A year ago, Brock Osweiler was in high demand during NFL free agency despite only seven career starts. The quarterback rejected a starting position with the Super Bowl-champion Broncos to sign a four-year, $72 million contract ($37 million guaranteed) with the Texans.

What a difference a year makes for the NFL’s Underachiever of the Year.

The Texans won the AFC South last season, but that accomplishment was largely due to their defense. Osweiler, 26, had a mediocre season and did not give Houston owner Bob McNair a good return on his investment.

Osweiler threw a franchise-record 16 interceptions, was benched in Week 15 and reportedly had a locker room confrontation with coach Bill O'Brien in Week 17. The big signing, and McNair's investment, turned into a total bust, and Osweiler was jettisoned out of Houston last week in a trade with Cleveland.

To add insult to injury, the Texans so wanted to rid themselves of Osweiler and his $16 million guaranteed salary for 2017 that they actually gave Cleveland a second-round pick in the deal. And the street talk is that the lowly Browns will cut Osweiler after it becomes clear they can't trade him.

Talk about a short trip from the penthouse to the outhouse.

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The bizarre turn of events for Osweiler and the Texans has teams again questioning the wisdom behind putting big money into players (especially quarterbacks) with limited starting experience.

The trickle-down effect of Osweiler's quick fall from grace could hit Jimmy Garoppolo, who has made only two career starts for the Patriots. Now any team that trades for Garoppolo likely will need him to prove himself as the starter over a full season or two before it signs him to a lucrative, multi-year deal (even if it needs to work a Kirk Cousins-like one-year franchise deal for the succeeding season).

So many mistakes were made in this saga, starting with Osweiler's miscalculation when he rejected a reported $16 million-per-year deal (with over $30 million guaranteed) from Denver. He had a 5-2 record as starter in 2015 in relief of the injured Peyton Manning, including a 30-24 overtime win in late November over the then-unbeaten Patriots. His numbers on the season were decent, but not great: 10 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 86.4 quarterback rating. But he was a former second-round pick who John Elway and the Broncos felt was ready to take over when Manning retired.

In Denver, Osweiler had an excellent offensive supporting cast with two top receivers in Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. He had the league's best defense and an excellent coaching staff that believed in him. Yet he turned his back on Denver, took the money and ran to Houston.

I've often said free agents rarely play better for new teams. They have new systems to learn. The pressure of big contracts comes with great expectations from inside and outside the organization.

It all came crashing down on Osweiler.

In effect, Osweiler received 12.5 percent more money to derail his career by choosing Houston over Denver. I said at the time it would be short-sighted to leave a championship team for a few million dollars more elsewhere. The difference between $16 million and $18 million per year was not going to be a life-changer. (And his agent probably could have negotiated significant performance incentives to bridge that $2 million-per-year gap.)

Whether it was greed, ego or just a bad decision, it was a mistake. Now Osweiler sits on the roster of the worst team in the league, and Cleveland is ready to dump him.

Making matters even worse for Osweiler was the story about that locker room confrontation with O'Brien during Houston’s regular season finale against Tennessee. Osweiler reportedly questioned the coach’s decision to put him in the game when starter Tom Savage suffered a concussion, and things supposedly got heated to the point that Osweiler tried to walk away and O'Brien held up his arm to stop him.

STEELE: Why Texans didn't reveal confrontation

So is Osweiler now considered toxic to the point where no team will sign him once he's released by the Browns? Because it's clear no team will trade for his $16 million contract this season. Not that the Browns really care, as they're happy to have the second-round pick for which they essentially paid the $16 million they'll owe Osweiler. (And no, the Browns are not geniuses for this deal. The $16 million could have been better spent to improve a lousy team.)

Osweiler eventually will find a team willing to sign him, but it will be at a pittance compared to his Houston deal and surely will be incentive-laden. He'll have to prove himself all over again, too.

Don't feel too bad for him — he'll get the entire $37 million that was guaranteed to him in the Houston deal. But if Osweiler is any kind of competitor, his pride has to have taken a massive hit.

The Texans — particularly O'Brien and general manager Rick Smith — are acting happy to have rid themselves of a player with an inflated contract and, apparently, a bad attitude. But they shouldn't be doing cartwheels. They blew it when they gave Osweiler his huge deal, amazingly without having met with him face-to-face.

In all my years as an NFL GM and team president, I never agreed to terms or signed a free agent without sitting down with him. It's absurd that the Texans brass would make such a major commitment under those conditions. Even with an agent threatening to re-sign with Denver without an immediate commitment, what Houston did made no sense.

McNair is one of the classiest owners in the NFL and well thought of in league circles. But he should have insisted on such a meeting. He surely is embarrassed by how the Osweiler signing has completely unraveled at major expense in dollars wasted ($21 million paid to him last year in signing bonus, roster bonus and salary) and now a lost 2018 second-round pick. The deal also is a black mark on the resumes of Smith and O'Brien, and it will hurt them in future negotiations.

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What the Texans have learned from the Osweiler disaster will be evident if they find themselves in the running for the services of Tony Romo. You can be sure that there will be a lengthy sit-down with Romo (after an extensive physical exam) before any deal is consummated.

The lessons learned — or once again revealed — in the Osweiler story: Be sure to buy a well-proven commodity, and always take an in-person look before making a franchise-altering commitment.

And above all, buyer beware in free agency.