Jim Irsay: Matt Ryan's presence means Colts don't have to force search for franchise QB

INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis knows it still needs a long-term answer at quarterback, the toughest and most important question any franchise can face in the NFL.

The Colts know that Matt Ryan, who turns 37 in a couple of weeks, does not fit that profile.

But Indianapolis, led by the conviction and patience of general manager Chris Ballard, has been steadfast in its approach.

The Colts are not going to force a draft pick at that position simply to get a young guy, any young guy, who looks like he might be a franchise quarterback.

“It’s real important, but you can’t force something that’s not there,” Colts owner Jim Irsay said. “It’s the highest priority in the long-term interests of the franchise, but Matt Ryan is different than Philip Rivers.”

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Rivers, who turned 39 at the end of his first season with the Colts, was in the final years of his career, and he retired shortly after the end of his lone season in Indianapolis.

Ryan, two years younger and relatively unscathed by the rigors of his position, has no such plans.

“I’ve said from the start, I’d like to play as long as I can,” Ryan said at his introductory press conference. “I still feel like I can play at as high a level as I ever have.”

The Colts agreed, guaranteeing Ryan’s roughly $54 million worth of salary in the next two years in order to let the quarterback know they have no plans to make a move.

When Irsay met with the local media before the Colts’ final four picks were made on Saturday, the team’s owner expressed his hope that Ryan could be the quarterback even longer, mentioning the possibility of three years, and then four years, of Ryan handling the quarterbacking duties in Indianapolis.

Irsay’s optimism has risen since Ryan joined the Colts offseason program two weeks ago. For weeks now, Colts coaches and players have raved about Ryan’s leadership, his ability to work with young receivers and the way he carries himself.

“You can see the difference that goes out right now because of Matt Ryan being in this building,” Irsay said. “His professionalism, his stature.”

Ryan’s presence has given the Colts the freedom to approach the search for the next franchise quarterback the way Ballard has always wanted.

Working at it, looking for it.

Never forcing a pick at a position where the wrong draft pick can set a franchise back half a decade, at minimum.

If Ryan wasn’t in Indianapolis, the Colts might have felt more pressure this weekend to use a draft pick on one of the worst quarterback draft classes in years, a class that produced the latest first pick of a quarterback — Kenny Pickett to the Steelers at No. 20 — since 1997 and left the position untouched again until the Falcons took Desmond Ridder 10 picks into the third round.

“We talked about it,” Colts general manager Chris Ballard said. “At the end of the day, it just didn’t work.”

Nobody knows, not at this point, what a player like Ridder, Malik Willis (No. 86 to the Titans) or Matt Corral (No. 94 to the Panthers) is going to turn out to be.

But when an NFL obsessed with finding its next franchise quarterback spends an entire draft passing on the position, the league is almost always right. When E.J. Manuel was the only first-round quarterback picked in 2013, the rest of the class — a group that included Geno Smith and Mike Glennon — failed to make any kind of impact. Outside of a solid career for Jake Plummer, the same is true for an ugly quarterback class in 1997, when Jim Druckenmiller was the first quarterback taken at No. 26.

From everything Ballard has said about the quarterback position since Luck retired, the Colts general manager doesn’t want to take a shot in the dark.

“We certainly have our radar out to continue to look for a young guy that could be the long-term future,” Irsay said.

The team’s owner is firmly behind Ballard, and behind head coach Frank Reich.

Irsay knows how difficult their job has been, how hard it became the moment Luck announced his retirement at the end of a preseason game against the Bears in 2019. He believes the Ballard-Reich combination is headed in the right direction.

“One of the rules that holds true is that outstanding football programs with continuity, as you move into more time, pay more and more to the franchise,” Irsay said. “Now, ours was stunted by Andrew some, by his retirement, because that’s very unusual, but we always knew we’d have to move past that.”

There have been mistakes along the way.

Most notably the trade for Carson Wentz.

But he loves the way Ballard recovered from it.

“Well, he’s parted the sea,” Irsay said. “I don’t think anybody, him included, thought you could get what he got for Carson, bring Matt Ryan in here and make that situation happen. … It’s been a constant, trying to find your way back from that, and it’s not easy.””

For the moment, the presence of Ryan is enough to give the Colts a breath of fresh air, a chance to pause the quarterback carousel and search for their next quarterback the way they always wanted to.

“Matt’s got some real time left in him,” Irsay said. “He has some things to prove. The franchise has some things to prove. Together, I think it’s a great match.”

A match that buys the Colts some time.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts: Jim Irsay says Matt Ryan means they don't have to force pick at QB