Philip Rivers is a Colt.
Days after it was reported that Rivers had agreed to terms with Indianapolis, the Colts made it official with a tweet saying simply, “Welcome to Indy, Phil!”
Colts General Manager Chris Ballard fleshed that out with a statement.
“Philip is one of the most decorated quarterbacks in the NFL and we are fortunate to add an experienced player of his caliber to our organization,” Ballard said. “His familiarity with our coaching staff and offensive system in addition to his experience were attractive qualities during our evaluation process. Philip is a fierce competitor and his veteran leadership will be crucial in the continued development of our young roster.”
The 38-year-old Rivers is not coming off one of his better seasons, having completed 66.0 percent of his passes with an average of 7.8 yards per pass, with 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. But the Colts apparently think he has enough left that he can be their starter.
The next question is what the Colts will do with Jacoby Brissett, who has played well at times but hasn’t done enough to earn the starting job. Rivers is reportedly playing on a one-year, $25 million deal, while Brissett is heading into the final year of his contract and slated to have a cap hit of $21.375 million. It’s hard to believe the Colts would want more than $46 million tied up in the quarterback position, but they have plenty of cap space and don’t have to be in any hurry to get rid of Brissett’s number. Rivers was brought in to start, while Brissett’s future is up in the air.