It probably still hasn’t quite sunk in. Brock Osweiler is back with the Denver Broncos. But for how long?

Osweiler signed a one-year, $775,000 deal to return to the team that made him a second-round pick in 2012. The same team he spurned in favor of the Houston Texans just four years later.

Osweiler likely won’t be a fan favorite for the Broncos, at least not at first. Many of those fans likely feel that he will be back on the open market as soon as Paxton Lynch returns from his right shoulder injury.

But that may not necessarily be the case.

When Lynch returns, Osweiler would perhaps become the team’s No. 3 quarterback and listed as an inactive on most game days. But there wouldn’t be much reason to release him unless the team had a pressing need at another position and needed to call someone up from the practice squad.

Instead, the team has a full season to re-evaluate Osweiler. Obviously, John Elway saw something in him in 2012 and though his play in Houston and Cleveland has become the subject of jokes everywhere, he actually played pretty well in Denver.

In fact, the team owes him a great bit of gratitude for the Super Bowl it won following the 2015 season, as I wrote here, just days before Super Bowl 50.

It’s a rare situation to have a player you once tabbed as the potential future of your franchise leave and then return just one year later. But that’s what has happened, and if Elway is willing to let bygones be bygones then fans of the team should too.

Next season, Osweiler could toss his hat into a quarterback derby that will be just as wide open as the one we saw this summer. That race will include Trevor Siemian, Lynch and this year’s seventh-round pick, Chad Kelly.

Elway drafted every single one of those guys, so why not let them all hash it out to see who is the best man for the job? There’s no reason not to give Brock that chance, right? After all, if he’s not up to the task, the team can just release him the same way the Texans and Browns both did and be devoid of much criticism.

A good indicator that the team is going to keep him, at least through the season, is the fact that it didn’t waste any time signing him. The Broncos could have waited until after the first game and strung Kyle Sloter along, but that wasn’t the case.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Elway said about possibly carrying three quarterbacks once Lynch returns. “You never know, if we’re going to carry him right now we’re going to carry him for now. As you know, it’s always fluid, if so we’ll cross that bridge when Paxton gets healthy, we’ll see what we have and go from there.”

Osweiler will be on board if for nothing else than a familiar face for the team to turn to. If he’ relieved Peyton Manning, it’s fair to say he’d be fine with coming in for either Siemian or Lynch.

There’s a good chance the team will need to call his number as well. Lynch is currently sidelined with an injury and Siemian missed two and a half games last season.

Osweiler isn’t going anywhere, at least not for awhile.

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