What are Colts' best QB options after Carson Wentz trade?

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10) passes against the Minnesota Vikings during the first half of a divisional playoff game, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)

The NFL’s chaotic quarterback carousel has been front and centre this week with Aaron Rodgers re-upping in Green Bay, Russell Wilson traded from Seattle to Denver and rumours the Seahawks could entertain adding Deshaun Watson.

Adding to the chaos was Wednesday’s news the Indianapolis Colts are ending the Carson Wentz experiment after just one season.

The trade, which can’t be made official until next week and the start of the new league year, has the Colts reportedly sending Wentz and a 2022 second-round pick to the Washington Commanders for their 2022 second- and third-round selections, plus a conditional second or third in 2023.

Denver’s Super Bowl LVII odds have improved from around +4400 to roughly +1200 in the past week thanks to them acquiring Wilson.

That wasn’t the effect the Wentz trade had on either team involved.

The Colts had Super Bowl odds as low as +2000 one month ago but now that the team’s QB situation is a mystery they sit at roughly +3000.

On the flipside, despite theoretically improving their starting QB, Washington’s odds remained at around +5000 depending on which sportsbook you view. That suggests oddsmakers do not believe Wentz is the answer to turn the Commanders into contenders.

The Colts have been in relative disarray behind centre ever since Andrew Luck’s surprise retirement in 2019, which ironically was announced several months after he won the league’s Comeback Player of the Year award for the 2018 season.

Indy head coach Frank Reich deserves plenty of credit for the limited success the team has had while dealing with constant QB turnover. He’s 37-28 with only one sub-.500 season plus a pair of playoff appearances over the past four years.

Reich and the Colts are now set to enter their fifth consecutive year with a different starter, something All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard mentioned on Twitter Wednesday while wishing his now-former QB a fond farewell.

Jacoby Brissett was a serviceable short-notice stopgap in 2019 but he was better suited for a backup role. Brissett went 7-8 in 15 starts (Brian Hoyer went 0-1 that year) with a 3:1 TD:INT ratio and the Colts missed the playoffs.

The following year saw Philip Rivers come to town for his final NFL season. The longtime Chargers star led the Colts to an 11-5 regular season finish, the team’s best record since 2014. They fell to the Bills in the playoffs, though, and Rivers announced his retirement later that off-season.

Wentz posted decent numbers in 2021, however his game film consistently showed a propensity towards costly mistakes at some of the most inopportune times possible.

Indianapolis went on an 8-2 run from mid-October through December but their season was bookended by a 1-4 start to the year plus back-to-back losses to close out the year, which kept them out of the playoffs.

Wentz had 27 touchdown passes and only threw seven interceptions and added five lost fumbles. He turned the ball over at least once in eight of his 17 starts this past season; the Colts were 2-6 in those games.

Taken second overall by Philadelphia in 2016 behind Jared Goff, Wentz’s errors too often have overshadowed his high upside.

A 26-11 loss to the last-place Jaguars in Week 17 where Wentz was sacked six times, lost another fumble and threw the pick you see above could’ve been the final bit of evidence the Colts front office needed to decide they’d go in a different direction this off-season.

Which specific direction that’ll be will be determined in the next few weeks.

Something has gone terribly wrong if the Colts end up starting sophomore sixth-round pick Sam Ehlinger in Week 1.

So, where do they go from here?

“I'd like to quit Band-Aiding it,” Colts general manager Chris Ballard told reporters in January when discussing the QB situation at his end-of-season press conference. “I'd like for Carson to be the long-term answer or find somebody who will be here for the next 10 to 12 years.”

Will Ballard be able to find that answer this off-season? If he does, it’ll be via one of the following three avenues.

FREE AGENCY
With Wentz’s $28-million salary in Washington, Ballard has more than $69 million available heading into free agency, so there’s no shortage of options as to how this money can be utilized.

One option is Jameis Winston.

What does the 2015 first-overall pick bring to the table…besides having the EXACT same workout regimen as me?

Well, in addition to eating Ws for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Winston also excels at extending plays and stretching the field. Rounding into maturity, he was on pace to throw fewer than 10 interceptions for the first time in his career in 2021. He had 14 TDs to just three INTs in seven appearances with the Saints before his season-ending knee injury.

It’s likely a better situation for Winston if he’s able to work out a deal with New Orleans. The Colts have an excellent rushing attack and offensive line Winston could benefit from if he decided to head to the AFC South.

Teddy Bridgewater, no longer in the picture in Denver, would be a cost-effective, short-term option. The ceiling is relatively low, but the floor is high with Bridgewater making infrequent mistakes and knowing how to command a huddle.

If the Colts prefer a more mobile option, they could consider previous second-overall picks Marcus Mariota or Mitch Trubisky.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott recently said he doubts Buffalo will be able to bring back Trubisky, who backed up Josh Allen last year following four up-and-down seasons in Chicago. The consensus on Trubisky is he never quite reached his full potential with the Bears thanks in part to questionable coaching and play-calling. The New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers are among the teams expected to show interest in Trubisky.

Mariota has been Derek Carr’s backup with the Raiders the past two seasons. He was used in various short-yardage situations but has only attempted 30 regular-season passes in the past two years.

The Colts are positioned to be a win-now team. Mariota and Trubisky don’t exactly fit the win-now mould.

MAKE SOME PHONE CALLS
Jimmy Garoppolo recently helped lead the 49ers to their second NFC Championship game in three seasons and he is the most realistic starter Indy could land in a trade – a trade that would presumably cost less for the Colts than it did for them to acquire Wentz.

San Francisco can turn to 2021 third-overall pick Trey Lance to take over as starter and NFL insider Ian Rapoport wrote on Twitter that since the Colts are again looking for a QB we can “expect them to be in the mix for Jimmy Garoppolo.”

If you’re the Colts and you add Jimmy G, you’d be turning from one QB known for making risky passes and untimely interceptions to another. On the positive side, Garoppolo would be coming from a run-first offence that relied on skill players to rack up the YAC, not too dissimilar to a Colts offence that boasts the likes of Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman. Garoppolo is set to become a free agent after the 2022 campaign.

The Colts could potentially take a stab at trading for Derek Carr of the Raiders, although it seems likely he stays in Las Vegas. Perhaps they inquire about Jordan Love since he’s still stuck behind Rodgers in Green Bay.

Would they call the Atlanta Falcons to see if a mutually beneficial deal could be worked out that ends up with Matt Ryan chasing a Super Bowl with the Colts?

Kirk Cousins would be a more expensive win-now option than Garoppolo with the Vikings QB set to make $35 million guaranteed. To borrow a phrase from Ballard, that would be another version of Band-Aiding it.

THE ROOKIE CLASS
The 2022 NFL Draft class is considered underwhelming compared to previous drafts but, as we see annually, that won’t stop a couple teams from reaching on a quarterback.

The Colts don’t hold a first-round selection in 2022. They traded that pick to the Eagles to acquire Wentz one year ago. Even if the Colts had a first-rounder, this isn’t necessarily the year you’d want to use it on a pivot anyways.

Liberty’s Malik Willis has been the first QB off the board in many mock drafts yet Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett is the consensus most NFL-ready QB expected to be taken in the opening round.

Would the Colts consider trading back into the first round if they like either of these young QBs? Or would they consider using the 42nd overall pick to take someone like Sam Howell out of North Carolina, Matt Corral out of Ole Miss or Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder if they’re available when it’s time for Indy to call a name?

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