In March, the Browns bought a second-round pick for $16 million. Nothing since then has changed the fundamental nature of that transaction.
Sure, it appeared at times along the way that maybe, just maybe, the needless appendage to the purchase-and-sale would earn a spot on the roster, maybe even the starting job. Ultimately, however, the Browns did with quarterback Brock Osweiler what they were expected to do with him the moment he came through the door.
Immediately after Cleveland’s HEY WE GOT A SECOND-ROUND PICK (also brock osweiler) move, multiple reports emerged that they’d try to re-trade him and, if unable to do so, they’d simply cut him. At some point, however, the Browns realized that they need four quarterbacks to distribute reps during the offseason program, training camp, and the preseason. So they kept him around, getting value for the $16 million they owe him anyway and hoping that someone else would develop a need for him.
If Jay Cutler hadn’t unretired to join Miami, maybe Dolphins coach Adam Gase would have been interested in an Osweiler reunion. Regardless, a trade never came to fruition and, as a result, the Browns did what everyone expected them to do all along.
Osweiler immediately becomes a free agent, and with the Browns on the hooks for $16 million, don’t be surprised if at best someone offers the league minimum for a player with five years of experience: $775,000. That would leave the Browns on the hook for the balance of $15.225 million.
Either way, the Browns ended up with precisely what they wanted in March: A second-round pick for $16 million. They decided they’d carry him on the 90-man roster, but the Browns were never going to have a place for him on the final 53.