Gardner Minshew grateful for time as Colts starting QB, but hard to know if he'll back

INDIANAPOLIS — The abrupt nature of the end is never easy.

One minute, an NFL team is preparing for a do-or-die game with a chance to get into the playoffs, and it seems like the next minute, the players are cleaning out their lockers.

The end inflicts even more of a jolt to players like quarterback Gardner Minshew, who started a career-high 13 games for the Colts this season in place of injured rookie Anthony Richardson but will be a free agent, leaving his future in Indianapolis uncertain.

“I did the best I could this year leading this team,” Minshew said. “There’s times I could have done better. Obviously, I wish we could have gotten in the playoffs and all, but I think there was a lot of good. I think we found ways to scrap and claw and win games. I’m proud of what I did this year, what we did this year. Who knows how it’ll all shake out?”

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Minshew’s season in Indianapolis might have opened opportunities that weren’t there on the free agent market last March, when the former Jaguars and Eagles quarterback signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal with incentives to follow Colts head coach Shane Steichen to Indianapolis, knowing the Colts would likely draft a quarterback.

Minshew ended up making $5.5 million, earning an extra $2 million because Indianapolis needed him to play a career-high 972 snaps, completing 62.2% of his passes for 3,305 yards as the surprising Colts won nine games and nearly pulled off a playoff berth.

“What he did for us was tremendous,” Steichen said. “He stepped in and won us, what, eight or nine games, and a couple plays away from hosting a playoff game. … I was very, very grateful and thankful that he was with this football team, for sure.”

While he compiled only an 84.6 quarterback rating, producing 18 total touchdowns and 14 turnovers, Minshew brought stability to the Indianapolis offense and limited his turnovers as the season progressed, allowing the Colts coaching staff to find ways to win with him.

“I could definitely feel it as the season went on, earning the trust of the guys in this locker room,” Minshew said. “That’s something I don’t take lightly. … I feel, ultimately, really responsible for not getting us in.”

Minshew struggled in Saturday’s do-or-die loss to the Texans, completing just 13 of 24 passes for 141 yards and misfiring on a fourth-and-1 throw to Tyler Goodson that effectively ended the Colts’ chance for a go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter.

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He spent most of his Sunday trying to decide if he wanted to watch the tape, then ultimately decided it was the right move in order to get better, watching it late Sunday night.

There is a possibility that was the last time Minshew sees himself in a Colts uniform.

As long as he’s healthy, Richardson is the starting quarterback in Indianapolis, and there may be a chance for Minshew to compete for a starting job or earn a bigger salary as a placeholder for another team looking to draft a quarterback this offseason.

He has been through free agency before, and he knows it’s hard to predict how teams will approach their needs, particularly at a quarterback position that has seen increasing movement the past five offseasons and features another round of interesting decisions for teams around the NFL, decisions that are only beginning to take shape.

“I love it here, I love Shane, I think I’ve been pretty on-record, every week, talking about that relationship,” Minshew said. “Love our room, love Anthony, love everything we have going, but who knows how all this free agency stuff works. A lot of times, you’re not really calling the shots as much as you’d like to think you are.”

Only time will tell if he’ll be back in Indianapolis.