Colts agree to terms with QB Philip Rivers (1 YR Deal)

[Indeee]

28 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

Are you serious? 
 

Or sarcastic?   If it’s the latter,  it’s not coming across well. 
 

Inquiring minds.......

I'm serious. Chad is my guy. No QB in draft

[Myles]

The Indianapolis economy just got a shot of juice.   Big family that will spend allot.  

[Fisticuffs111]

EDIT: Saw that this video was already posted, my fault.

Of course his favorite movie is Hoosiers though.
 

 

[stitches]

1 minute ago, Superman said:

I think it is confirmation. A one year deal gives Rivers major incentive, if he wants to play beyond this season (and he's said he does), and since he's hitting FA again next year, the Colts would stand to get a comp pick in return in 2022.

 

So now, taking that as evidence that they're preparing for a new QB in 2021, why wouldn't they draft a guy now, sit him behind Rivers, and groom him to start after this season? Seems completely logical, and somewhat telegraphed at this point. The other option, a little more far-fetched, is getting ready to draft a guy in 2021. Seems less likely to me because the Colts aren't looking like a team that will be drafting in the top half of the first round again.

 

But, CC1, as you say, none of us knows what Ballard will do. But it seems like he's setting this up specifically to have the ability to move on after this year. Which is  reasonable.

 

IMO it's likely they draft a QB but again - all those moves we are doing now. They are ALL win now moves. And especially expressive win-now moves IMO. Ballard trading a 1st round pick for a player who we had to pay huge contract to and then signing a vet like Rivers IMO is a huge sign that Ballard thinks we are close and we can compete right now with those and some other additions. Which would mean... drafting a QB who will sit with 34 or 44 becomes less likely... again - because we likely want players to contribute right away. I can see us getting someone like Gordon at 75? But IMO this one is far from eliminating drafting a QB in 2021.

 

In summary - I kind of feel like R2 or trade up to R1 QB is not very likely... and later QBs you cannot rely on to be franchise QBs... so... I guess... my point is - I have no idea when and where our future QB will come from. I think a ton of possibilities are open. 

[Shive]

1 hour ago, 21isSuperman said:

I think he'd be a great fit in Chicago.   They don't need an MVP level QB.  They need someone who won't turn the ball over and won't cost them games while the defense suffocates opponents.  Same goes for Minny.

I've actually been thinking about whether trading JB (and probably later round pick) for Trubisky would be a good idea. He's flashed the ability to be a really good QB, but I don't think Nagy is anywhere near the "offensive genius" he's been made out to be. Mitch could sit behind Rivers for a year to actually learn, since he was thrown into the fire in Chicago, and then take the reigns next season. I honestly have no clue how I feel about that move, but it's been bouncing around in my head, so why not throw it out there? lol

[shasta519]

5 minutes ago, Myles said:

The Indianapolis economy just got a shot of juice.   Big family that will spend allot.  

 

Kroger is going to have close even earlier.

[Fisticuffs111]

I think the only thing that worries me is that I really don't like the mid-late round options at QB. No prospects after Herbert or Love really interest me. If we do pick up an Eason or a Hurts I really, really, really hope to be proven wrong about them.

[Valpo2004]

27 minutes ago, dgambill said:

He immediately came to mind with the Eckler type player that LA had last year. I do think we have work to do at TE and maybe another WR but this is a deep draft.

 Would not mind another RB.  Would like to make Mack part of a 1-2 punch rather than rely on him as our lone primary ball carrier.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

 

[shasta519]

Haha...someone on reddit said "Rivers finally gets to use protection"

[Fisticuffs111]

1 minute ago, Chloe6124 said:

 

 

Yeah, I doubt there will be any sort of locker room uproar, especially with the kind of guys in there. They just wanna win.

[hoosierhawk]

1 hour ago, crazycolt1 said:

Face it. You, me nor anyone else knows what Ballard is going to do. 

He don't give a rat's behind about the opinions of this forum. 

Oh no! I suppose next you're going to tell us there is no Santa Claus

[PeterBowman]

1 minute ago, Fisticuffs111 said:

 

Yeah, I doubt there will be any sort of locker room uproar, especially with the kind of guys in there. They just wanna win.

Yep....that and they know it's a business but they also know Reich and Ballard won't do anything to screw anyone over. 

[shasta519]

13 minutes ago, stitches said:

 

IMO it's likely they draft a QB but again - all those moves we are doing now. They are ALL win now moves. And especially expressive win-now moves IMO. Ballard trading a 1st round pick for a player who we had to pay huge contract to and then signing a vet like Rivers IMO is a huge sign that Ballard thinks we are close and we can compete right now with those and some other addit

ions. Which would mean... drafting a QB who will sit with 34 or 44 becomes less likely... again - because we likely want players to contribute right away. I can see us getting someone like Gordon at 75? But IMO this one is far from eliminating drafting a QB in 2021.

 

In summary - I kind of feel like R2 or trade up to R1 QB is not very likely... and later QBs you cannot rely on to be franchise QBs... so... I guess... my point is - I have no idea when and where our future QB will come from. I think a ton of possibilities are open. 

 

I think it only happens IF someone like Love slips into the 2nd round.

 

If I had to bet though...my money would be on drafting Captain Morgan on Day 3...and then they reassess next offseason. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Lol. This is going to be entertaining.

 

 

4 minutes ago, shastamasta said:

 

I think it only happens IF someone like Love slips into the 2nd round.

 

If I had to bet though...my money would be on drafting Captain Morgan on Day 3...and then they reassess next offseason. 

Morgan has terrible accuracy. That is a trait they have said they need. I doubt that is happening.

[DougDew]

25 minutes ago, stitches said:

 

IMO it's likely they draft a QB but again - all those moves we are doing now. They are ALL win now moves. And especially expressive win-now moves IMO. Ballard trading a 1st round pick for a player who we had to pay huge contract to and then signing a vet like Rivers IMO is a huge sign that Ballard thinks we are close and we can compete right now with those and some other additions. Which would mean... drafting a QB who will sit with 34 or 44 becomes less likely... again - because we likely want players to contribute right away. I can see us getting someone like Gordon at 75? But IMO this one is far from eliminating drafting a QB in 2021.

 

In summary - I kind of feel like R2 or trade up to R1 QB is not very likely... and later QBs you cannot rely on to be franchise QBs... so... I guess... my point is - I have no idea when and where our future QB will come from. I think a ton of possibilities are open. 

Because the Buckner trade and this Rivers one year signing is NOT a win-now strategy...but a competency-now need....Ballard can trade any number of draft picks, even future first round picks, to trade into the first round to get a QB.

 

I wouldn't say he could trade into the top 10 but he might convince a 15 to 20 team to drop down to 34 and take next year's first round pick. 

 

Both of these signings (and the trade) are about filling two huge immediate needs to be competitive enough to keep the boo birds at bay next season while preserving as much draft capital for using them on BPA like he's supposed to.

[Four2itus]

Rivers is the starting QB.

Brissett is the primary backup.

Kelly is the emergency back up.

 

The only way JB is not a Colt, is if a team makes a trade for him. I will be shocked if he is cut, as some of you have suggested.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Zach Keefer just said in JMV that talking to people in the organization that trading 13 does not mean they are out of the QB market. 

[stitches]

4 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Because the Buckner signing and this Rivers one year signing is NOT a win-now strategy...but a competency-now need....Ballard can trade any number of draft picks, even future first round picks, to trade into the first round to get a QB.

 

I wouldn't say he could trade into the top 10 but he might convince a 15 to 20 team to drop down to 34 and take next year's first round pick. 

 

Both of these signings are about filling two huge immediate needs to be competitive enough to keep the boo birds at bay next season while not having to use draft capital, allowing him to use draft picks for BPA like he's supposed to.

I don't think Ballard is this short-sighted. I don't think he does anything to provoke or avoid provoking any reaction from the boo birds. I think he really believes in what he's doing and how he's building the team to contend and IMO those moves mean he thinks we are close. We still have some work to do at certain positions, but FA is not over and the draft is not even started either. 

 

I guess we will see in a month or so, but I would be surprised if he traded up in the 1st for a QB. 

[DougDew]

5 minutes ago, Four2itus said:

Rivers is the starting QB.

Brissett is the primary backup.

Kelly is the emergency back up.

 

The only way JB is not a Colt, is if a team makes a trade for him. I will be shocked if he is cut, as some of you have suggested.

Depends on the draft.  Brissett won't be on the roster if we get Love, Hurts, Eason, Fromm, or Gordon.  No reason to cut JB, Hoyer, or Kelly until the landscape is more clear.

 

But if we draft one of those QBs, JB will be moved via trade or cut very shortly thereafter, IMO.

[Shive]

2 minutes ago, stitches said:

I don't think Ballard is this short-sighted. I don't think he does anything to provoke or avoid provoking any reaction from the boo birds. I think he really believes in what he's doing and how he's building the team to contend and IMO those moves mean he thinks we are close. We still have some work to do at certain positions, but FA is not over and the draft is not even started either. 

 

I guess we will see in a month or so, but I would be surprised if he traded up in the 1st for a QB. 

I could see him trading up into the bottom of the 1st if a guy he likes slides to secure that 5th year option, but I don't see him going back up anywhere near our old pick.

[shasta519]

19 minutes ago, Chloe6124 said:

Lol. This is going to be entertaining.

 

 

That is pure gold. I am with Rivers...if I threw a 90 yard fadeaway TD on Madden...I'd be chirping like crazy...let alone in an NFL game.

 

I think the best thing to do...would be to go trade for Ngakoue and inject some real friction into that locker room.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Ebron. Ha ha. Rivers likes his TE too.

 

 

[DougDew]

11 minutes ago, stitches said:

I don't think Ballard is this short-sighted. I don't think he does anything to provoke or avoid provoking any reaction from the boo birds. I think he really believes in what he's doing and how he's building the team to contend and IMO those moves mean he thinks we are close. We still have some work to do at certain positions, but FA is not over and the draft is not even started either. 

 

I guess we will see in a month or so, but I would be surprised if he traded up in the 1st for a QB. 

I see this offseason as two fold.  He had an immediate need at QB.  Can't go into next season with the QB play we finished with last season.  Just can't do that.  

 

He could have signed Case Keenum or even acquired Colt McCoy and that would have been an upgrade, but they wouldn't bring enough locker room cred to ward off some team discontent.  Rivers has that cred.  He was probably the only QB available that brought enough status to the situation to force JB aside immediately.

 

The Buckner trade gets our immediate upgrade to Hunt that was desperately needed for TWO seasons.  And his new contract signing gets us that 5 year player we would have drafted with pick 13.

 

Now onto the rest of the draft. 

 

A QB of the future is still in play.  If the value is there, yes, he will trade up, IMO.  Depends on how things fall on draft day.

[SCColt]

I just want to say, I am excited about Colts bolo ties!

[cdgacoltsfan]

36 minutes ago, Myles said:

The Indianapolis economy just got a shot of juice.   Big family that will spend allot.  

There goes any shot at finding any toilet paper.

[2006Coltsbestever]

I like this move, don't love it but it was much needed. We simply needed a QB that pushes the ball down the field more than what JB did and a QB that has more accuracy. What makes this move good is, it is just a 1 year deal. Rivers had no run game and a bad O.Line last year, here he will have a very good run game and a great O.Line. He and Reich have a connection as well. This makes total sense. 

 

I loved yesterday's move, Buckner is a beast! The AFC South can be won now just by those 2 up grades alone. Tennessee is our only competition. Houston losing Hopkins is devastating and the Jags are the Jags  . I can see us winning 10 games now if we stay healthy at the WR spot (TY mainly) and our O.Line stays healthy. Our defense looks good on paper as well with players like Houston and Leonard to go with Buckner. We still have the draft to go too. If Ballard nails the draft, sky is the limit in 2020. Our kicking game should even be better too  

[Superman]

36 minutes ago, stitches said:

 

IMO it's likely they draft a QB but again - all those moves we are doing now. They are ALL win now moves. And especially expressive win-now moves IMO. Ballard trading a 1st round pick for a player who we had to pay huge contract to and then signing a vet like Rivers IMO is a huge sign that Ballard thinks we are close and we can compete right now with those and some other additions. Which would mean... drafting a QB who will sit with 34 or 44 becomes less likely... again - because we likely want players to contribute right away. I can see us getting someone like Gordon at 75? But IMO this one is far from eliminating drafting a QB in 2021.

 

In summary - I kind of feel like R2 or trade up to R1 QB is not very likely... and later QBs you cannot rely on to be franchise QBs... so... I guess... my point is - I have no idea when and where our future QB will come from. I think a ton of possibilities are open. 

 

Chris Ballard: We're never one player away.

 

I don't think he believes in being in "win now" mode. I think he might think we're close, especially with the Patriots likely taking a step back, Houston trading away their best player, and Tennessee probably being a flash in the pan. 

 

Also, I don't think that anyone we draft this year should be counted on to contribute right away. We've had some good pulls lately, but also some guys who weren't ready until Year 2 (Turay), and some other guys the jury is still out on (Campbell). 

 

I've always felt like we have to get the next guy this year. If we made a move for Carr or Stafford, fine, but Rivers isn't the guy, and we signed only him for one year. JB is on his way out. Unless we think we're going to draft a Day 1 starter in 2021, it still makes sense that we get the next guy in this year's draft.

[jameszeigler834]

2 hours ago, Rackeen305 said:

I like the length of the contract but not the player.

If you were expecting Brady I got news for you Buckner and Brady don't equal a championship either Brady is a lot farther gone than rivers in terms of being done.

[funktacious2]

2 hours ago, boo2202 said:

Ok who and what round are we taking a QB to groom under rivers for 1 year? 

Hurts, Gordon, Eason?

We can still trade up, like it or not.

[stitches]

3 minutes ago, DougDew said:

I see this offseason as two fold.  He had an immediate need at QB.  Can't go into next season with the QB play we finished with last season.  Just can't do that.  

 

He could have signed Case Keenum or even acquired Colt McCoy and that would have been an upgrade, but they wouldn't bring enough locker room cred to ward off some team discontent.  Rivers has that cred.  He was probably the only QB available that brought enough status to the situation to force JB aside immediately.

Yes, but Rivers is a better player and gives us a better chance to compete now. 

 

3 minutes ago, DougDew said:

The Buckner trade gets our immediate upgrade to Hunt that was desperately needed for TWO seasons.  And his new contract signing gets us that 5 year player we would have drafted with pick 13.

We did need upgrade at DT... but... this doesn't mean he should have given up 13 for it. There were plenty of great upgrades over Hunt that went for much cheaper in FA and we wouldn't have lost 13. IMO Ballard truly loves Buckner and he thinks this is worth it and he's an essential part of the plan. This just doesn't seem like a ho-hum addition just to quiet the boo-birds. This seems like a very targeted move that makes sense in the grand plan for Ballard, not just some PR-stunt. 

 

3 minutes ago, DougDew said:

 

Now onto the rest of the draft.  And a QB of the future is still in play.  If the value is there, yes, he will trade up, IMO.  Depends on how things fall on draft day.

Well... lets wait and see.. 

[funktacious2]

To me, these past two days have just been "relief". One major need for now and the future (DT) and another major need was answer for but NOT later (QB). We still have the picks to adress QB for the future and a WR for now and the future. Lots of reasons for me to be optimistic. Free agency is honestly not over either. I have to imagine we'll add a WR at some point.

[Rackeen305]

5 minutes ago, jameszeigler834 said:

If you were expecting Brady I got news for you Buckner and Brady don't equal a championship either Brady is a lot farther gone than rivers in terms of being done.

So you are hoping that Rivers can return to a particular form from years past? The reason why the Colts have coach Frank Reich is because of Rivers throwing the way he did years past. jmho. 

 

At least Brady knows what it takes. And has some kind of championship presence/pedigree. Rivers....rivers....rivers..... 

 

Phillip is a Ex-Pro bowler or better version of Ryan Fitzpatrick or Winston. Phillip is not in his prime.

[unvrsty07]

1 hour ago, 1959Colts said:

 

 

Franchise tag is a good point I had not considered. 

[Archer]

Well, this signing makes me throw up a little in my mouth.  You can tell me all you want how good a Christian he is with his six kids, but if you watched Charger games in the last umpteen years you know he’ a jack wagon...

[stitches]

13 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Chris Ballard: We're never one player away.

 

I don't think he believes in being in "win now" mode. I think he might think we're close, especially with the Patriots likely taking a step back, Houston trading away their best player, and Tennessee probably being a flash in the pan. 

 

Also, I don't think that anyone we draft this year should be counted on to contribute right away. We've had some good pulls lately, but also some guys who weren't ready until Year 2 (Turay), and some other guys the jury is still out on (Campbell). 

 

I've always felt like we have to get the next guy this year. If we made a move for Carr or Stafford, fine, but Rivers isn't the guy, and we signed only him for one year. JB is on his way out. Unless we think we're going to draft a Day 1 starter in 2021, it still makes sense that we get the next guy in this year's draft.

 

It's not about being ONE player away... it's about being close enough that you can imagine your team competing against the best teams and when you do you make moves to maximize that window. It will not be one move - resigning AC, Buckner, Rivers... whatever more we do in FA... then whatever we do in the draft... those are all contributing factors to feeling like you are close enough that you can afford to make a big time move like the Buckner move and be justified for it. 

 

I agree about the QB though... I really wanted us to get our "next guy" in this draft. I thought this would be the best course of action. But after the Buckner move(both for what it signifies and for the fact that it took away our best asset for acquiring QB) I think the possibility that we might not get our next QB in this draft is real. 

 

If you had to guess right now - where do we take a QB in this draft? If I did I would guess R3 or later. 

[Coltsman1788]

2 hours ago, stitches said:

Cool. This sounds good. Lets see the numbers now. 

edit: per Rap it's 25M. 

 

 

Now if we manage to get something for Brissett, this would be a great an upgrade in starting QB while getting some compensation for it. 

It's only a slight upgrade and that's arguable.  This guy is 38 and declining.  Threw 20 friggin interceptions last year and is as mobile as a rock under pressure.  

[CanuckColt]

2 hours ago, Indeee said:

I'm serious. Chad is my guy. No QB in draft

I wish it were true...just not sure how far he has come in maturing into a NFL QB...he certainly has the talent and the arm...far better on-field QB than Brissett.

 

[Coltsman1788]

8 minutes ago, stitches said:

 

It's not about being ONE player away... it's about being close enough that you can imagine your team competing against the best teams and when you do you make moves to maximize that window. It will not be one move - resigning AC, Buckner, Rivers... whatever more we do in FA... then whatever we do in the draft... those are all contributing factors to feeling like you are close enough that you can afford to make a big time move like the Buckner move and be justified for it. 

 

I agree about the QB though... I really wanted us to get our "next guy" in this draft. I thought this would be the best course of action. But after the Buckner move(both for what it signifies and for the fact that it took away our best asset for acquiring QB) I think the possibility that we might not get our next QB in this draft is real. 

 

If you had to guess right now - where do we take a QB in this draft? If I did I would guess R3 or later. 

Right now if Ballard snags Eason or Jalen Hurts in the draft, I'd be satisfied.  I'm thinking he would need to pull the trigger somewhere in the second round to make that happen.

[Patrick Miller]

Rivers is head and shoulders better than Brissett. Love the signing! Now they need to get him some better WRs to go along with Hilton.