The Colts have really made one free agent signing so far this year, not including the re-signing of two of their own players. The player that the Colts brought in from another team in free agency was quarterback Scott Tolzien, who the team signed to be the backup to Andrew Luck.
The team moved on from Matt Hasselbeck, who had occupied the role for the past three seasons, likely in large part due to money, as they realized that they will need to pay Andrew Luck a mega-extension soon. They wanted to free up some money in the backup quarterback position while still addressing the position - which, as we saw last year, is important.
It turns out that, by making the switch to Scott Tolzien, the Colts essentially cut the money invested in the backup quarterback position in half. Details of Tolzien's two-year deal with the Colts emerged this morning, as reported by the Houston Chronicle's Aaron Wilson and the USA Today's Tom Pelissero. Tolzien signed a two-year, $3.5 million deal with the Colts that included a $500,000 signing bonus. His salary in 2016 is $1.25 million, while in 2017 it is $1.75 million.
His deal averages $1.75 million per season, which is significantly lower than Hasselbeck's price, as he averaged $3.4 million per season during his three years with the Colts (though in 2015, he had just a $3 million cap hit). It's clear, then, that the Colts accomplished what they wanted to at their backup quarterback position, as they got cheaper but also addressed the position (in the first week of free agency, no less).
We know that everything the Colts do from a financial standpoint this offseason is with Andrew Luck's coming contract in mind, and one of the clearest evidences of that could be in moving toward a cheaper route for his backup. They also want to make sure that the player behind Luck is capable-enough to fill in if Luck goes down again, however. We've seen through the details of Tolzien's contract that the team accomplished the first part of their goal, but it remains to be seen (or, for Colts fans, hopefully not seen) whether the second part was accomplished as well.