The Houston Texans have made one of the biggest signings in the early period of free agency as they signed former Denver Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler.

I'm told QB Brock Osweiler has agreed to a deal in principle with the Houston #Texans.

— Rand Getlin (@RandGetlin) March 9, 2016

This is one of the bigger surprises in free agency as the Texans have taken the potential starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos.

Osweiler started just seven games last season before being replaced by Peyton Manning, who led the team to the Super Bowl title.

He immediately becomes the new face of the Texans franchise after having a productive stint with much better pieces in Denver.  Osweiler completed 61.8 percent of his throws, for 246 yards per game with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions.

The former second-round pick will now lead a Houston offense that has DeAndre Hopkins at wide receiver, and not a whole lot else.

It’s unclear how much of an upgrade Osweiler is over last year’s starter, Brian Hoyer.  Teams will have some film on him and Texans head coach Bill O’Brien will have to devise an offense around his talents.

As for the Broncos, they are now scrambling for an answer at quarterback.  Their best bet is probably Ryan Fitzpatrick, who had a mostly productive season with the New York Jets last year, leading them to a 10-6 record but losing their final regular season game with the playoffs on the line.

Another option could be San Francisco 49ers signal caller Colin Kaepernick, who is unhappy after being benched in favor of Blaine Gabbert.  With the need so obvious for John Elway, the 49ers now have negotiating leverage for the once Super Bowl quarterback.

One other option is Robert Griffin, III, who was recently released by the Washington Redskins.  RG3 could be a solid fit in Gary Kubiak’s system as he is mobile and can run the bootleg, which is a fixture of his offense.