INDIANAPOLIS – What type of teammate was Matt Hasselbeck?
Take a scroll through Twitter on Monday and you quickly saw.
After Hasselbeck, who is an unrestricted free agent this offseason, announced his time in Indy had come to a close on Monday, his teammates offered their thanks.
Young teammates and old.
Offense, defense and special teams.
It didn't matter. They all wanted to tell Hasselbeck, "thank you."
Hasselbeck is one of 12 unrestricted free agents this offseason for the Colts and reports indicate the team has informed him they will not be re-signing the 40-year-old quarterback.
For the last three seasons, Hasselbeck has been the team's backup signal caller.
The "backup" label was thrown out the window for the majority of 2015, though.
Hasselbeck started eight games for the Colts in 2015. He went 5-3 as a starter (4-0 when healthy), while playing through a bevy of injuries.
In 2015, Hasselbeck completed 60.9 percent of his passes, threw for 1,690 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions.
Earlier this offseason, Hasselbeck expressed a desire to hopefully return for a 19th NFL season.
The Colts though, strapped for cap space this offseason, are forced to pick and choose their spots to spend this offseason.
Not re-signing Hasselbeck would save the team more than $2 million, with Josh Freeman now the likely backup in 2016.
Free agency officially begins on March 9.
From Owner on down, the Colts have lauded Hasselbeck for what he has meant to their team.
Thrust into a dire position on several occasions in 2015, Hasselbeck kept the Colts' playoff hopes afloat until Week 17.
"For me more than anything (playing this year) was a lot of fun being in the huddle with the guys," Hasselbeck said earlier this year. "I love the guys in this locker room. I'd stack the guys in this locker room up against any team I've been on just in terms of quality people, a lot of potential, a lot of talent.
"When I'm done playing, I think I'll really enjoy watching them play and cheering them on."
Learned a lot from this young man lol. Great player, better person. #MattyNice pic.twitter.com/zwsavnmd3p — Zachariah W. KERR (@ZachariahKerr94) March 1, 2016
