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Brock Osweiler deal still haunting Texans, as they pay a ton to draft Deshaun Watson

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer

Brock Osweiler isn’t on the Houston Texans‘ roster anymore, but the Texans are still paying for his horrendous contract last season.

The Texans gave Osweiler a four-year deal worth $18 million a year a year ago. Osweiler was so bad, the Texans basically gave the Cleveland Browns a second-round pick in a trade just to take Osweiler off their hands, then watched presumed target Tony Romo retire and take a job with CBS. The Texans went shopping with the Browns again Thursday, sending next year’s first-round pick and the No. 25 pick in this year’s draft to the Browns for the No. 12 pick, where they took Clemson’s Deshaun Watson.

So because Osweiler failed, the Texans sent their first- and second-round picks in next year’s draft to fix the problem, and now have a quarterback in Watson who is an intriguing prospect, but far from a sure thing.

Watson does step into an interesting situation. The Texans have a very good defense, a true No. 1 receiver in DeAndre Hopkins and a legit running back in Lamar Miller. Watson will compete with Tom Savage to start right away, and he’s in a good situation to win the job given his positive experience in college.

No matter what Watson does in the NFL, part of his football legacy will always be leading Clemson to back-to-back College Football Playoff title games, and leading a comeback win against Alabama this past season. If you like players who have succeeded when the lights are the brightest, Watson was the smart pick. There are questions about Watson’s arm and his ability to be a top-flight NFL quarterback, but the Texans are gambling that he’ll fit just fine.

Watson is the Texans’ latest attempt to fix the quarterback situation and become more than an eight- or nine-win team. The last try at quarterback was so bad, the Texans have wrecked their 2018 draft to make up for it. Watson better be worth it. At least the bar wasn’t set very high by Houston’s last quarterback.

The Texans gave up next year's first-round pick to move up and take Deshaun Watson 12th overall. (AP)
The Texans gave up next year’s first-round pick to move up and take Deshaun Watson 12th overall. (AP)

More NFL draft coverage from Yahoo Sports:

• Dan Wetzel: How Roger Goodell saved the NFL draft
• Browns take Garrett first overall, and he might be the savior they need
• Bears pull off NFL draft’s first stunner, trade up for Trubisky
• Jaguars put Bortles on watch with their first-round pick
• How NFL prospects Butt and Lamp used names to cash in
• Most Hall of Famers are drafted with what pick?

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!