Deep dive into Colts' QB options from Carson Wentz to Jimmy Garoppolo to Desmond Ridder
INDIANAPOLIS — For one week, the main characters of the NFL were in Indianapolis all waiting on the same couple of dominos to fall: Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson.
It's a quarterback-driven league, with a collectively poor quarterback draft on tap, and the power was resting in two of the best arms of the past two decades.
The trend that Tom Brady started and Matthew Stafford followed has top passers engineering new destinations where they can be happier and still win a Super Bowl. Aaron Rodgers dabbled in it before staying with the Packers. Russell Wilson is headed to the Seahawks to try to become the next in the lineage.
And now, an entire league can finally get moving on any other quarterback plans they might have had. That includes the Colts, who have faced some of the toughest questions and worst-kept secrets of this quarterback carousel.
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Here's a read on where they stood with the top quarterback names on the market, starting with their own:
Carson Wentz
Once again, Colts brass had a scheduled press conference where they could have come out and said that Carson Wentz was coming back to Indianapolis. They could have said they'd reassessed, that they'd come down from the vitriol of a late-season flameout and that they wanted to build around their guy the way the Browns, Dolphins and Vikings all did.
That is not what happened.
"I believe he’s going to continue to have a lot of success at quarterback," coach Frank Reich said of Wentz, who threw 27 touchdowns to 7 interceptions for the 9-8 Colts. "That might be here. It might not be here."
Said general manager Chris Ballard, "I know I’m going to get a lot of questions about Carson right now. I don’t have a direct answer for you. We’re working through it."
If it sounded like the two men were saying goodbye, it's because they were. Wentz is done in Indianapolis. He won't be on the roster come March 19, when an additional $12 million of his salary locks in, and everyone whose decision matters knows it: Reich, Ballard and owner Jim Irsay.
Wentz might know it now as well, after he met with Ballard for one hour the morning before his general manager took the podium.
The three decision makers arrived here by different reasoning, on various levels of fire and brimstone and disappointment. The hours-long meeting the night the season collapsed in Jacksonville was the start of seeking out a new path.
Finding a replacement without a first-round pick will be difficult. Landing an upgrade might or might not happen. But it isn't about an upgrade at this point.
It's about a change — to a player with a more stable playing style, to one who grows from criticism rather than shrinks under it, to a leader they feel better about as the face of the franchise.
With that frame of mind, the Colts approached the combine with open eyes, ears and minds. They knew their trade budget wasn't the same as everyone else's. They watched and met with rookies. They scouted out the free agent landscape.
The Colts are not the Broncos here, with a secret lever to pull to show everyone they had the answer all along. They're operating the way they did with Wentz a year ago, with Philip Rivers the year before that and ever since Andrew Luck abruptly retired in the 2019 preseason.
"I'd like to quit band-aiding it," Ballard said. "I'd like for Carson to be the long-term answer or to find someone who's going to be here for the next 10-12 years.
"Sometimes it doesn't work out that way, man. I can dream about it and wish about it and do everything I can to figure out the solution, but you do the best you can do at the time."
The only change is they really, really, really want to contend this season. They feel like they owe it to the star players they have in their primes and to the culture they've all built together.
They're not punting the decision to 2023.
Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson
For the entirety of the combine, the Packers and Seahawks and their army of employees did their best to convince everyone that neither quarterback was going anywhere. It turns out they had different purposes in mind: Green Bay didn't want to upset Rodgers and Seattle knew it was only really trading with one team.
Green Bay got its wish when Rodgers announced Tuesday he would return. Denver got its second choice in Wilson by sending two first-round picks, two second-round picks and a fifth-rounder in addition to quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant and defensive lineman Shelby Harris.
The Colts couldn't have come near Denver's offer even if they were a team Wilson would waive his no-trade clause for. The No. 9 pick in this year's draft was the key difference.
Rodgers and Wilson were never options for the Colts. Indianapolis was never fooled into thinking otherwise.
Again, moving off Wentz was not about finding an upgrade. It's about doing the best they can with someone else.
Jimmy Garoppolo
The buzz got interesting on Jimmy Garoppolo as the week moved along and Wilson and Rodgers appeared off the table. One day after the Colts met with Carson Wentz for an hour and then spoke publicly as if he were gone, the 49ers brass spoke about Garoppolo with an acknowledgment that he could be had in a trade.
"A lot of people need or want quarterbacks right now and he's obviously a guy they'd look at," 49ers general manager John Lynch said. "So, yes, we have listened."
Just that morning, news broke that Garoppolo was undergoing shoulder surgery. He'd been needing it since the postseason, but deciding to undergo it during the combine and scheduling it for the day after everyone returned from Indianapolis was interesting timing. He'll now miss 16 weeks of throwing, but he's set to be ready by training camp.
The question is for which team. Lynch spoke with confidence that the surgery would not affect his trade value. The 49ers know he's the top option left on the trade market right now.
Coming off a year that fell one drive short of a second Super Bowl appearance in three years, the 49ers want to stay aggressive with George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Nick Bosa in their primes and Trent Williams on the back-nine of his career. They're reportedly highly interested in cornerbacks, one of their only positional needs.
The Colts want to avoid trading their second-round pick, as it would leave them without a selection until No. 82 overall. The third-rounder is more realistic, though it's still a valuable asset. They could stomach it better if they're able to add a pick in the Rounds 4-6 range for Wentz.
One idea that could work is if the 49ers are interested in Rock Ya-Sin, who is coming off somewhat of a breakout season and has a year left on his rookie contract.
As a non-athlete prone to ill-timed throws, Garoppolo isn't the sexiest quarterback addition, but he answers the off-the-field questions the Colts have had with Wentz. He enters a building and talks and acts like "the guy." Now 37-16 as a starter, he has a resume new teammates can respect and a history of working through adversity, from Tom Brady's shadow to a trade to injuries to the 49ers trading up to draft his replacement in Trey Lance.
The Colts are going to have a fifth quarterback in five years, but they want to avoid a sixth in six years. Garoppolo, who is 30, represents a starter who won't break the bank and allows a team with seven Pro Bowls to extend stars like Quenton Nelson and Jonathan Taylor, and to build in the mold of the 49ers. He could sign an extension and create a two- to three-year window that helps bridge a contender, the way he did for the 49ers.
The Colts don't believe they need a Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen to chase their goals. They believe they need to make the playoffs. Garoppolo can get them there.
It's why he's the cleanest and most likely option given the trade relationship these franchises have held since the DeForest Buckner deal in 2019. As things stay quiet, keep in mind that deal was kept under seal for weeks on end.
Quarterbacks in NFL Draft 2022
If the Colts don't want to keep band-aiding at quarterback, they have to remain open to this year's draft. On one hand, it's a weaker class overall and they don't have a first-round pick. But if other teams decide to sit it out and wait for the loaded 2023 crop, that could allow a player to fall from where he's currently projected.
One player who seems like that could happen with is Matt Corral. The Mississippi quarterback was once in the conversation to go in the top 10, but he hasn't had a good 2022 so far. He sprained his ankle in the Sugar Bowl, which delayed his recovery enough to where he opted out of anything physical at the combine. That made him a harder read for the questions teams have about whether he's a product of Lane Kiffin's system or a player who can transcend scheme.
If the Colts determine he is mostly a system quarterback, that could still work for them. The intangibles, again, are key. They believe in the talent they have or will have by next season and in Reich's and offensive coordinator Marcus Brady's abilities to develop a player who is highly coachable.
It's more likely that their options would include Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder, Nevada's Carson Strong and North Carolina's Sam Howell. They could wait to see which is there at No. 47 or trade up into the end of the first round, where they can secure the fifth-year option.
They all have different appeals: Howell is the most explosive through the air and on the ground. Ridder is the best athlete, with a 4.52-second 40-yard dash, and he's improved each season. Strong is the most accurate thrower and the biggest personality.
They also have different flaws: Howell's big plays come with misses and crushing sacks. Ridder has spotty accuracy and ball placement in the intermediate part of the field. Strong is a year removed from knee surgery and is not an exceptional athlete in the pocket.
Given how the Colts want to play on offense, Ridder and Strong took especially nice steps in their auditions for them this week. If the Colts are interested in this route, they need to have multiple options they like since they cannot dictate the order, and they might need a veteran place-holder such as Teddy Bridgewater.
But do not expect such a signing to be the end of this quarterback search.
Other options
Here's a quick run-down of other names that have been tossed around as potential options:
Mitchell Trubisky: The former No. 2 pick of the draft is expected to have the most robust market of any free agent quarterback. The Bills have done a good job selling his improvements as a backup to Josh Allen, and it's even come from defensive coaches this week. It's possible Matt Nagy held him back in Chicago, and he does display the coachable traits and mental toughness the Colts are looking for, but it's hard to shake the similarities to Wentz: a former No. 2 pick who burned with his original team due to questions about his throwing mechanics.
Jordan Love: With Rodgers staying in Green Bay, the Packers are expected to open trade conversations on the quarterback they drafted to replace him. Love has two years left on his rookie contract before he's eligible for a fifth-year option. He did not show much growth in his 62 attempts last season, completing 58% of passes for two touchdowns and three interceptions. Given that poor debut, the Colts would have to still be in love with the prospect he was ahead of the draft, and that currently seems like a stretch. Love could present a downgrade on the field to Wentz in the immediate, which would be a tough pill to swallow.
Matt Ryan: The expectation is that the Falcons want to try to compete in a year where their NFC South counterparts are all looking for quarterbacks. If that's the case, Ryan is likely off the table. But if their stance changes, they could fall in love with the 2023 crop of quarterbacks, in which case an additional 2023 first-round pick would be everything. Moving Ryan is messy, as he carries a $40.5 million dead cap. The Colts would have to get very creative by restructuring Wentz to pay all of his 2022 salary, sending him to Atlanta with a 2023 first and designating the move for after June 1. It could be a good option for them in light of what Stafford just accomplished, though Ryan will turn 37 this spring.
Kirk Cousins: The expectation, like with Ryan, is that the Vikings are prepared to keep going with Cousins, who also has a massive dead-cap number. It's possible that Rodgers' return could alter that thinking some. Cousins would bring so much of what the Colts want to where his $35 million salary could be something to stomach, except for one holdup: Cousins isn't vaccinated. He isn't coming to Indianapolis.
Contact Colts insider Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.