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When Rand Getlin informed the world that your Houston Texans had pried Brock Osweiler away from the Denver Broncos earlier today, the question shifted to what kind of contract it took. We soon learned that it was a four-year contract worth a total of $72,000,000.00, which begat the question of how much of that money was guaranteed. That query was answered with a figure of $37,000,000.00. Cool, but how did the Texans structure the contract? Was it in such a way that the team maintained flexibility in the event that Osweiler isn't the savior under center Houston hopes he'll be?
Tonight, thanks to Tom Pelissero, we can answer that question in the affirmative. Feast your eyes on the terms of Brock Osweiler's contract with the Texans.
Osweiler gets $21M in 2016 ($12M signing bonus, $5M roster bonus, $4M salary). His $16M base salary in 2017 is also fully guaranteed.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 10, 2016
The rest of Osweiler's money is non-guaranteed: $18M salary in 2018, $4M roster bonus trigger due March 2019 and $13M salary in 2019.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 10, 2016
That puts Brock Osweiler's cap numbers at: $12 million in 2016, $19M in 2017, $21M in 2018 and $20M in 2019.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 10, 2016
Every last cent of the $37,000,000.00 the Texans have guaranteed Brock Osweiler will be paid in 2016 and 2017. That means, heaven forbid, this thing doesn't work out, they can cut ties with him after the 2017 season without having anything but a prorated portion of his signing bonus hit their cap in 2018 or 2019. That's huge.
It also bears mention to note how (relatively) low Osweiler's cap hit is for 2016. That gives the team additional flexibility to make moves we may not have thought they could make after the initial flurry of signings.
No team's salary cap management is perfect, and the Texans have surely had egg on their faces in past cap dealings, but there's a reason we have a "Chris Olsen Knows What He's Doing" tag around these parts. This is strong work. Kudos to Olsen for crunching the numbers to ensure the Texans got their man without sacrificing their future.