There is just a month until the free-agent market begins and two months until the 2020 NFL draft. As the Indianapolis Colts prepare for a big offseason, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah gave his take on how it should go.
With the many ways the Colts could go about this offseason, Jeremiah has a specific plan in mind that would fall more under the “win-now” mantra, which might clash with the philosophy of general manager Chris Ballard, who is still looking to rebuild some areas on the roster.
Jeremiah held a conference call with the media to field questions and give his opinions on the upcoming offseason and draft. For the Colts, he believes their offseason should start out by signing a veteran quarterback.
“I would start by signing Philip Rivers, and I would try and make a run at this thing for the next couple of years because I think they’re pretty close,” Jeremiah said. “I think Philip would come in and give them an upgrade. And then I think where you’re picking there, you know, you’re picking at 13.”
Rivers is set to be a free agent in March and he’s been one of the more popular fits for the Colts. Whether they will pony up the money for the 38-year-old is another question.
After hypothetically signing Rivers, Jeremiah would use the No. 13 overall pick to take some explosive talent at the wide receiver position.
“But I’m trying to get, if I’m the Colts right there, I’m awfully tempted, if you see a Jerry Jeudy, a CeeDee Lamb, a Henry Ruggs, one of those three guys was there, I would go ahead and pull the trigger right there,” said Jeremiah. “You’ve changed the offense completely. You’ve got a good offensive line, you pair what you have already outside with one of those three receivers, Philip Rivers, I think you’ve got a chance to be a really, really fun offense to watch.”
It is no secret the Colts need to add high-end talent to the wide receiver room. Adding any one of those wide receivers in the first round might be outside of the norm for Ballard, but it wouldn’t make the offense any less explosive.
In terms of finding a young quarterback, Jeremiah believes there could be some options in the middle of the draft.
“At that point in time, maybe if there’s a quarterback that you like as your developmental quarterback, you could look that route, go that route,” Jeremiah said. “Or you could just go with a defensive tackle that has some real twitch and some upside that can rush.”
No one truly knows how the offseason will go for the Colts. Not even the Colts know what will happen. But this is an interesting take from one of the more respected minds in the scouting world and could be an avenue they explore this offseason.