Colts listed among favorites to sign QB Philip Rivers

Who will be the team to sign Philip Rivers?

The end has come for Philip Rivers and his tenure with the Los Angeles Chargers and given that the Indianapolis Colts are a quarterback-needy team, they are going to be included in any discussion of where the veteran quarterback might land in 2020.

After the Chargers confirmed Monday that they won’t be re-signing Rivers, who is an unrestricted free agent when the new league year begins March 18, some odds quickly came out as to where his next landing spot might be.

The Colts are among the leaders, behind only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to SportsLine.

Of course, this has no bearing on where Rivers will land. The Colts are non-commital on Jacoby Brissett entering his second season as the unquestioned starter under center. The likelihood of the Colts adding a quarterback in free agency isn’t high.

Rivers would likely be an upgrade over Brissett in the passing game. His downfield mentality would be a nice change of pace over Brissett’s tendency to check down and play with a risk-averse mindset.

There is also the history between Rivers and Colts head coach Frank Reich. The two worked together closely from 2013–2015 as Reich was the quarterbacks coach (2013) and the offensive coordinator (2014–2015) for the Chargers.

Over the last two seasons, Rivers has had some polarizing production. In 2018, he had one of the best seasons in his career. He completed 68.3% of his passes for 4,308 yards, 32 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. His 6.3% touchdown percentage was the second-highest of his career and the highest it had been since 2008.

But then 2019 came with a different story. Rivers’ arm strength seemed to dip noticeably and his decision-making wasn’t as sound. He completed 66% of his passes for 4,615 yards, 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. His 3.9% touchdown percentage was the lowest of his career since becoming a starter.

It is more likely that the Colts stick with Brissett in 2020 and draft a quarterback in April. We know Chris Ballard isn’t keen on spending in free agency, which is simply another reason the Colts would likely be out on Rivers.

The Colts are among the teams with the most salary-cap space in the NFL, but that won’t matter for Ballard. His mentality is constantly thinking about the future. Dropping another $25 million on an aging quarterback would go against his process.

The Colts are going to be in the discussion for signing Rivers until he finds his new home. They might be among the favorites, but it shouldn’t be expected that the Colts are going to bring in the 38-year-old.