Brock Osweiler is calling it a career.
Osweiler, the quarterback who had stints as a starter for the Broncos, Texans and Dolphins, told Mike Klis of 9 News in Denver that he is retiring.
“I’m extremely grateful for the time I did receive playing in the National Football League,’’ Osweiler said. “The experiences I did have, people I did meet, relationships I did make -- I’m not going to dwell on the things that didn’t happen in my career. Being a kid from Kalispell, Montana, playing for the Denver Broncos, winning a Super Bowl, having the opportunity to sign a second contract – when you look back on it, I couldn’t be more appreciative. It was great.”
A 2012 second-round pick of the Broncos, Osweiler spent three seasons backing up Peyton Manning before becoming the starter for four games in his fourth season, after Manning got hurt. But Osweiler was benched in place of Manning at the end of the regular season, and Manning was the quarterback during the Broncos’ run to the Super Bowl that postseason.
In the offseason Osweiler left to sign a lucrative contract with the Texans. That contract turned out to be so bad that a year later the Texans gave the Browns a second-round draft pick just to take Osweiler’s contract off their hands.
Osweiler never played for the Browns, briefly returned to the Broncos and then signed with the Dolphins. He’s been out of football this year.
Although Osweiler had some brief success in helping the Broncos earn home-field advantage in the playoffs before they won the Super Bowl after the 2015 season, his career will be remembered more for the fact that Denver passed on Russell Wilson, Nick Foles and Kirk Cousins to draft him, for his disappointing time with the Texans, and for the unusual circumstances of his trade to the Browns.