Insider: Who was Colts owner Jim Irsay's mystery QB?

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Colts’ preseason opener on Sunday did nothing to settle the fan base’s queasiness about the quarterback position.

With the availability of starter Andrew Luck still in question for the season opener on Sept. 10 against the Los Angeles Rams, the play of Scott Tolzien, Phillip Walker and Stephen Morris only raised further questions about where the Colts will wind up if Luck misses time in the regular season after his offseason shoulder surgery.

It seems the Colts, too, have had questions. Owner Jim Irsay said after the game the team does not have a firm date on Luck’s return and, as a result, at some point considered signing a more proven veteran quarterback.

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Irsay kept that quarterbacks’ identity to himself, though he did provide several identifying characteristics.

“We came semi-close to bringing in a mid-30s, mid-to-late 30s guy,” Irsay said. “We had a (salary) number. The guy wanted more than the number.”

Irsay added, “It just didn’t work out so we moved on.”

Using Irsay’s parameters of a mid- to late-30s quarterback who, apparently, had some bargaining leverage, let’s take a look at some of the possible candidates the Colts might have considered.

>> Jay Cutler, Miami Dolphins

This one makes sense on a lot of levels. He’s 34, and it took a cool $10 million to coax him out of retirement after Miami recently lost starter Ryan Tannehill to a knee injury. There’s also another possible link: Cutler was in Chicago when Colts General Manager Chris Ballard was with the Bears.

The argument against Cutler being the target is that the Colts never intended to sign a genuine starting quarterback, which Cutler would have been more inclined to consider. The Colts were, at most, looking for a stopgap, an insurance policy behind Luck who could win them a couple of games.

>> Josh McCown, New York Jets

McCown is 38, so he definitely fits into the age range. He signed a one-year, $6 million contract with the Jets in March, which you might think means he was off the market before the Colts considered their options. But that’s not necessarily true. There were rumblings during the start of the free-agency period that the Colts were among the teams making calls to veteran quarterbacks. I even pursued some possibilities by making calls to player agents, though to no avail. Do not make the mistake of assuming Irsay’s revelation means these events happened recently.

Another tidbit worth mentioning: McCown, like Cutler, has history with Ballard in Chicago. The two overlapped there in 2011-12.

>> Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This 34-year old veteran is the quintessential hired gun. He signed a one-year, $3 million deal with Tampa Bay in May. It’s not exactly huge money, but it’s impossible to know what the Colts’ “number” was. It’s possible they had a meager salary number in mind seeing how they were not looking for a long-term starter.

Fitzpatrick could have seamlessly stepped into Colts offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski’s offense given his proven ability to push the ball downfield.

>> Brian Hoyer, San Francisco 49ers

This one is the least likely candidate on this list. He’s 31, so he doesn’t really fit the age range. And Hoyer more than likely was seeking a situation where he could compete for a starting job. The Colts are one of the last teams that would afford him that opportunity. He’s currently in the mix to start for the 49ers, who gave him a 2-year contract back in March at $6 million per season.

If you’re wondering, former Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is 41 and, clearly, retired. It’s a delicious idea to think he might have been on the receiving end of a call from Irsay about coming back to don a horse shoe helmet, but that does not appear to be worth considering.

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