Is Brock Osweiler Deserving Of A Big Contract?

Brock Osweiler stepped in for the Denver Broncos and led the team to a 5-2 record while Peyton Manning was sidelined with an injury during the 2015 season. Though he lost his job to the veteran as the Broncos marched towards a Super Bowl title, the 25-year-old quarterback made an impression.

Now the Broncos appear willing to lock Osweiler up after making a “substantial” contract offer to the impending free agent. While the two sides are reportedly not close to a deal, it’s clear Denver wants him back, and the Houston Texans may also make him a big offer if he hits free agency.

While this is great for Osweiler, I don’t understand wht the fuss is over a guy who has just 305 NFL passing attempts and a career quarterback rating of 86.0.

Osweiler played pretty well when called upon during the 2015 season, but it’s not like he was an MVP-caliber guy. He completed 61.8 percent of his 275 attempts and threw for 1,967 yards, with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions. His Total QBR was 48.8, which ranked 24th in the NFL, and his quarterback rating of 86.4 tied Sam Bradford for 25th out of the 34 players who qualified.

For a first-year starter those numbers aren’t terrible, but they shouldn’t net Osweiler franchise quarterback money. At this point, he hasn’t earned that. When you glance at Denver head coach Gary Kubiak’s dismal record developing quarterbacks (see: Carr, David and Schaub, Matt) it should worry fans that he is on board with investing in a largely unproven commodity.

Frankly, the Broncos don’t have many options at this point and that may be why they are so hot to ink Osweiler to a substantial deal. He has some really nice physical tools and could certainly develop into a good NFL starter. I’m just not sure why there seems to be a rush to anoint him the next big thing.

Osweiler is almost certain to hit free agency on Wednesday to see what kind of offers he can get, which means the Broncos may have to pony up big time to retain him. I don’t think he’s worth a big contract at this point in his career.