Bill O'Brien Comments on Brock Osweiler's Future as Texans' Starting QB

While Brock Osweiler is signed through the 2019 season, the Houston Texans may have doubts about his long-term future with the team after his underwhelming 2016 campaign. 

Texans head coach Bill O'Brien declined to give any assurances about Osweiler being the starting quarterback in 2017, according to Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com. He told reporters Monday he and the coaching staff will evaluate the situation in the offseason.

Osweiler said he knows he has a lot of work to do over the coming months, per Barshop: "There's going to be nobody that works harder this offseason to clean up our offensive issues and be better than we were coming up and in the future."

As ESPN's Andrew Brandt tweeted, the Texans aren't necessarily married to Osweiler for the full length of his current deal:

Houston has little choice but to keep the 26-year-old for next year, though. No team will be willing to trade anything of value for him, and releasing him is out of the question. Should the Texans cut Osweiler, he'd carry $25 million in dead money, compared to $6 million in cap savings, per Over the Cap.

While it would be far from ideal, making Osweiler the league's most expensive backup quarterback might be preferable to giving him the starting job.

He threw for 2,957 yards, 15 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in his first year with the team. Football Outsiders ranked him 33rd among 34 qualified quarterbacks in DYAR (defense-adjusted yards above replacement). In Houston's two playoff games, Osweiler went 37 of 65 for 366 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.

The 2016 season was supposed to be about Osweiler proving the Denver Broncos wrong for replacing him with Peyton Manning en route to their Super Bowl win and then letting him walk in free agency. Instead, he validated their concerns about potentially making him the full-time starting quarterback.

Benching Osweiler for the start of the 2017 season would mean admitting to a costly mistake from the Texans' perspective. But it's arguably a better alternative for Houston's playoff ambitions than expecting Osweiler to turn things around.