Signing a 44-year old QB? Why the Colts are in too deep

AI-assisted summary
• The Indianapolis Colts signed 44-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers to their practice squad.
• GM Chris Ballard recently traded two first-round picks for CB Sauce Gardner, signaling a ‘win-now’ approach.
• The signing of Rivers highlights the team’s lack of a reliable backup quarterback after going all-in at the trade deadline.

I’m not a poker player. Spades and Hearts are my games − maybe Solitaire or Go Fish with the kids.

But I’ve seen “Rounders,” “Casino Royale” and enough coverage of games of chance and skill on ESPN and other outlets over the years to know that when you’re pot committed, you better not overplay your hand.

Unfortunately, the Indianapolis Colts’ decision to sign 44-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers to their practice squad Tuesday seems like a strong tell that the organization and longtime general manager Chris Ballard did exactly that.

On one level you have to feel for the Colts. Ballard seemed to inherit a full house when he took the job in 2017 – then-quarterback Andrew Luck worth three aces on his own. But Indy was dealt a terrible hand when oft-injured Luck shockingly retired two weeks before the 2019 season – Ballard and Co. chasing a better one ever since, the Colts languishing outside the playoffs since Rivers last led them there in 2020 in what was purportedly his 17th and final NFL campaign.

Expectations for the team entering the 2025 season seemed modest at best, Ballard diversifying his QB options between Anthony Richardson − the tantalizingly gifted but raw, inexperienced, inconsistent and occasionally immature talent he chose fourth overall in the 2023 draft − and reclamation project Daniel Jones, once viewed as the future of the New York Giants.

Yet Jones took command of the Indianapolis offense, took command of the locker room, and the Colts took command of the AFC South with a 7-1 start. That was enough to spur Ballard – typically a conservative roster architect who prefers a draft-develop-reward/re-sign approach – to effectively push his chips into the middle of the table at the league’s Nov. 4 trade deadline by dealing two first-round picks, tantamount to parting with the crown jewels given his historical reticence for pricey acquisitions, to obtain New York Jets All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner.

And sure, maybe Ballard was on a warming seat nearly a decade into what’s been a disappointing tenure despite some key circumstances that had been beyond his control. But the big swing for Gardner also signaled Ballard’s belief that this team was championship caliber, and that his players should operate accordingly. And what a story it would be if the Colts could end what’s become nearly a two-decade championship drought just months after owner Jim Irsay’s stunning death.

Just one problem: Ballard didn’t account for a few of those chips, which apparently wound up under the table. After all, spending just a few more might have also given the Colts needed insurance at a quarterback position that’s been snakebit ever since Peyton Manning went under the knife 14 years ago. And Ballard has signed enough guys like Joe Flacco, Jacoby Brissett, Nick Foles and Gardner Minshew II to know you need reliable dudes like that around as fallbacks. He’s also drafted enough guys like Richardson, Sam Ehlinger and Jacob Eason to know nascent passers can’t be trusted or even expected to elevate the remainder of a roster.

But instead of anteing up for a Plan B QB at the trade deadline – current Giants third-stringer Russell Wilson, who’s on a one-year deal, would have been the obvious stopgap choice – Ballard decided to roll with Jones, rookie Riley Leonard and journeyman Brett Rypien, who resides on the practice squad. Not even Richardson, who’s been on injured reserve with an injured orbital bone for nearly two months, was an emergency option. The stratagem arguably veers into personnel malpractice given Jones had played on a fractured fibula in recent weeks before tearing his Achilles during Sunday’s loss at Jacksonville. Yet Ballard hadn’t brought in an experienced free agent like, say, Taylor Heinicke or poached a passer from another club’s practice squad in the interim.

Now, here we are – Rivers, a player-coach if there ever was one, back after nearly five years out of the league. Sure, he knows the organization. Sure, he knows head coach Shane Steichen and his playbook given all the years they spent together with the Chargers, and they’ve maintained their relationship since. Sure, Rivers is a Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback. Sure, he’s 44 but – in some respects given his limited physical gifts – he’s been a 44-year-old quarterback for the past 24 years. Right? And, yeah, this is all a bit whimsical.

But it’s hardly fair or reasonable to expect Rivers to pick up where he left off and take the Colts back to the playoffs, which they’re not even projected to make given how things shook out after Sunday’s setback. Even if Rivers is forced into the lineup – though hopefully not against that nasty Seahawks defense in Seattle this weekend – and catches lightning in a bottle like Flacco did two years ago for the Cleveland Browns and gets Indy as far as Week 19, what then? You don’t think defensive-centric teams like the Jaguars, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans or New England Patriots wouldn’t key on superstar back Jonathan Taylor and force a rusty guy born the year (1981) President Ronald Reagan took office to beat them?

Admittedly, there’s no major risk to signing Rivers. But there’s no legitimate upside, either. Even if he somehow won a playoff game, Ballard’s going to be in an unenviable position some time in January. And that means having a top-tier cornerback in a ground-and-pound division; one quarterback (Richardson) who seems ready for a fresh start; and another (Jones) rehabbing a serious injury but on the cusp of a free agency period that could bring a bidding war for his services – whether or not he’s ready to start the 2026 season. Oh, and no first-round pick as an alternative to remediate the quandary … next year or in 2027.

Poker is a cruel game. But by seemingly going with his heart of late, Ballard now has problems in spades … and could find himself in a solitary place, fishing for a new job soon enough.