The Denver Broncos decided it was not in their best interests to overpay quarterback Brock Osweiler. The Houston Texans decided it was in theirs, and they made Osweiler potentially $72 million richer as free agency opened Wednesday.
Yes, $72,000,000. That's a lot of zeroes.
Other notable middle-of-the-road and/or free agent and/or overpaid QBs took notice, and took to Twitter to celebrate.
Kirk Cousins
@bosweiler17 YOU LIKE THAT! Happy for ya!
— Kirk Cousins (@KirkCousins8) March 9, 2016
Cousins has plenty of that to like, as Osweiler's contract confirms that he's likely going to get paid as well. His franchise tag carries a price of close to $20 million already, but we all know NFL players long for those long-term deals. Cousins just needs to make his 2016 season a repeat of 2015 and he'll surely get paid - more than Osweiler.
Matt Flynn
Wow I know I'm going to get killed for this and I don't have a lot of room to talk, but this latest QB contract is unbelievable........
— Matt Flynn (@mflynn3) March 9, 2016
This tweet is even more hilarious. Flynn notoriously signed a three-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks after the 2012 season that was to net him around $20 million. After seven starts. The similarities between Osweiler's situation now and Flynn's then are actually quite remarkable.
At the time, it was considered crazy to sign someone so inexperienced to that much money, but most Broncos fans would have welcomed Osweiler to stick around for that type of contract. With the salary cap ballooning and the QB market bullish, Osweiler can make up to three times what Flynn could have earned, only three years later.
Both QBs tweeted all in good fun.
Twitter is so great.. Pure entertainment!
— Matt Flynn (@mflynn3) March 9, 2016