Can Phillip Rivers Get the Colts Back on Track?

When the Los Angeles Chargers broke the news that they were letting their long time quarterback, Philip Rivers, go his path to Indianapolis was all but given. While there were plenty of teams looking for a potential future Hall of Fame quarterback, the Colts had a leg up. It wasn’t long ago Colts head coach Frank Reich was with the Chargers. His familiarity with Rivers made it the perfect fit.

Reich served as the offensive coordinator for the Chargers and a quarterbacks coach in Rivers’ time as QB. His connection to Rivers will make the transition easier. Philip Rivers only signed a one-year deal with the Colts and will certainly be the veteran leadership they need.

But what about Brissett?

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What is the role of Rivers in Indy? Has the team already given up on Jacoby Brissett or is he there just to mentor him and tutor the ins and outs of a Reich-lead team? If he does well enough, will he be resigned at the end of the season? Will the team draft his replacement in this year’s draft?

Before Andrew Luck hung it up, the Colts were heavily favored as a playoff team and Rivers is at the same skill set as Luck was despite being a few years older. Stat hounds will point to Rivers’ consistency over the years on top of his health. Armchair experts will point to his inability to make it to the Super Bowl. However, he’ll be an instant upgrade over their current class of quarterbacks.

Despite that, the Colts still will have a giant question mark for their future. At 38, Rivers isn’t a long term answer. His one year deal might just be to test his success. Today’s NFL is seeing more and more quarterbacks pushing into their late 30s and early 40s before retiring. Did Philip Rivers extend his career playing the fair-weather markets?

Whatever the case may be, the Colts will be playing catch up to a solid Houston Texans team as well as the Tennessee Titans who were both playoff teams last year. Rivers will give them the flexibility to choose wisely in this year’s draft allowing them to draft and develop from later rounds or hit the free-agent market hard next year. However, will one year be enough?