According to Outkick’s Armando Salguero, the Indianapolis Colts didn’t just reach out to recently re-signed quarterback Philip Rivers among retired veteran options, as the team also reached out to Derek Carr:
“Why are the Colts doing this? Start with the fact they called other quarterbacks to gauge their interest in signing. They called Derek Carr, per a source,” Salguero writes.
The 34-year-old Carr, who’s a decade younger than Rivers, declined the opportunity. The 4x NFL Pro Bowl quarterback played 11 years in the NFL, most notably with the Raiders organization, before retiring this past May due to longstanding pain in his right throwing shoulder which nay have required additional offseason surgery.
During 10 starts for the New Orleans Saints last year, Carr completed 189 of 279 pass attempts (67.7%) for 2,145 total passing yards, 15 passing touchdowns, and 5 interceptions during 10 starts.
However, in the aftermath of starter Daniel Jones’s season-ending torn Achilles injury this past Sunday, Carr wasn’t the only replacement quarterback option that the Colts apparently reached out to over the last 72 hours.
Specifically, per The Denver Post’s Parker Gabriel, Indianapolis also reached out to former Colts quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who’s now on the Denver Broncos practice squad, but the past Texas Longhorn standout declined the opportunity for potentially more realistic immediate playing time.
Originally a 2021 6th round pick of the Colts, Ehlinger obviously knows the Colts offensive playbook and system—having played under current Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen for the 2023-24 seasons. He has 3 career starts, all for the Colts back in 2022, and last appeared in an NFL game, back in 2023 for Indianapolis.
Ehlinger indicated that “the Colts were trying to bring him in likely along with Rivers,” per Gabriel.
This likely means that the Colts were looking at Ehlinger to fill their QB3 role (or maybe QB2 if Riley Leonard [knee] couldn’t go?) on the 53-man active roster, and backup QB Brett Rypien, who was elevated to the active roster on Wednesday, would’ve presumably remained on their practice squad for additional positional depth.
As for Ehlinger, given that he’s only a listed 6,‘1”, 222 pounds, and having seen the success that Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton previously had with future Hall of Famer Drew Brees (6,’0,” 209 pounds) with the New Orleans Saints, and I can see why he would want to continue to stay in the breathtaking Rocky Mountains. Not to mention, he’s on an 11-2 playoff team right now, whereas Indianapolis will be incredibly lucky to get in.
Needless to say, the Colts performed their due diligence among potential quarterback options before bringing back unretired longtime NFL veteran quarterback Philip Rivers for this season’s final stretch run as a starter.
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