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Matt Hasselbeck

Latest On Colts QB Andrew Luck

December 14th, 2015 at 2:49pm CST by Zachary Links

Recently, Colts owner Jim Irsay indicated that Andrew Luck could return from his lacerated kidney injury this week against the Texans. As it turns out, there’s still uncertainty over when or if Luck will return this season, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

Further complicating matters for the Colts is the status of Matt Hasselbeck. The aging QB was seen leaving the stadium on Sunday night with his left arm in a sling and his status going forward is also shaky. However, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears that all of Hasselbeck’s injuries are of the soft tissue variety and it is believed that he has not suffered any fractures.

It’s been a rough season so far for Luck, who was sidelined a shoulder injury earlier in the year and reportedly played with broken ribs leading up to his November kidney injury. The former first overall pick has only won two of his seven starts, having completed just 55.3% of his passes, with 12 interceptions and a career-low 6.4 yards per attempt.

Mort & Schefter: Manziel, Hasselbeck, Martin

December 10th, 2015 at 5:27pm CST by Zachary Links

When Johnny Manziel takes the field for the Browns on Sunday, he won’t just be auditioning for Cleveland – he’ll be showing his stuff to every team who could want a QB in 2016, Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com write. One prominent team executive tells the ESPN duo that he’s not optimistic about the impression Manziel can make on the Browns’ front office given the cast around him.

“He would almost have to be spectacular and the Browns win games we don’t expect them to win. And even then, to what extent has [Manziel] burned bridges there where no matter what he does, either the present regime or the next regime will still be looking for another guy?” the executive said.

Here’s more from their column:

  • Two GMs say that if 40-year-old Colts quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has the desire to play another season, he will have an opportunity to be one of the more valued free agents on the open market. Hasselbeck obviously isn’t going to get a $100MM deal, but a deal paying him as much as $5MM to serve as a backup for a contender makes sense. One GM even suggested it was short-sighted to look at Hasselbeck as simply a mentor for a team with a young quarterback. He said Hasselbeck also would be ideal for an established quarterback who is going through a coordinator change.
  • Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson, Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey, and Alabama running back Derrick Henry are this year’s frontrunners for the Heisman trophy and the ESPN duo spoke with NFL personnel people to get their evaluations of their NFL futures. Henry, who will be eligible for the 2016 draft, has drawn comparisons to Eddie George (though perhaps without the same upside) and one exec sees him as a top 20 pick. Watson and McCaffrey both have upside as well, but they will not be eligible until 2017.
  • It would not be surprising to see Mark Ingram‘s deal serve as a model for Doug Martin‘s before free agency this winter, Mort and Schef write. After seeing his fifth-year option declined, Ingram inked a four-year, $16MM deal with the Saints last offseason that included $7.6MM guaranteed. Now in a similar spot, the Bucs have made it known that they want to retain Martin.

Colts To Start Matt Hasselbeck Vs. Jaguars

October 4th, 2015 at 11:29am CST by Dallas Robinson

Andrew Luck will be among the Colts’ inactives when the club faces the Jaguars later today, the club announced, meaning that veteran Matt Hasselbeck will be thrust into the starting quarterback role. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), Indianapolis performed tests on Luck’s injured shoulder and found no structural damage, so it’s possible that Luck’s injury is of the short-term variety.

Today’s contest will mark the first that Luck has missed during his career, as he had started 51 straight games since entering the league in 2012. The 26-year-old had been laboring through his worst season yet, completing just 56% his passes en route to a 5:7 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report tweeted last Sunday that many coaches and executives around the league believed that Luck was injured, and obviously his subpar statistics gave some validation to that claim.

Hasselbeck, now 40 years old, will earn his first start since 2012. Since signing with the Colts prior to the 2013 season, Hasselbeck has appeared in seven games in relief of Luck, attempting 56 passes for 431 yards and two scores. The former Seahawk will try to manage the Colts’ offense as the club attempts to even its record at 2-2.

Colts Sign Matt Hasselbeck To Extension

March 3rd, 2015 at 9:43am CST by Zachary Links

MARCH 3: Hasslebeck’s new one-year deal is worth $3MM, with a $1MM signing bonus, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today.

FEBRUARY 26: The Colts announced that they have signed quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to an extension, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk tweets. Some expected that Hasselbeck would consider retirement, but he’ll give it a go for at least one more season.

The veteran has been praised as being a quality mentor for young starter Andrew Luck. The seasoned veteran will celebrate his 40th birthday on September 25th. Back in July, Hasselbeck explained that he had no intention of hanging up his cleats anytime soon.

“Ideally, that would be a dream come true,” Hasselbeck said. “There’s no timetable where I need to make a call on that, but I set a short term goal of finishing my contract. I’m close to accomplishing that and if I do, I’ll have to figure out a new goal.”

Hasselbeck was a sixth-round pick in 1998, and has played for the Packers, Seahawks, Titans, and Colts during over the course of the last decade and a half. While he has 152 career starts to his name, the 39-year-old has transitioned into a backup role late in his career. Last year, Hasselbeck was one of the highest-paid backup quarterbacks in the league with a $3.625MM salary.

Extra Points: Allen, Wayne, Eagles, Bears

December 31st, 2014 at 9:01pm CST by Zachary Links

Washington GM Bruce Allen held his year-end press conference today and was put in a position where he more or less had to defend his job, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes. At the presser, Allen defended the signing of free agent defensive end Jason Hatcher and putting the franchise tag on linebacker Brian Orakpo. Orakpo was given the franchise tag despite a serious injury history and Hatcher was given a lucrative deal despite mild production prior to his walk year. Here’s more from around the league in our New Year’s Eve edition of Extra Points..

  • If pressed for a decision, Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne says he’d come back for 2015, ESPN.com’s Mike Wells writes. “If I had to answer that question today, I’d say I’ll be back… as long as the Colts would have me,” he said on his weekly radio show on WNDE-1260 AM in Indianapolis on Tuesday.
  • The Eagles released Tom Gamble, their vice president of player personnel, earlier today. The move adds weight to speculation that coach Chip Kelly and general manager Howie Roseman have not seen eye to eye over the last year, ESPN.com’s Phil Sheridan writes.
  • The Bears have requested to interview five GM candidates, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter): Chris Ballard (Chiefs), Lake Dawson (Titans), Eric DeCosta (Ravens), Brian Gaine (Texans), and Ryan Pace (Saints).
  • Colts backup Matt Hasselbeck isn’t under contract for 2015, but he’s also not thinking about retirement, writes Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star. Neither he nor the Colts have discussed a return just yet, but he sounds very open to the idea.
  • The Buccaneers like Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, but they could have competition for his services, according to Alex Marvez of FOX Sports. A source says that Koetter is held in high regard by two other head coaching candidates: Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and San Francisco defensive line coach Jim Tomsula.
  • Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap looked ahead at what’s in store for the Titans this offseason.
  • Vikings defensive tackle Tom Johnson declined a plea bargain on an October arrest, as Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press writes. Johnson becomes a free agent in early March and has said that he will seek a multi-year deal.

Hasselbeck Hopes To Play For Colts Beyond ’14

July 7th, 2014 at 1:27pm CST by Luke Adams

Matt Hasselbeck is entering the final season of his two-year contract as Andrew Luck‘s backup in Indianapolis, but if it were up to him, his time with the Colts may extend past 2014. As he tells Kevin Bowen of Colts.com, Hasselbeck would love to continue his playing career in Indianapolis in 2015 and beyond.

“Ideally, that would be a dream come true,” Hasselbeck said. “There’s no timetable where I need to make a call on that, but I set a short term goal of finishing my contract. I’m close to accomplishing that and if I do, I’ll have to figure out a new goal.”

One of the NFL’s longest-tenured players, Hasselbeck was a sixth-round pick in 1998, and has played for the Packers, Seahawks, Titans, and Colts during over the course of the last decade and a half. While he has 152 career starts to his name, the 38-year-old has transitioned into a backup role late in his career, and likely will only see the field in blowout wins or losses in ’14, barring an injury to Luck.

Still, at $3.625MM per year, Hasselbeck is one of the league’s highest-paid backups. If the Colts have interest in re-signing the veteran signal-caller when his current contract expires, it would likely be at a slightly more modest rate. We’ll have to wait and see whether Indianapolis wants to move on to a younger option, but the club showed this offseason that it doesn’t mind employing players well into their 40s, re-signing kicker Adam Vinatieri to a two-year contract that will keep him under team control until he turns 43.