In the wake of Andrew Luck‘s sudden retirement, the Colts are locking up his former backup. Indianapolis is giving Jacoby Brissett a two-year extension worth $30MM, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
Rapoport used the term extension, but Stephen Holder of The Athletic clarified in a tweet that it’s actually a two-year deal that will take the place of his current contract. That means Brissett only has one new year on his deal, and he’ll be under contract through the 2020 season not the 2021 season like some initially thought. Ben Volin of the Boston Globe originally tweeted that a deal was close. Per Rapoport, Brissett will get $20MM guaranteed at signing. It’s a big show of confidence from the Colts in their new starter just before the regular season kicks off. Brissett had been set to earn around $2MM in the final year of his rookie deal before this.
The North Carolina State product only attempted four passes last year, but he was the team’s starter for virtually the entire 2017 season when Luck was sidelined with a shoulder injury. That year he racked up 3,098 yards and 13 touchdowns while tossing seven interceptions. He averaged 6.6 yards per attempt and while the numbers weren’t anything to write home about, it was somewhat impressive given the circumstances. Brissett had been traded from the Patriots just before the start of the season, and then suddenly thrust into the starting role.
This time around he’s been practicing with the first-team for months, and he already has a full year in Frank Reich’s system under his belt. He’s got a better coaching staff, and a much better offensive line protecting him, so he should be able to improve on his 2017 results. In the end, the extension could end up working out well for both sides.
Brissett gets some security and a boatload of cash now, and the team ends up getting a huge discount if he shows well. If Brissett were to have a good season and establish himself as a starter, he would’ve gotten far more than this on the open market. Indy also gets to show that they’re all-in with Brissett, and avoid any doubt once regular season action kicks off.
The Colts signed Brian Hoyer to a three-year deal earlier today, but he clearly won’t be a threat to Brissett’s job with this type of commitment. Brissett has come a long way, as he was reportedly about to be cut by New England before Indianapolis traded for him. The Colts considered trading Brissett last summer when Luck made his return, and they’re surely glad they didn’t pull the trigger. The 91st pick of the 2016 draft will kick off his season against the Chargers on Sunday.
Will be a bargain if he performs even reasonably well. QB salaries are getting crazy.
It probably is a bargain already. Bears gave Glennon $15M per season back in 2017 and got a single win in return from him.
$15M/year for a backup QB is no bargain.
They’d be stuck paying him $20 million next year if Brissett doesn’t stink out the building. More if he does well. This way build a better relationship and spread the money. Clever move by front office.
Much better than the Redskins refusing to give Kirk Cousins a timely extension when he took over as the starting quarterback after the RGIII fiasco.
Wow
Unnecessary.
Agreed. Why do this? Do they really think he’s worth it? Would’ve been better to have him in a “prove it” contract this year and then figure out the finances from there. Could have used the franchise tag if necessary.
They buy an extra year to evaluate him.If he,and the team struggles this year,then they can draft their future starter,while keeping him in the fold,and then won’t have to force that guy into action.
For cost certainty. If he plays well, then they have him at a bargain price for one more season while giving them extra time to work out a new deal. If he plays bad, either he becomes the bridge QB or they cut him (since I imagine the guaranteed money for next season would be easy to manuever around). Also its a sign of faith in him, that management is behind me and that he can lead them. It should help boost his confidence and also provides some additional direction in that locker room.
They have massive cap room and QB contracts are much bigger than this. No risk high reward
Time to suck for…Tua….I couldn’t think on anything that rhymed….so we will just go with what they did to get Luck.
Suck for Luck’s replacement?
13 career tds 41.5 qbr. Threw 4 passes last year .
So many experts!
Handing Brissett an additional $27.9M to send a message to the locker room that ‘He’s our guy’ is an idiotic move by a normally smart Front Office. Flush with cap room, they’ve been handing out these types of sweetheart deals all offseason (See Rigoberto Sanchez, the long snapper & Kenny Moore). Ballard is so protective of his locker room culture, he should’ve used the cap room to execute a more aggressive free agency. What’s next? Give Sheard / Castonzo / Ebron above market deals for being good Colts?
That’s a lot of money for someone who hasn’t proven they can lead a team and perform up to the level this team will need him to perform up to in order to get to the playoffs. But I do get it, he’s the starter and wants to be paid like one even if it’s not paid like a top starter so good for him and good for them by doing this for him. I think they have improved the line finally after luck taking a beating all those games and they have some real talent all over the roster. The crazy thing is they still have a lot of cap space so they could continue to get better and also pay young guys that deserve a raise when they are ready for one. Even without luck this team should be ok with this guy. Not the super bowl contending team everyone was thinking they’d be but still not bad. Unless this guy is just terrible which I don’t see happening with all that talent and the protection he will have from the line.