Coach Hue Jackson didn't exactly give Brock Osweiler a stamp of immediate approval last week at rookie minicamp, but that doesn't mean Osweiler can't win the starting job for the 2017 season.

Even though Cody Kessler will be the starter in OTAs, the position remains up for grabs.

“For us, there’s kind of no pride in authorship at our quarterback position,” vice president of football operations Sashi Brown said last week at an appearance at the Press Club of Cleveland. "Whoever can fill it and sustain it and play it well over a period of time will be our quarterback.”

In other words: Whoever takes it wins it.

Kessler gets the first shot, but Osweiler will have his chance.

"He's done a good job," Jackson said of Osweiler's offseason work. "He's been great in the room with the guys. He's been a good person in the building. We're going to continue to allow him to do that and see what he has to show for us and kind of go from there."

Brock Osweiler has done something no other quarterback on the Browns' roster has done: win NFL games. AP Photo/George Bridges

Osweiler's tale is odd. He relieved Peyton Manning two years ago in Denver and played well, then was given a four-year, $72 million deal by Houston as a free agent.

The contract was excessive, as Houston quickly learned. The Browns did the Texans a favor by taking Osweiler and his $16 million salary off their hands in a March trade, but Houston had to give Cleveland its second-round pick in the 2018 draft to get the Browns to swallow the salary. (Cleveland also received a 2017 sixth-rounder, and Houston got a 2017 fourth-rounder in the deal.)

Initially, the Browns hoped to trade Osweiler and took numerous calls about him shortly after the trade was announced. But as time went on and the Browns didn't like the offers and the options at quarterback stayed thin, the team decided to give Osweiler a look during the offseason.

Jackson treated Osweiler as if he would be with the team long-term, and now the Browns accept that he will be part of the quarterback group at least through minicamp.

If he shows anything, he'll stay through training camp, in which he will join Kessler, rookie DeShone Kizer and Kevin Hogan on the roster.

Osweiler has done something none of the others has: win games in the NFL.

In 2015, he started seven games for Denver and won five. Last season, he started 14 games for Houston and won eight. He also started and threw a touchdown pass in a playoff win over Oakland.

Including playoffs, Osweiler has 23 starts. The other three quarterbacks on the Browns roster have eight, all by Kessler.

Osweiler has 14 wins, which is 14 more wins than the other three quarterbacks. He stands 6-foot-7, which is the kind of size Jackson wants in his quarterback, and he was able to watch Manning play in Denver for four years.

It didn't work out for Osweiler in Houston, where he never put together a complete game. But the Browns have nothing to lose by giving him a look. Given Jackson's refusal to even say Osweiler that would be No. 2 heading into offseason practices, Osweiler will have to work his way up if he is to win the job.

But the job is there to be taken.

"I think, in this league, we all know you can't have enough good quarterbacks, enough guys to train at the position," Jackson said. "You never know how it's going to unfold, and things do happen, but [Osweiler is] competing."

It's never good to be flip when answering a question, but if someone asks whether Osweiler could win the starting job for the Browns, a flip answer fits.

Why the heck not?