The Texans' interest in Denver quarterback Brock Osweiler began in a darkened film room at NRG Stadium and culminated almost two months later in general manager Rick Smith's office. Owner Bob McNair and vice chairman Cal McNair were sitting in Smith's office while he finalized the deal that lured Osweiler from the defending Super Bowl champions with a starting job and a four-year, $72 million contract, including $37 million guaranteed. When Smith hung up the phone with agent Jimmy Sexton, he breathed a sigh of relief, smiled and turned to the McNairs. "Bob and Cal," he said, "we've got ourselves a quarterback."

Smith exchanged congratulatory handshakes with the McNairs, then texted coach Bill O'Brien, who was attending the University of Wisconsin's pro day.

O'Brien and Smith had agreed from the beginning that if there was a chance the Texans could get Osweiler, 25, they would vigorously pursue him.

"Rick did a heck of a job," Bob McNair said. "He said, 'I'm going to get you a quarterback. Regardless as to where he might come from, we're going to get you a quarterback.'

"Originally, we didn't know whether Brock would be available. He could have signed (with Denver) and not been available. We really didn't know, but we were still looking at him and hoping he would be available."

Smith told McNair getting Osweiler to leave the Broncos would cost a lot of money to fill the biggest need on the team. McNair has never let money stand in the way of doing what he thinks will improve his team.

"We had a fair idea as to what the cost would be," McNair said. "But, as with anything, if there's more than one person that wants it, it's probably going to cost you more."

While the Texans began O'Brien's second season 2-5 and finished on a 7-2 run, Smith and members of his personnel department were scouting college quarterbacks and preparing their reports for the coaches, who would check them out after the season.

Brian Gaine, who serves as the director of player personnel, oversees the pro department. Part of his responsibility is to compile scouting reports on players in the last year of their contracts and present them to Smith.

Plenty of film study

After the Texans' 30-0 loss to Kansas City in the playoffs, O'Brien took off a couple of days before returning to the film room. First, he evaluated each of the Texans. Then, he turned to prospective free agents and watched tape before filing his report with Smith.

When O'Brien finished, Osweiler was at the top of his list of quarterbacks.

"We study all these guys," O'Brien said. "We watch their (regular-season) tape (and) their preseason tape. When you threw the tape on from (last season), it was impressive. He played in some very tough games, some very meaningful games.

"It's not easy to be a starting quarterback in this league. It's one of the most difficult things in sports to do. I think we got the right guy."

At the time, though, the consensus among the Texans and every team in the NFL was that Osweiler would re-sign with the Broncos.

The Texans had exhausted their interest in mid-level quarterbacks, nine who played in O'Brien's first two seasons, including seven as starters. Whether through the draft, free agency or even a possible trade, they were determined to get a player they believed could become their franchise quarterback.

Before the scouting combine in late February, Smith brought in his scouts from around the country. They set their draft board. Then, Smith, O'Brien and the assistant coaches reviewed the analysis of each prospective free agent prepared by Gaine and his staff.

Osweiler is the one

They decided how they wanted to attack free agency - what players Smith was going to pursue when the legal tampering period began March 7, two days before the start of the new league year when free agents could sign with other teams.

To make sure they were on the same page, Smith and O'Brien went to the film room and watched hours of tape on the 6-8, 240-pound Osweiler.

"We came out of the film room agreeing that Brock Osweiler was the quarterback to lead us where we want to go," Smith said.

The negotiation game

Sexton has represented players for almost 35 years. He's a shrewd negotiator. The Broncos knew, like any agent, Sexton would try to get every possible dollar for Osweiler.

When Sam Bradford re-signed with Philadelphia for an average of $18 million per year, the market was set.

In his negotiations with Denver, Sexton claimed other teams were interested. The Broncos had to determine if that interest was real during their negotiations to keep Osweiler, who backed up Peyton Manning for four years and was 5-2 as a starter last season.

The Broncos offered Osweiler a three-year contract worth $39 million. With bonuses, it could max out at $45 million.

Smith was willing to pay a lot of money, but he insisted on a four-year contract. Both sides showed flexibility but not on the four-year issue. Smith refused to budge during the all-day sessions and late-night phone calls.

On Tuesday - the day before Osweiler agreed with the Texans - Smith left NRG Stadium at 10 p.m. and got stuck in traffic exiting the concert at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. He and Sexton resumed their conversations.

On Wednesday morning, Sexton spoke with the Broncos for the first time since they made their $39 million offer. They increased their offer to an average of $16.5 million a year, including $30 million guaranteed.

As the Colorado media reported the negotiations and the Broncos increased their offer, there was optimism in Denver that Osweiler would stay.

Competing with Denver

Sexton had told Osweiler to go dark and not return calls, texts or e-mails from the Broncos, including his teammates, until the agent had reached an agreement with one of the teams. Sexton didn't want sentiment to play a role if he could avoid it.

Sexton never gave the Broncos a chance to match the Texans' offer.

Osweiler, a second-round pick in 2012 who made $660,000 last season, signed a contract that averages $18 million, ranking him 16th among the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL this year.

"They wanted him in Denver, but Rick hung in there and got the deal consummated," Bob McNair said. "I couldn't be more excited."