Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib praised General Manager John Elway on Monday night for making the right decision at quarterback.
Talib said after the broncos beat the Texans that it’s clear that Trevor Siemian is a better quarterback than Brock Osweiler, who left Denver for Houston this offseason. And Talib noted that the Texans gave Osweiler a four-year, $72 million contract, while Siemian is playing on a four-year, $2.3 million contract.
“If you look at it overall, [Elway] saved a bunch of money. And Trev is a great quarterback, man. He’s better than Brock in my eyes. So it’s a win-win situation,” Talib told USA Today.
Of course, Elway wasn’t exactly perfect on the quarterback front: He did offer Osweiler a contract this offseason, reportedly for four years and $64 million. And Elway also traded for Mark Sanchez with the expectation that Sanchez would beat out Siemian for the starting job. That didn’t work out, and Sanchez was released before the start of the regular season.
Still, it’s clear that the Broncos ultimately got it right at quarterback: Anyone would rather have Siemian for $600,000 a year than Osweiler for $18 million a year. Talib is probably right that Siemian is better than Osweiler, and he’s certainly right that Osweiler shouldn’t be making 30 times as much money as Siemian. The Texans are probably asking themselves right now why they were willing to pay Osweiler more than Elway, the G.M. who knew him best, was willing to pay.