Getty Indianapolis Colts coach Frank Reich
The Indianapolis Colts are committed to Jacoby Brissett.
The Colts had already handed the starting job to Brissett in the wake of Andrew Luck’s retirement, but they cemented the idea that the 26-year-old is their franchise quarterback by signing him to a two-year contract extension worth $30 million on Labor Day, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
The #Colts and QB Jacoby Brissett have agreed to terms on a 2-year extension worth $30M, source said. He gets $20M guaranteed at signing. Some security for the new Indy starter.
Brissett gets $20 million guaranteed — which obviously gives the young and unproven quarterback financial flexibility. However, the Colts walk away from this signing as the big winners considering if Brissett performs well this season, they get a bargain deal as he’s the 19th-highest-paid quarterback in the league.
The players that rank below Brissett are still on their rookie deals. Furthermore, Indianapolis isn’t faced with having to franchise tag Brissett in March.
Ben Volin of the Boston Globe clarifies that this contract will go into immediate effect.
“I’m told it’s a two year, $30m deal for Brissett, with $20m fully guaranteed at signing. He’ll make $15m this year, a nice bump up from the $2m he was set to make. And he did this without an official agent.”
Colts Sign Brian Hoyer
The signing of Brissett caps off a busy day in which the Colts also signed a veteran backup in Brian Hoyer to a three-year, $12 million deal. Both Hoyer and Brissett were backups of Tom Brady and are familiar with the New England Patriots’ offensive system.
The Colts have shown nothing but support for their new franchise quarterback, who had actually started the entire 2017 season for them during Luck’s injury-plagued campaign. Brissett threw for 3,038 yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions during his full year as the starter.
Jacoby Brissett’s Play With Colts
Although the individual statistics don’t appear to be that impressive, keep in mind that the Colts lost five games that season by blowing leads that they had entering the fourth quarter. In other words, the young Brissett gave the Colts chances to win late in games, only for the team to sputter those victories away as they finished the 2017 season with a 4-12 record.
Here are some interesting tidbits from that misleading season of the Colts, courtesy of Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis.
- The 2017 Colts may have finished 4-12, but in their 16-game season, the Colts trailed at halftime in only 6 games. They held halftime leads in 9 games. Yet they went 2-7 in games they led at halftime.
- The 2017 Colts are the ONLY team in the last 27 years to lose at least 7 games which they led at halftime.
- The 2017 Colts are the ONLY team in the last 20 years to hold a lead entering the 4th quarter in at least 9 games, but win no more than 4 games.
- In their first 11 games of the season, the Colts led entering the 4th quarter in 8 games. The only two teams that led entering the 4th quarter more than 8 games (through 11) were the Super Bowl Champion Eagles and the Super Bowl runner-up Patriots.
In other words, bad play-calling and bad coaching led to their dismal 4-12 record — not Brissett, who actually proved to be an adequate quarterback.
Many are dismissing the Colts in the wake of Luck’s retirement. In fact, most have the Houston Texans pegged to win the AFC South and most would probably say the Tennessee Titans will be better than the Colts at this point.
It would be foolish to dismiss the Colts in 2019.
Expect them to be a lot better than people expect them to be — especially now that their quarterback is more seasoned and is now signed to a respectable contract.