What should the Indianapolis Colts do at quarterback?
The Indianapolis Colts quarterback situation has been extremely fluid since Andrew Luck retired. How should they fix this situation? When the Colts were able to replace Peyton Manning with Andrew Luck, they quickly found themselves in another situation of having an elite quarterback.
Both Manning and Luck were generational players, and most franchises only have one of those types of quarterbacks, let alone two back to back. Andrew Luck abruptly retired following the 2018 after suffering from multiple injuries.
Since then, the Colts have been in their own quarterback carousel. Jacoby Brissett, Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz, and Matt Ryan were all starters at some point following Luck’s retirement. During that process, the Colts didn’t really do much for the long-term.
They never really took a chance on a developmental prospect in the draft. They drafted Sam Ehlinger a couple years ago, but it doesn’t appear like he’ll be given a true shot to be the guy. The other perhaps negative part of this process is their roster, which is pretty solid.
Their defense is playoff caliber and they do have some nice pieces along the offensive line and at the skill positions. It might not make a ton of sense for the Colts to entire a full rebuild. Full rebuilds usually net high draft picks, which can also net a legitimate quarterback prospect.
The team may have an opportunity to sign a free agent like Jimmy Garoppolo if they want to try yet another quarterback from another team, however, Matt Ryan’s contract is not too team friendly to get out of.
They’d have to incur $18 million of dead money if they cut him next offseason. Indianapolis currently picks 15th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. If they end up losing more games, which may be likely given their current situation, they could pick closer to the top 10, which may allow them to take a QB.
Chris Ballard, their General Manager, has been able to perform well in the draft, so perhaps this is the route they take for 2023: Matt Ryan returns as the starter and is backed up by a first round rookie draft pick.