The NFL world is still shaking after the shocking retirement of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.
The Colts were coming off a playoff season and Luck, fresh off winning the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award was ready to lead them even further this year. The team had become a trendy Super Bowl pick and much of that was due to the captain of the ship, Luck.
Instead, he became the first player to ever win the Comeback Player of the Year Award and then retire before the following season.
This leaves the Colts in disarray and many of the predictions surrounding the team now forecast a total collapse. Jacoby Brissett is a nice backup, but is he ready to lead the team on such short notice?
That will be a challenge for sure.
As a result, there’s a chance that the Colts’ front office is searching high and low for options that may be out there. This is similar to the type of panic move you experience with your fantasy team when your star player gets hurt in Week 1. You look at every other roster in your league and come up with trade scenarios to give yourself a better chance, right?
The Colts aren’t ready to write the season off and despite their the confidence they will show in Brissett publicly (they have to do that), they know better options might exist. Brissett has made 17 career starts and while completing just 59 percent of his throws, also has just a 5-12 win-loss record.
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Could Tyrod Taylor of the Los Angeles Chargers be an option?
Taylor’s signing was one of the strangest of the offseason and right after it was official, the idea of Taylor being future trade bait popped up. Sure, he’s a great backup, but the Chargers haven’t really needed a backup since Philip Rivers took the field as the starter.
Rivers has not missed a start so the odds of Taylor having to play this year are low. The Chargers could trade Taylor and move on with Easton Stick as the true future behind Rivers or even keep both Stick and Cardale Jones (making one of them a gameday inactive) for added insurance.
Of course, there would need to be a strong incentive for the Chargers to do this. The Chargers are weak along the offensive line and would likely ask for one of the Colts’ offensive linemen in return. The Colts are widely regarded as having one of the league’s most stable and efficient offensive lines.
While the Chargers aren’t going to get a guy like Quenton Nelson or even a guy like Anthony Costanzo in return, a trade like this could work:
If the Chargers could pull this off, it would be a solid trade. Le’Raven Clark was a third-round pick in 2016 and still has plenty of tread on the tires. He’s a tackle by trade by can play all over the offensive line and has 12 career starts to his credit. He would give the Chargers another option aside from Sam Tevi and Trent Scott at tackle while Russell Okung is on the mend.
If they could also get a future draft pick out, it would be a win for the Chargers.
Now I know what you’re thinking. The Colts and Chargers play in Week 1 of the regular season, why would the Chargers want to give the Colts any kind of help? Well, the trade doesn’t need to happen immediately and could happen a couple of weeks into the season should the Colts get off to a rough start.
After back-to-back road games to start the season against the Chargers and Tennessee Titans, the Colts face the Atlanta Falcons in their home opener. If they start 0-3 or even 1-2 behind Brissett, a trade for a player like Taylor would be an option on the table.
Taylor has 46 career starts to his credit and a winning percentage of .527. That’s just a tad better than the .294 winning percentage posted by Brissett. Taylor is more experienced, has a higher completion percentage and knows what it’s like to lift a franchise up (he helped snap Buffalo’s 17-year playoff drought in 2017). The Colts could do a lot worse and at the very least, should gauge the Chargers’ interest.
It was a tough blow for the Colts to lose Luck but it’s still one the team can overcome and attempt to stay on course for a trip to the big game. Unless, of course, they believe Brissett can get them there. Do you?