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Brock Oswieler signed with the Houston Texans to be their franchise quarterback, and he was paid a franchise quarterback-caliber contract. But in his first season in Houston, Osweiler has only disappointed, struggling in Bill O’Brien’s offense until his benching in mid-December. His future is unclear, but the number stands tall: Osweiler signed with the Texans on a four-year deal worth up to $72 million.
Now, only two years of that contract are guaranteed. But for the 2016 season, where Osweiler was the lowest-rated starting QB according to Pro Football Focus, Osweiler banked $21 million. He’s guaranteed $16 million next season, but the next two seasons are not guaranteed. In those last two years he is scheduled to make base salaries of $18 and $13 million respectively.
It’s a solid salary for a franchise quarterback. The problem was that Osweiler signed the contract with just seven career starts to his name. He has a playoff win as Texans starting quarterback, but has been criticized throughout the season for his inaccuracy.
And then there’s Tom Brady. After Week 17, Pro Football Focus determined that Brady was not only the highest-rated quarterback (99.3) of the season, but he was the highest-rated quarterback in the history of PFF’s rating system. Brady tweaked his contract in the offseason, and will make less in salary than Osweiler over the next two season.
Brady’s four-year deal is valued at $60 million, and took less money for 2016 and 2017 than he was originally owed. With a signing bonus worth $28 million, Brady took less money in salary. That helped him during his four-game suspension, when he lost significantly less from game checks. He would have lost over $2 million under his old contract, but instead lost less than $250,000.
Brady is taking less, but his career earnings are obviously much higher. Even before the new deal, Brady’s net worth is an estimated $120 million.