philba101

I know hindsight is always 20/20, but the Colts should have traded for Ekeler when he was available this summer. I would rather be paying a RB $8 million/year who catches 100+ plus balls and scores double digit TD's (something none of our current WR's have ever done) than wasting our time teaching a lesson to the current RB on our roster who has made it clear that he no longer wants to play for us. This strategy by Ballard and Irsay (whether they were caught off guard or not) is hurting our group of players that suit up every week. S*** or get off the pot on this one. Trade him for a player that will immediately help our team and never look back. Yes, it is okay to take less for a player than you thought you might get. Why? Because that same player is not worth anything to your team if he refuses to play for it.

I was curious about this as well. Just what is Ballard seeing that makes him think this relationship is repairable? Taylor's agent is sure not hinting at anything. Taylor himself doesn't seem to be furthering that narrative. Maybe the Colts are taking this approach so they can say when they finally get rid of him, that they left an open door for this relationship to get repaired, if Taylor elects not to explore that, then the Colts can use that as justification to trade him for less (than a 1st-rounder) and move on. Maybe Ballard and Irsay know exactly what they are going to do with Taylor after four games, but right now it at least publicly looks like they are either not sure what to do or are content to let this drag out.

It is a fair point. If he is injured and out of shape he is not very valuable offensive player to us or any other team for that matter. All things being equal, if you asked teams around the league if they wanted to start their season with a healthy JT or a healthy Zack Moss at RB, I am guessing everybody is going to pick Taylor. Don't get me wrong, I am not defending Taylor here. He deserves most/all of the blame for this ongoing drama. I think he is being very selfish, if he is lying about his injury, even worse. I guess my point is, if you are Ballard and Irsay, at what point do you decide it is time to just move on and trade him? Is that after 4 games, or 8 games? I don't know the answer to that question, but I don't like the optics of letting this drag on all season and into another offseason. I don't think that functionally helps this team now or moving forward.

It is a legitimate thought process. If we stack another 4 and 12 season onto last year, regardless of expectations, there could be significant fallout. An objective evaluation of this team puts that record well within reason. For the players' sake, hopefully we win 5+, 6+, or even 8+ games. In the worst case scenario, it is not unreasonable to think that many veterans might want to move on to a more competitive franchise. On the flip side it would also complicate the team's ability to bring in new talent outside of the draft. Players watch this more carefully than we imagine. It is not surprising that everybody wants to play for a winner.

I agree with and understand most of what you are saying here. I understand what the Colts are hoping Taylor will do, I am just not convinced that he will do it. I do respectfully disagree that the Colts aren't out much with Taylor on the sidelines, in that case I feel like he is both hurting himself and his team by being selfish. I also get the part about setting a bad precedent with trading a player every time they get disgruntled and request it. On a local radio program the other day, they mentioned that three Colts players have requested trades from the team in the last 12 months. (Hines privately, and Gilmore and Taylor, publicly). This trend bothers me even though I understand there are always going to be a lot of unhappy people anytime a team finishes 4 and 12. I just don't want this to trend to continue if we do something like produce another 4 and 12 season this year.

I get what you are saying. I get the "next man up mentality," but it has to be frustrating to those players to not have their best player suited up for each game. I just know that players on the team and around the league watch management carefully when situations like this take place. I worry if players feel that Ballard/Irsay have their backs and are doing everything in their power to make this team better every week regardless of this year's expectations.

Thanks for the compliment, much appreciated. As I have stated, I have no problems with the Colts "simply waking Taylor to the reality of the situation he is in" as you put it. I am not defending Taylor in any way here. What I can't figure out is what is the Colts end game with this approach? Why would the Colts not be worried about getting anything for Taylor? Regardless of where you stand on this ongoing drama, the reality is that this situation takes the Colts best offensive player off the field. Like an injury of a star, that directly affects the performance of the team right now. People on this forum have said "well who cares, we (the Colts) are not expected to do anything this year anyway. That may or may not be true, but the guys who will be lacing it up for the next 17 weeks don't want to hear that. They want to know that their GM and owner are doing everything in their power to help them feel like they can be a winning team. This approach by management doesn't feel that way to me. Of course that is just my opinion. Maybe consider that there are opinions other than your own next time before starting a post with an insult.

I agree, so why are the Colts doing this whole "we want to repair this relationship" game right now? What experience with Taylor's new agent makes them believe this is achievable?

Certainly the Colts knew this could possibly backfire on them right? What was/is their contingency plan if Taylor doesn't come crawling back to them and ask to play at some point? Are we going to PUP list him all year, maybe suspend him? Again, this leaves the Colts 23-24 roster with nothing to show for their efforts, and again leaves this whole situation in other's hand. I am having real trouble understanding why management insists on playing this long-game with Taylor and praying that they somehow come out of this whole fiasco smelling like roses. Our GM looked like a teenager sitting at the press conference yesterday, slumped over with his hat pulled down over his eyes and bemoaning how this situation "really sucks." You are the GM, are you expecting someone else to fix this problem? I don't understand this approach.

And why are you (or the Colts for that matter) convinced a contender is going to pay top compensation for a player who hasn't proven that he is healthy yet? Did they naively believe Taylor would come crawling back to them and beg to play when he didn't get traded? The down side to this foolish game that the Colts are playing is that they have nothing as long as Taylor sits on the sideline. Taylor's value then goes up over time? I suppose what you are saying could happen, but this is a big assumption/gamble by the Colts. If no one ponies up any compensation for Taylor and he sits out all year, what do you have to show for it as a franchise this season? The upside is supposed to be that we taught him a lesson and can go through all this drama again next off-season? This kind of thinking/approach by management leaves all of the outcomes in other people's hands. Trade him to the highest bidder and be done with it. Get a weapon for your rookie QB out of it and never look back.

Also: R. Blankenship P.J. Walker D. Patmon M. Haack M. Badgley K. Coutee P. Dorsett N. Kalinic F. Rhyne L. Clark

Well stated.

Just to clarify, I am not defending Taylor. I wanted him gone. Are you saying that Taylor wasn't tradeable because he hadn't passed a physical? Rapoport and Garafolo both said that the Colts had multiple offers on the table but didn't take them because they wanted a least 1st-round pick which was not offered. Why are teams making offers if Taylor is not tradeable? Not being argumentative because I respect your opinions, but I am truly confused here.

I agree with you here, and I am going to be here rooting them on. I am not supporting Taylor in any way here. What I am upset about is that management/ownership has allowed this situation to come to this at the beginning of another season. We are starting another season with this distraction hanging over our heads, and we relegated our rookie QB to playing the first quarter of the season without the team's top offensive weapon. I just wanted the drama over. According to Rapoport and Garafolo the Colts didn't trade Taylor because they didn't get at least a late first round pick. I would have been happy with a 2nd or 3rd and maybe a player like Mostert or J. Wilson Jr. Move on and play the season like you described without all the distractions.

Unfortunately, this is the Colts kicking themselves also for committing to not having their top offensive weapon for awhile.