Colts sign veteran quarterback Josh Freeman

The Indianapolis Colts announced today that the team has signed free agent quarterbacks Josh Freeman and Ryan Lindley.

The team also signed guard Kitt O’Brien to the practice squad and promoted inside linebacker Amarlo Herrera to the 53-man roster from the practice squad.

The Colts still have a shot – albeit almost a mile long shot – at making the playoffs and they need nine games to go their way to win the AFC South.

Erstwhile Colts third-stringer Charlie Whitehurst was set to start the season finale, but he wound up getting placed on injured reserve with a hamstring issue.

With the signing of Freeman, that means the Colts have had eight different quarterbacks on the active roster or practice squad this season.

Andrew Luck has been out for several weeks as he recovers from a lacerated kidney, and still has not been cleared to practice. But he threw just 16 touchdowns with 22 interceptions as Tampa Bay fell to 4-11 in 2011 and he was cut in 2013. Freeman, who spent the past few months with the Brooklyn Bolts of the Fall Experimental Football League, and Lindley provide that experience, if little else. After spending 2014 on the Jaguars’ practice squad, Morris has gone from Jacksonville to Philadelphia to Indianapolis this season.

With Whitehurst on injured reserve and both Luck and Hasselbeck seeming unlikely to play this week, the Colts will have to choose among Lindley, Freeman and Morris to start on Sunday. In his career, Freeman has played in 61 career games and has completed 1,164 of 2,020 passes for 13,724 yards, 80 touchdowns, and 67 interceptions for a passer rating of 77.8.

But he was released by New England before the season opener in September and has not yet played this season.