Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported today that sources have informed him that the Indianapolis Colts may have interest in signing Pittsburgh Steelers unrestricted free agent quarterback Byron Leftwich. Kaboly reports that new Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, who was let go by the Steelers after the 2011 season, is leading the charge to bring in Leftwich to teach their first round draft pick quarterback the offense. The Colts have the number one overall pick in the April draft and all signs point to it being Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.
The Colts also have another quarterback already on their roster as they acquired Drew Stanton in a trade with the New York Jets after Tim Tebow landed in New York via a trade with the Denver Broncos. As Kaboly points out, Leftwich would likely see playing time to start the season with the Colts until Luck is up to speed, and that is something he would not get in Pittsburgh unless starter Ben Roethlisberger were to get injured.
Leftwich missed all of the 2011 season after breaking his arm in the preseason and he also missed time at the start of the 2010 season after suffering a sprained knee in a preseason game leading up to the regular season. Leftwich has taken just 18 regular season snaps over the span of two seasons with all of them coming in the 2010 week 17 regular season finale against the Cleveland Browns.
Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert has stated since the end of the 2011 season that he thought it was possible that Leftwich could return in 2012 to back up Roethlisberger, but in no way guaranteed it would happen.
