r a y s k i

So true.

Come on, yes, Frank Gore and Andre Johnson too. None of these were in their primes or were coveted high profile athletes at the time. These were hand me downs, coming to play in the twilight of their career. Maybe Gilmore because he might have thought we can win with Ryan but again, he got traded for a 5th for a reason.

It's not about expensive. It's about the lifestyle.

That being said, we never really brought anyone in from the outside when were we one of the winningest franchises with a HoF QB or with Luck. You need a certain type of a personality to stay in Indy. Ballard has put an emphasis on that. I'd certainly take less money to live in either of the coasts than Indiana as a professional athlete. As they say in property. Location location location!

I think, given the fact how insanely poor this team was when he took over, he has done pretty well. But the issue still remains, we always have and always will struggle to sign quality free agents because of the location of the franchise. Same with Pacers. Even Mcafee mentioned it before how much of a pain in the bum it is to have his show in Indy. Pro athletes in the social media age are now looking beyond contracts and beyond their playing time and can carve out second careers much easier than ever before when given the right platform and I just don't believe that platform exists in Indiana. I could be wrong, I just don't blame Ballard the same way I didn't blame Grigson or Polian for the lack of quality signings throughout the last 30 years.

Because there is no both in Indy. We always been a drafting team. The very reason we have Ballard as the GM who has been linked as one of the best scouting front office personal in the league well before his tenure in Indy (CHI, KC) is because he can draft. If we don't have a good drafting GM and we have an injury, ala Manning or Luck, we go 2-15. One could argue, that getting Buckner in, was the best FA/Trade move in the past 30 years.

Even with Manning, one of the winningest franchises of the 21st century, the Colts have struggled to sign meaningful FAs, again its a historical issue.

I'd take less to go to either coasts rather than move to Indy. Even Mcafee has talked about this before. Its a historical issue and not just to the Colts but to other pro franchises in Indiana.

Both Ballard and Irsay has shown many times we are willing to pay but its 2023 and with social media athletes have way more opportunities on the coasts. Simple as that.

Colts fans need to understand that Indianapolis isn't a destination for pro athletes. It is what it is. Once in a blue moon we can land someone like Buckner who wants to be here but thats about it. It really just isn't and never was a sexy destination for athletes, simple as that. Most should know this by now since its a historical issue.

Some of these takes man hilarious and also hilariously sad, sometimes I wonder if most people around here are actually Colts fans or not. Or even watch football on a consistent basis.

Exactly the type of game you want to see with a young team like this and a rookie qb. Stand up and fight We keep showing heart and ability, love it

It's incredible and sad to see how little faith fans have in the players they supposed to root for. It's week 4 *, why are we so afraid of setting realistic expectations for players. This forum has been sad to read through the past few months.

NFL.com rankings or PFF stats are about as useful as Ryan Grigson in a draft room

Wish him all the best, I think he can be a better player than we seen here

One of those games I wouldn't be surprised to lose, doesn't mean we aren't a better team, just the matchups This game mostly depends on Steichen whether we start Minshew or AR

I get why you'd say that, but I think it does and McAfee has talked about the disadvantages of staying in Indianapolis as well. Fact of the matter is, there are just a lot more opportunities for everything on the coasts. That being said, AR is gonna be as good of an FA magnet as there can be in Indianapolis and first job would be to extend JT if he still wants to be here. Definitely exciting times ahead.

I don't necessarily agree with that, it's a historical issue and more so geographic than anything else. You can see in this media age how ex players carve out newer and newer possibilities for themselves after their career and Indy simply isn't that location. Simply put Indy has never been attractive enough as an athletic location, not even w Manning or Luck, you need to have a certain type of character and that's exactly what Ballard has been aiming at ever since he took over. I believe he understood from the beginning that the Colts need to overpay to attract players elite or average(like Funchess) and its better to self develop and add if an opportunities arises but it is rare. Anyway, that's my view on it.

So glad to see him becoming elite, I thought he hit his ceiling last year but the man keeps getting better The issue is as always with us, we need those players to want to be here too

This team has heart and to all those doomers and ballard haters, I’ve heard Denver is looking for new fans 👀

As much as I want to see AR, I'll be happy to see Minshew too this weekend, he is a fun player and the boys seem to like to play with/for him, besides, sideline experience won't hurt AR either.

I know it's crazy to say this out loud, been a fan of the Colts since 1999 and what Manning has become has captured my interest and amazed me for over a decade but darn Luck became my favourite player ever in those few years he played. This guy has heart. It all started with that tackle on Shareece Wright.

As long as we are competitive in this game and execute our offensive and defensive schemes, basically looking like we have a plan, I'm happy. Big test.