just BS
USA Today put us in the LOSER category and Denver in the WINNER category (even though they lost not only BO, but Jackson and Travathan). See below link if you want to give this bozo page clicks... I don't recommend it. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/03/nfl...new-york-giants-houston-texans-brock-osweiler
Dumb article because it flat-out says that "Denver wasn't ready to invest franchise QB money in Brock"... which we all know isn't true. But it doesn't fit the media-driven narrative, so that is that.
I agree with your points and am on board with the move as at least there's a hope that Brock can at least be that top 10-15 guy that can lead the team to the Superbowl.... it's a hope, and you'd rather have an obvious top 10 guy, but that's not possible. The hope of a Goff/Wentz is probably a more exciting hope, on face value, but obviously requires a TON of resources to get there. So clearly, in light of that, this was a better move. All that said, your comparison above isn't apples to apples. In scenarios where they don't sign Brock, you need to add perhaps other free agents at similar salary levels / potential impact. So it's not Brock + 22 vs. rookie QB at 22. It's Brock +22 vs. rookie QB at 22 + other "impact" free agent signing. Just pointing that out. because the real, valid critcism of the move is the size of the contract. yes, it's front loaded and structured the best way they deemed feasible... but it's a huge contract for Brock based on his performance to date, etc. it just is.
I'm just constantly alarmed at how, under the guise of it being their opinion, a writer can simply state things that aren't true. Yes, most of that article is opinion... it's a column. But shouldn't their be journalistic repercussions from outright lying? And Nick... I hate being that guy but you're too good to use the R word.
Sorry for the double post. I should be better than to improperly use THEIR when critiquing someone's word choice.
The revisionist history is very very strong in the NFL all of a sudden just because we slightly overpaid what Denver was offering for Brock. Elway and the Broncos viewed Brock as the future not too long ago, but because we signed him "he's overpaid" (true, but we only paid 2m more per year than Denver), "not a franchise guy" (Maybe true, but Denver sure as hell viewed him as one). Elway wouldn't be so angry about losing him if he didn't think losing him doesn't hurt.
Prepare your body for the spin machine. Already reports out of Denver that Elway only drafted Osweiler because he was friends with his son, not because he was a big believer in him.
Sometimes, you really have to wonder - I mean: *really* wonder... While pronouncing the Broncos winners because they had the "fortitude" to not overpay Osweiler, the writer concludes: Yeah, except for the two defensive starters they lost earlier the same day? Is he aware that happened?... I mean, he's demonstrating an inability to properly process basic information. Nick isn't far off; there is literally a r****dation of thought happening there.
Sports journalism in the internet age is just wacky... it's like a contest to see who can get the hottest take out there the quickest. I'm just glad it's all preserved in its pristine glory for our robot overlords to laugh at a few centuries down the road.
