One of the first big moves that general manager Chris Ballard made for the Indianapolis Colts was trading for quarterback Jacoby Brissett just weeks before the 2017 regular season.
As former quarterback Andrew Luck was still working through his shoulder injury—one that kept him out the entire campaign—Ballard made the move to bring in Brissett to be the starter once Scott Tolzien eventually flamed out.
While on a podcast hosted by Devin and Jason McCourty, Brissett opened up about the trade process that led to him joining the Colts.
“It was after the last preseason game, and the bad thing was I balled (in that game). I was like, ‘I know I’m making the team. It’s going to be hard for them to cut me.’ I really felt like I played my best game at that point, and I was playing my best football at that time throughout training camp and stuff,” Brissett said, via Patriots Wire. “I think Bill (Belichick) did some shady shit. I think they traded me right before practice and still made me go out there and practice. I just remember I was walking back into the facility from the field, and it just seemed like that was the first time the facility was — there was just no activity going on. It just seemed silent.”
“We always walk through the cafeteria first to get a smoothie, and (team nutritionist Ted Harper) called me into his office. Damn, I hope I didn’t get Ted fired. Ted called me into the office and was like, ‘You know about this?’ And I’m like, ‘What?’ How the hell am I supposed to know? I don’t have my phone on me. And I’m walking down the hall, and everybody’s just staring at me like I just committed a crime or something. I walk into the locker room, and (Dont’a) Hightower’s locker is right there. Hightower, you know his country ass. (He’s like), ‘Damn, bro.’ (Laughs.) I’m like, ‘Damn, Hightower, there ain’t no sense of confidence?’ And then I’m looking at my locker and Tom (Brady) is just sitting there with his head in his phone, and I’m like, ‘Damn, I hope that ain’t about me.’”
“It was just crazy, man. My body was just frozen. I went and talked to Bill, and I didn’t even hear a word he said. In my head, I was like, I don’t even know what traded means. Is that right now? And then as soon as I walked out the room, they were like, yeah, we’ve got to get you on a flight tonight because you might have to play in the game this Sunday. And I’m like, ‘What?’ I was like, ‘Hell no, I don’t even want to play yet. I don’t know where I’m going.’ But I just remember you (Devin McCourty) texted me and Slate (Matthew Slater) texted me. He was like, ‘Man, listen. You’re about to walk into some crazy times, but you’re built for this, and it’s part of the NFL.’ Honestly, that was my wake-up to the NFL … being traded and then the next week, you’re out there in a game. It was like, ‘We don’t care how long you’ve been here. You’d better know how to play.’”
Brissett started the 2017 season before backing up Luck in 2018 and then becoming the starter again in 2019. Now, he slides into the backup role behind Philip Rivers.
But this just goes to show a different side of the trade process and how players think in the moments leading up to a deal.