It’s no secret that Bill O’Brien and Brock Osweiler didn’t see eye to eye a few times during the quarterback’s tenure with the Houston Texans.
So it’s not surprising that an altercation involving the two in Week 17 was the final straw that broke the camel’s back in terms of Osweiler’s failed stay in Houston.
In Week 17 of the 2016 NFL season, Osweiler began the game holding a clipboard on the bench while Tom Savage started. Then Savage took a shot to the head that took him out of the game, and Osweiler was forced into action. After halftime, he was told he’d be finishing the game, with Savage being placed in the NFL’s concussion protocol.
He didn’t take that news well, according to a report, and got into a heated argument with O’Brien.
“Osweiler, per the source, reacted negatively, telling O’Brien in the visiting coach’s office at Nissan Stadium in Nashville that he’s only playing Osweiler because O’Brien needs him,” wrote Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. ” [Editor’s note: That’s sort of how football depth charts work.] An argument ensued, voices were raised. At one point, it’s believed that Osweiler got up to walk away and O’Brien threw out an arm to stop him. That prompted Osweiler to act as if he were being ‘held hostage,’ a claim that he would repeat (per the source) in the days after the game.”
As noted by Florio, Bryant McFadden of 120 Sports has said Osweiler and O’Brien got into a “physical confrontation that got ugly,” which a claim the parties involved have tried to squash.
“It was physical,” McFadden said. “It was physical. The players and coaches had to restrain O’Brien and Brock.”
Whether it got physical or not, this altercation was the moment that sealed Osweiler’s fate. The moment that the organization decided to move on, even if it meant eating Osweiler’s $16 million guaranteed money for the 2017 season.
Of course, Houston ended up essentially selling that salary to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a second-round pick and a little more (details here) as free agency kicked into high gear on Thursday. It’s not a cheap course of action, either, and we’ll be watching closely to see what Sashi Brown and Co. do with that pick.