Monday brought about some…interesting news concerning how the Colts roster and new league year may play out. Besides the news of the greatest Colt to ever play the game walking away after 18 seasons the team that drafted him was busy looking to mold their roster for the upcoming 2016 season.
The first tidbit of news to surface concerned the Colts quarterback situation (alright-the back-up situation). The team announced that they were parting ways with the presumed back-up to Andrew Luck, in the misused talents of Josh Freeman. Freeman was thought to be the team’s choice after parting ways veteran QB, Matt Hasselbeck. The moves seems slightly odd as the only quarterback on the roster besides Luck is Stephen Morris, whom hasn’t thrown a pass in the league and is very green as a prospect. The Colts did have meetings with a few QBs at the combine as well.
The move may seem odd (at least it does to me), but it also signals that Ryan Grigson must have something up his sleeve once the new league year opens up on March 9th. The list of suitable backups is long and some names that may be of interest: Drew Staton (back up in 2012), Ryan Fitzpatrick (journeyman), Matt Schaub (journeyman), Matt Cassel (shown promise), Dan Orlovsky (back up in the lost season of 2011), Brandon Weedon (former starter in Cleveland and back up to Tony Romo last season), and Jimmy Clausen (played at Notre Dame). Oh, and RG3-but that’s not happening. Of these names, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Weedon as a possibility. He is relatively cheap and would fill the spot for a back-up QB. The other name I would look at would be Cassel due to his experience. I guess we’ll wait and see.
The second piece of news concerns the team re-signing a tight end to the team, but not the one most thought would be brought back. Dwayne Allen agreed to terms on a four year deal worth $30 million. What does this mean for Coby Fleener? That is the question many are asking after Fleener produced the best season of his career after mediocre results the previous year. Fleener has shown chemistry with Luck going back to his days at Stanford as a teammate to Luck, but has been criticized for his perceived deficiencies as a complete blocking tight end, which has been one of Allen’s strengths. Allen has had issues with injuries and will need to stay healthy this season to justify the signing. Will the team come to turns with Fleener? Stay tuned.
