Through the first two weeks of free agency, the Indianapolis Colts have made it clear they are going into a win-now period. This is evident by the one-year deal they signed quarterback Philip Rivers to last week.
The deal, which is a straight-up $25 million guaranteed contract for 2020, split the fanbase. Some believe it is too much to bring in Rivers for one season while others understand the need to pay up if it means getting an upgrade at the game’s most important position.
When looking at free agency’s best and worst contracts so far, Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com believes this deal is one of the better agreements over the last two weeks.
Life is short. The Colts couldn’t afford to spend another year in purgatory, and Rivers’ one-year, $25 million contract is a low-cost ticket to either football heaven or hell — there’s no in-between with Rivers. The Colts had more cap space than they needed the last two years, and they didn’t commit any money beyond 2020. What’s the point of having “assets” if you don’t use them? That $25 million total doesn’t look like much when Teddy Bridgewater is making nearly that much per year with Carolina and Ryan Tannehill is making almost $5 million more per year in Tennessee.
The Colts’ salary cap situation looks much different than it did before free agency began. They have two quarterbacks holding cap hits over $21 million while the DeForest Buckner trade and extension also holds a pretty penny on the cap.
But the Colts had to do something at the quarterback position, especially after they traded the No. 13 pick for Buckner. That essentially took them out of the quarterback market unless they trade back into the first round on draft day.
Chris Ballard has been frugal with the spending since he arrived in 2017. It allowed him the flexibility to splurge this offseason and if the Colts can get upgraded production at quarterback while spending $25 million for one season, it could wind up being beneficial when the playoffs roll around.