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Originally Posted by rcubed
I agree with the first part. I felt like he would give it one more based on how we did this year.
Dont really understand (1) above. If Rivers came back it would only have been one year, so of course the colts were planning for the future. I believe ballard and reich would have welcomed rivers back for another year. It would only have precluded signing a vet. (2) is more likely. But its seems to me that (3) he knew it was time. Rivers said this felt like the first time it felt right to retire. Many have said that if you get to that point then you are already there.
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You might be right, ultimately only Rivers and/or the Colts know for sure. I’m just trying to read the tea leaves and figure out what’s really going on. The reason I question your (3) explanation is that it wasn’t just last offseason that Rivers was talking about returning, he said this only a little more than a week ago:
https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...re/6609040002/
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"I do feel, right now, like I'm still going to have that fire and desire to play again next year. I really enjoyed the heck out of it this year, being around these guys and seeing this environment."
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So of course it's possible that he had a personal change of heart, but I tend to think from the entirety of the comments made by Rivers and the Colts that the decision was mostly on the Colts side. While Reich and Ballard said all the right things about how they loved Rivers, that he can still play, and would love it if he were the QB next season, it was typically couched with comments that Rivers AND the Colts needed to take some time to evaluate what was best for each of them. This seems consistent to me with the correct and respectful way you let a veteran QB go – let all the headlines say that Rivers made the decision.
We all know that Ballard is a planner, and is not afraid to move on from veteran players when he views a better option out there. Given all of these factors, I tend to think that this decision was driven more by the Colts than by Rivers himself. But of course I might be wrong. For what it's worth, I would have been perfectly happy with Rivers as our QB next season.