The Browns traded for quarterback Brock Osweiler not because they wanted Osweiler (based on their current depth chart maybe they should) but because they wanted the second-round pick that the Texans surrendered to get Osweiler and his $16 million guaranteed salary off the books. The Browns are now trying to do the same thing.
Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Browns hope to trade Osweiler. If they can’t, they’ll cut him.
Per Cabot, the Browns are willing to send Osweiler and a fifth-round pick for a third-round pick. They also hope that the new team will absorb up to half of Osweiler’s salary.
It’s a long shot at best. If a deal like that could have been done, the Texans would have done it before unloading the full $16 million and giving up a second-round pick. If the Browns hope to trade Osweiler and dump part of his salary, they probably will have to give up a pick or two, too.
And so the much more likely outcome is that Osweiler will be cut. While Cabot suggests that the Browns could save roughly $4 million in offsets based on the contract he signs on the open market, why would any team offer more than the $775,000 veteran minimum? Osweiler still will make $16 million, regardless of what his next team pays. Why should that team, or Osweiler, try to do the Browns a favor?
Potential suitors, based on past relationships, continue to be the Broncos (John Elway, Mike Moore), Bears (John Fox), Dolphins (Adam Gase), and Bills (Rick Dennison). Two days after the trade that sent Cleveland, however, the has been no buzz regarding any team wanting to get Osweiler on its roster.