The Indianapolis Colts finally have a new quarterback! It’s Gardner Minshew.
No, the journeyman quarterback isn’t expected to come in to be the starter but Chris Ballard has found the backup that Shane Steichen will pair with the expected incoming rookie.
The benefit of adding Minshew to the roster is if the Colts find a quarterback they want to not throw into the fire and develop him behind the scenes, then Minshew has the starting experience to hold the fort until the first-year quarterback is ready to take over.
With that being said, Indianapolis currently has three quarterbacks under contract. Which includes Minshew, Nick Foles, and Sam Ehlinger.
I would guess this is how the depth chart looks at the moment:
QB1: Incoming rookie
QB2: Gardner Minshew
QB3: Nick Foles
QB4: Sam Ehlinger
I would expect that the Colts will release Nick Foles in the coming days since that move would save $2.1M in cap space. He would only account for $1.5M in dead money.
Ehlinger will likely stick on the roster through the preseason. Teams always have three to four quarterbacks on the offseason roster for an extra arm to work with in practices. Unlike in previous seasons, I don’t believe even a spectacular preseason would get him on the final roster unless Minshew has a complete dropoff.
If Ballard did go ahead and released Ehlinger, he would only save $907,324 in cap space and account for $65,352 in dead money. So at that point, it may not even be worth it.
Now it is the waiting game between now and the draft to find out who Minshew will be helping mentor for the 2023 season.
