The Texans were able to excise Brock Osweiler from their roster, leaving them with a pair of quarterbacks under contract and a spot on the depth chart that most believe they’d be happy to fill with Tony Romo.
Romo remains a member of the Cowboys, however, and there’s a chance his next stop might be in a broadcast booth, so the Texans may be moving forward with Tom Savage and Brandon Weeden. During an appearance on NFL Network, Texans coach Bill O’Brien didn’t talk about Romo, but did discuss Savage’s ability to be a capable starting quarterback.
Savage showed some of that late in the 2016 regular season before suffering a concussion led to Osweiler’s return to the lineup. That was the latest in a run of injuries for the 2014 fourth-round pick and his play last season didn’t set the world on fire outside of being a clear step up from Osweiler, but O’Brien remains a believer in what Savage brings to the table.
“Absolutely,” O’Brien said. “He came into some tough games, the Jacksonville game last year that we had to win. We were down in the game, he helped us come back. He helped us beat Cincinnati on Christmas Eve, which was a big game that we had to win to clinch the South. We knew we had to win because of what happened earlier in the day in our division. And he helped us win that game. He got injured, and that’s been kind of one of the things that’s happened to him. He’s been injured over the last three years of his career. But if you look at the history of the league, there’s a number of guys who have played that were injured early in their career. Tom is a smart guy, he can throw the ball really well, he knows our system and he’s a guy that we’re real excited about working with.”
Savage and Romo share a recent history of injuries, so the fourth-year player could still play a role for the Texans even if Romo shows up in the starting lineup. The draft could also bring another wrinkle to a quarterback room that’s been the biggest obstacle to major success during O’Brien’s run as Houston’s coach.