Posts: 2,906
Threads: 166
Joined: Jan 2013
It's been my understanding that all of Osweiler's $16 million salary this season is fully guaranteed. When he signed, it was a 4-year, $72M deal with about $37M guaranteed, but all of that was frontloaded into the first two years: $21M in 2016 (a $12M signing bonus, a $4M 2016 salary, and a $5M 2016 roster bonus) and this year's $16M salary. His last two years are non-guaranteed.
When he was traded, it looks like the Texans had to eat a prorated chunk of Osweiler's signing bonus as dead money toward their 2017 cap. Because it was a 4-year deal, I think the Texans counted $3 million of it toward last year's cap and would have done the same for 2017, 2018, and 2019, but by trading him, they had to eat those consequences in one go. Thus, the $9M in dead money on the spotrac link. (Or, at least, that's how I think that works. I'm not super confident that I'm right, so I'm happy to be corrected.)Â
But as it relates to Hogan, if the Browns can't find a trade partner for Osweiler, it's entirely possible that they just cut him and eat the $16 million (what many expected to be the plan when they traded him in the first place, since Cleveland is awash in cap space and can spare it), perhaps keeping Hogan as the 3rd QB. A better idea might be to keep all 4 guys, stashing Hogan on the practice squad, and have Osweiler as the backup, ready to trade him to a team that loses its starter to injury in the early going but whose backup isn't yet ready. But with Kizer being named the starter, Hogan's roster spot would get a lot less tenuous if they could find a home for Osweiler.Â
