Why the Texans still weren't wrong to sign Osweiler

After dominating Monday night's matchup against their former quarterback, the Denver Broncos' front office could sleep soundly knowing they made the right decision not to re-sign Brock Osweiler.

While the Houston Texans likely tossed and turned more in their slumber, they shouldn't second-guess their much-scrutinized offseason signing.

Osweiler may not be the franchise quarterback head coach Bill O'Brien and the Texans were hoping for - he might not even be the passable backup the Broncos saw last season - but that still doesn't mean Houston was wrong to sign him.

Entering his third year as Texans head coach, coming off back-to-back nine-win seasons using six different players under center, supposed "quarterback guru" O'Brien needed to find a veteran starter. Excluding the most important position, he had a roster poised to take the division crown in a weak AFC South. With the pieces already in place, it was possible to make the argument that the Texans were a quarterback away from being Super Bowl contenders.

Looking back to March, J.J. Watt just grabbed his second straight Defensive Player of the Year award, Jadeveon Clowney was (correctly) expected to have his breakout season, and All-Pro ball magnet DeAndre Hopkins had finished a 1,521-yard season using four different quarterbacks. The Texans were about to land a high-quality replacement for Arian Foster in Lamar Miller and had eyes on adding more weapons at the draft.

With the clock ticking on O'Brien's tenure and the strength of Houston's roster, a rookie quarterback wasn't going to cut it, nor was there an obvious choice available. In retrospect, Dak Prescott would have been a nice pickup - but nobody, not even the Dallas Cowboys, knew he would be this good.

After Sam Bradford re-upped with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins franchise-tagged Kirk Cousins, the 6-foot-8, 25-year-old Super Bowl winner was the Texans' best (and essentially only) option.

Current league starters Ryan Fitzpatrick and Case Keenum were technically acquirable, but they'd each already had their shot as Texans starter in 2014, and bringing back either would have been too Cleveland Browns-esque to instill much team confidence.

Did the Texans pay too much for Osweiler? Yeah, they probably did, but that was the going rate for a man of his stature with his resume. There's really nothing Osweiler or the Texans could do about his limited sample size of just seven starts, but four years as Peyton Manning's understudy and experience on a championship roster had to be worth something. And with his ideal frame and status as a former second-round pick, the Texans weren't the only ones who thought he could be a legitimate starter.

Now that he's started as many games in Houston as in Denver, we have a fuller picture of what kind of passer Osweiler is:

In terms of Houston's financial commitment, Osweiler's annual average salary is likely only about $2 million higher than it should be. His $18-million annual earnings are tied with Tyrod Taylor and Tony Romo, with superior starters Matthew Stafford ($17.67M), Bradford ($17.5M), Alex Smith ($17M), and Andy Dalton ($16M) slotted behind him. The Texans can also get rid of Osweiler after just two seasons without much cap difficulty, so that big $72 million over four years may have been blown somewhat out of proportion.

If you want to argue Osweiler is not good enough to be an actual NFL starter, that's fine. In fact, there aren't many convincing rebuttals to the notion. Still, in a league where quarterbacks are everything and organisational patience is rare, you have to play the cards you've been dealt. While O'Brien may never find his ace in Houston, the Texans had to go all-in on a quarterback this offseason, and Osweiler was the lucky joker who cashed in.