Jacoby Brissett Trade Rumors: Colts Plan to Keep 'Special' QB After Rivers Deal

The Indianapolis Colts have officially signed Philip Rivers, but that addition reportedly won't lead to the subtraction of "special guy" Jacoby Brissett from the team's quarterback room, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler:

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported on Tuesday that Indy had agreed with Rivers on a one-year contract worth "roughly" $25 million. The Colts confirmed the move on Saturday:

Brissett became Indianapolis' full-time starter after 2012 top overall pick Andrew Luck's abrupt retirement announcement last August. The Colts subsequently signed their 27-year-old backup to a two-year, $30 million contract. 

"We did a two-year deal with Jacoby to find out [what we had]," general manger Chris Ballard told reporters during February's combine.

He continued:

"We like Jacoby Brissett. Love what he stands for. It was almost a tale of two seasons where we're 5-2, he's playing good football. He had the injury and we had injuries as a team and we kind of slid down. We did the short term deal to see what we had. To say we're going to create competition, we're going to create competition at any spot. That's going to be a year-to-year thing."

Brissett's 2019 performance was up and down, thrown off course by a sprained MCL suffered in Week 9. The Colts went 2-6 after his knee injury to finish 7-9, and Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni told Jim Ayello of the Indianapolis Star prior to the team's final game of last season he saw a difference in Brissett post-injury.

"I've seen a little bit in the last two steps of his drop has been a little bit different since the knee injury, which messes up timing a little bit," Sirianni said. "It has to do with his knee. I know exactly what he will say, but I have definitely noticed the last two steps that have been a little bit affected."

Brissett finished 2,942 yards, 18 touchdowns and six interceptions on a 60.9 completion percentage across 15 starts. Brian Hoyer started Week 10 in his place, and the Colts released Hoyer on Saturday:

Rivers finished his 16-season Los Angeles Chargers tenure as the franchise's all-time leader in career passing yards (59,271) and career passing touchdowns (397) and has the most wins of all quarterbacks at 123-101. However, the 2004 fourth overall pick showed a drop-off in 2019 with 4,615 yards, 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions for a 48.6 quarterback rating. Brissett owned a 50.1 season QBR.

"Philip is a fierce competitor and his veteran leadership will be crucial in the continued development of our young roster," Ballard said in a corresponding statement to Rivers' signing, and the sentiment feels directly related to Brissett.