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There have been numerous instances of big free agent signings flopping in new cities with new coaches and new expectations. Yet that didn’t prevent one Brock Osweiler from leaving a competitive contract offer on the table with the Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos and signing with the middling Houston Texans instead. Aqib Talib was quick to point out that the grass isn’t always greener during his ESPN Radio appearances on Monday, telling Russillo and Kanell:
“I did [talk to Osweiler about free agency]. What I do, I tell the young guys — young guys like Malik [Jackson] and Brock — I tell them it’s not always greener on the other side. I’ve been on the other side before. It may look like $100 million but after about two 3-13 seasons, that whole contract is gone. There’s a whole new staff in there. Once the guaranteed money is all gone, it ain’t really what it look like. I gave him fair warning, man.”
While it’s easy to say from a perspective that will never know what millions of dollars look like, it seems like the reported $16 million a year the Broncos were offering would have been a better bet for long-term success than the $18 million per season the Texans gave Osweiler. When a guy like Talib, who has made millions of dollars in his career, offers these thoughts, it carries a bit more weight.
The Broncos corner didn’t stop there with his critique on Osweiler. When asked about the QB’s “hurt feelings” when the Broncos turned back to Peyton Manning during their Super Bowl run, Talib offered this gem:
“If you’re a backup quarterback, then that’s your job title. You back up and when the starter comes back, you back, backup again.”
It’s so true. How quickly perception gets warped in this “what have you done for me lately” world we live in. There was once a time when the starter couldn’t lose his job due to injury, and the fact that the Broncos stuck to this philosophy with an all-time great and it ended up winning them a Super Bowl should only further validate such an outlook.
The moral of this particular story won’t reveal itself until a few years down the line when either the Broncos falter without Osweiler while the Texans thrive with him, or vice versa. What it doesn’t take a genius to figure out is that the QB who had never done anything in the league leaving a great situation for an average one over a couple million dollars per season that may never even come to be is a rookie move, plain and simple. Talib is dead-on with his assessment.
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