GoColts8818

March 20

17 minutes ago, runthepost said:

Mahomes first superbowl was on his rookie deal

But his last two were not which is my point you can win Super Bowls and not have a QB on a rookie deal.

March 20

Some seem obsessed with having to win a Super Bowl with Richardson on his rookie deal to the point I kinda think some think there is no chance to win one after that because of his contract.

Well look at the last three QBs to win Super Bowls, Mahomes, Stafford, and Brady. None were on a rookie deal. There is life after a rookie deal for a QB and a chance to still win Super Bowls.

Now I will agree your best chance to acquire talent is when a QB is on his rookie deal and I’ll agree you have more room for error with acquiring players while they are on a rookie deal. However, if you know what you are doing you can still do those things after a QB is past his rookie deal.

The key for Ballard is he has to produce something to get to that point. If this team isn’t getting to the playoffs and winning the division by the end of Richardson’s rookie deal he isn’t going to be here for a second contract with Richardson, if he earns one, which is still an if.

My point is though the Colts don’t have to go all in at the expense of their future over the next few years like some seem to want. They need to grow the roster which is what I think Ballard is trying to do. He’s trying to put younger players, especially on offense, to grow with Richardson.

I’ll admit I don’t totally agree with the plan on defense but I’ll also acknowledge it’s not a final product yet. I’ll also acknowledge that the Colts seem to like their roster on defense more than some fans do. Last thing I also don’t think the biggest issue with the Colts defense is the players I think it’s the DC and as long as Bradley is here I think their overall success on defense will be limited regardless of who they put out there.

March 20

2 hours ago, csmopar said:

Grigson did… he over paid for old washed up FA, Andre Johnson for example?

His best signing was Frank Gore.

I’d say his best signing was Mike Adams and that was almost by accident.

March 20

JMV had an interesting thought as to why people are so grumpy about sports in Indiana in general right now. Unless you are a Purdue basketball fan it’s been a long time since any of the major Indiana sports teams have been a winner consistently. IU basketball has been a mess for a while now, the Colts haven’t won the division in seven years, Butler basketball is no where near where they were with Brad Stevens, the Pacers haven’t been a threat in the NBA for a while and the less said about Purdue and IU football the better.

The good news is Caitlin Clark is on her way and will at least help restore a winner to Indiana sports in all likely hood but it’s still the Fever and WNBA which has a limited fan base. So JMV’s theory is fans are just tired of waiting and frustrated that none of them can get going in the right direction.

I think he’s right, look at how much excitement the Pacers generated with the in season tournament run. Sports fans in Indiana just want to taste success again. Whichever team can break through is going to be welcomed with open arms. Hopefully the Colts can do that.

March 20

5 minutes ago, NFLfan said:

Most free agents usually sign where they are offered the most money or the contract is most attractive (signing bonus, roster bonus, length of contract, etc.) That is why every year a different team wins the free agency contest. I doubt players are saying they will not sign a free agent contract with the Colts.

Again, back to something I heard Dan Patrick say this morning I hadn’t really thought about but it’s true. What teams do or don’t in free agency is largely driven by the Owners philosophy towards it and that’s why you see the same teams spend big in free agency every year and you see the same teams sit it out.

You are right, you show players the money they will come. It’s a job for them and the goal is to make as much money as they can.

Yes the Colts don’t sign a lot of free agents but it’s not because they don’t want to come to Indianapolis it’s because their team philosophy doesn’t believe in spending major money on free agent players. The few times they have, Corey Simon comes to mind, it didn’t work out long term and I think that combined with all those years with Polian makes Irsay prefer the build through the draft and re-sign your own model.

March 20

5 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

Houston is the 4th largest city in the country. They’re in a state with no state tax. A big factor. It’s in the first or second most fanatical state for football in the country. Those are just some of the reasons players are happy to go there.

The Colts “history” is in Baltimore and that’s been mostly erased by the Ravens. Few care. Now the Indianapolis Colts history is another thing. But it just can’t compare to the Packers or the Bears.

Jim Irsay 100% embraces the Colts history from Baltimore. He honors the team records from that era, the retired numbers, the Super Bowl and world championship, heck they even had Raymond Berry hand out the Super Bowl trophy when it was in Indy and the tradition was to have a star player from hosting team hand out the Super Bowl trophy. The Colts history didn’t just start over again in 1984, and I can promise you if you suggested that to Irsay or a large number of Colts fans they would be greatly insulted.

March 20

Just now, Myles said:

i would rather have a piece of Green Bay history than Indianapolis history. Green Bay is a top historical team in NFL history.

The Colts NFL history is pretty rich too. Still I don’t think players care much about history when they decide who to play for. They mostly care about one of three things: 1. The money (and I said this is the most important and sole thing for the vast majority of them), 2. Chance to win a Super Bowl, and 3. Once in awhile you see them look for a place close to their hometown.

March 20

14 minutes ago, Iron Colt said:

I dont buy the 'nobody wants to sign with Indianapolis' argument.

Why would Free Agents want to sign with Green Bay of all places? It's tiny with no culture or diversity. And brutally cold.

Few players sign with Dallas. Nobody is clamoring for New York, LA or Miami. Those franchises stink. This isn't the NBA where everyone is a diva.

Players want to make what they can and win if possible.

To me guys like Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis, TY Hilton, and, Quinton Nelson all disprove this. Yeah they were all drafted here but they also all signed more than one contract here and most not on the franchise tag where they were forced to stay here. They wanted to be here.

Another one is Buckner who while traded was only traded for because he agreed to the contract he was going to get to come to Indy. Without that the Colts wouldn’t have traded for him so he could have blown it up if he didn’t want to be in Indy.

You are right this a job to the vast majority of players in the NFL so to a lot of them they just want the most money they can get. They don’t care where. The NBA invites players to pick teams based on location because of how their contracts are structured, the Pacers and Heat (or any other two teams in the NBA) can only offer the same max deal to the same free agent. In a situation like that where teams can’t outbid each other then things like where you are going to be living matters.

As for the Colts it’s no secret that Jim Irsay learned a lot about what he believes in team construction from Bill Polian. Polian believed strongly in you build through the draft and sign your own. I have no doubt that Irsay looks for that in GMs when he hires them and why wouldn’t he? Polian’s model won him a lot of games and a Super Bowl. There are far worse people to develop your philosophy on team building from than Bill Polian.

March 20

6 minutes ago, Shive said:

The Colts FA thread typically becomes that once we don't sign who people want. Is what it is and to be honest, it's just way too hard to keep moving the Ballard criticisms out if this thread.

Fair enough I can understand that.

March 20

I am not a mod so this might not mean squat but it seems like we’ve moved from discussing Colts free agents and into airing Ballard grievances. Maybe those posts should be moved to that thread and let this one get back to focusing on free agent signings. I know threads evolve and take on lives of their own but this one is 101 pages and has really gotten off track the past couple of days. Just a suggestion. @Superman @NFLfan @Shive @w87r @Nadine

March 20

You know people keep saying Ballard keeps doing the same thing that never works. I had a thought. Last year people were screaming the same things except it was about the oline and how Ballard needed to move on from Kelly, re-signing Nelson was a mistake, they couldn’t afford to gamble on Raimann, and they needed a new right guard.

Well Ballard didn’t do any of that. He ran back the same oline and they were much better which means what he did worked. Maybe he’s feeling the same about the defense this year, especially the secondary that they needed tweaks and not an overhaul? Who knows maybe it will work again. I think it’s pretty clear there is going to be a new safety back there which could make a difference. I also think he’s counting on the young guys to take a step forward in their progression and I think that was the plan all along dating back to last year when he said how do young guys become vets? They play. I do think he will add a corner at 15 so it won’t be the exact same group but I think he wants a young core back there to grow together.

Again, no promise it will work. Just pointing out a lot of the stuff being said about Ballard and secondary now was said about Ballard and the line last year and that did work.

my personal thought is I am a Colts’ fan. I want whoever is running the team plan to work because I want the Colts to do well. With that said I also understand that even if I don’t agree with their approach I have no control over it. All I can do is pull for it to work and if it doesn’t be disappointed after the fact. I am not saying everyone has to be like me, people can be fans however they want. I am just explaining how I approach things and why I don’t get upset even if I don’t agree with all the decisions.

March 20

43 minutes ago, PRnum1 said:

Why are Colts fans so angry?

Not all of us are. I’ve accepted I have no control over this and I know who Ballard is so all I can do is watch and hope for the best and not be shocked when Ballard does Ballard things even if it’s not how I would run the team.

March 19

Just now, jvan1973 said:

How is it untrue? Polian, Grigson and Ballard don't sign week one free agents. Grigs signed a bunch of tier two free agents. I'm guessing Irsay has a philosophy. He hires his GMs with the same philosophy.

I heard Dan Patrick on the radio today talking about this and saying owners set the philosophies for their team. That’s why you see the same teams signing splash free agents every year and the same teams building through the draft every year.

March 19

11 minutes ago, Hawkeyecolt said:

Between the Davis and Bryan signings I have to believe Eric Johnson will be unemployed or on the Practice Squad next year.

Yeah when someone said why or something like that I was thinking well he’s better than Johnson but that’s not saying much.

March 19

7 minutes ago, stitches said:

YUS! More DTs! GIVE US ALL THE DTs!!!

Joy

6 minutes ago, DoubleE Colt said:

Tbh at this point I'm kind of assuming Ballard isn't interested in free agent CBs.........

Again, if you believe Holder he seems to feel pretty strongly that’s where the Colts are going at 15 in the draft.

March 19

38 minutes ago, AKB said:

Unless his plan works. --> That seems to be the complaint. the plan hasn't changed and has remained the same for 7 years, bearing nothing. if we don't get a CB1, its likely that our defense is towards last in the league, for the 3rd straight year in a row. He has kept the same mantra of resigning his own, whilst filling holes in the draft. My prediction? We draft a late round, high RAS corner, and end up 28th again in PPG.

That’s why I am just going to let things play out --> we do have the draft.. and some budget FAs left, so maybe we sign a guy and get some value, maybe we draft a corner in rd 1 or 2. But what happens when Brents gets injured again? We are back to a rookie and a 7th rounder at outside corner. . . if something like this happens again, which seems very likely given ballards MO, he will get fired. There's no way you can repeat the same mistakes over and over. The only thing that might save him from not solving the CB issue is if he scapegoats Gus Bradley, which might buy him 1 additional year. Which, by the way, Ballard has been a master at balancing action vs. nonaction to dictate expectations, and thus his expectation of performance.

Not like I can do anything about it. --> fan sentiment does matter.

Irsay isn’t going to fire Ballard because the fans want it. Fans sentiment doesn’t matter nearly as much as fans like to think it does.

March 19

2 minutes ago, AKB said:

The anti ballard talk on other colts forums, in particular r/colts is becoming very toxic towards ballard and his FA approach. from what I'm hearing, a big portion of the fan base is gonna be chanting fire ballard if we fluke out this year.

he needs to fix the secondary, otherwise it's gonna look real bad on him

Unless his plan works. Then all will be forgiven. That’s why I am just going to let things playout and cast judgement once I see how things look on the field. Not like I can do anything about it.

March 19

4 minutes ago, DougDew said:

I don't want to get into a Ballard-bash fest. My beef with him has been 5 or 6 years running relative to roster construction and the lack of dynamic players at important positions, something that Superman is explaining well. I don't have issues with anything else or necessarily any individual player decisions.

But your post sounds like Ballard should get points for trying, and there is some sort of guiding force or environment issue that keeps him from being able to succeed with his tries, so give him a pass.

If he targeted Hunter, why isn't Hunter here?

If he thought about Sneed, why did he stop thinking about adding him?

Money?...if he moved on from those to sign Grover and Moore, and maybe Franklin, would there be enough money for Hunter and Sneed if he didn't sign those three? Take their money and give it to the other two.

Ballard has to land players, either FA or draft. He can't just try (only as hard as he wants to). JMO.

Not saying give him points for anything. Like I said I’ll cast judgement after everything plays out. I was just saying if you believe Holder he did try to do something different so this wasn’t the original plan. It is what it is that’s all.

As for Hunter it was reported he’s from Houston and wanted to go back home. Nothing Ballard or anyone could do about that.

March 19

36 minutes ago, JackWV said:

Easy fix, name the source....

good luck getting anyone to tell you something again if you start naming your sources.

March 19

1 minute ago, Archer said:

Who are you referring to when you say "Hunter"? Is it Refrow, or is there a cb named Hunter that I can't bring to mind?

Danielle Hunter

March 19

12 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

I find it ironic several are complaining Ballard is gambling too much on bringing back his own and needed to get other players while also complaining that Ballard isn’t bringing back Blackmon and Ballard is clearly going to have to get a different player to replace him. I also know not all the same people are doing both.

@ProblChld32 that was just building on your point not disagreeing with your post.

March 19

If Holder is to be believed, and I know some here don’t and that’s fine, he reported Ballard did try to get Hunter and had interest in Sneed dating back to the combine but they lost out on Hunter and decided not to go after Sneed after he was tagged. After that happened he pivoted to a different plan which was to bring back his own that he wasn’t going to do, particularly Grover and Moore. So it sounds like Ballard did try to do something different this off-season and it didn’t work out. Will what he did work? No idea. All I can do is watch and see and react based on what I see.

March 19

Just now, ProblChld32 said:

Your best ability is availability , why bring back someone who can’t stay healthy? I may be in the minority but I actually don’t want to retain Blackmon. He’s a good player when healthy but that’s the thing he isn’t often that. You’re going to shell out 6-8 million a year for a guy you’re possibly going to get MAYBE 10 games out of?

I find it ironic several are complaining Ballard is gambling too much on bringing back his own and needed to get other players while also complaining that Ballard isn’t bringing back Blackmon and Ballard is clearly going to have to get a different player to replace him. I also know not all the same people are doing both.

March 19

7 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

You’re misremembering. Those two players weren’t in the same draft. Rhodes in 2013, Dorsett in 2015.

The bust we took right in front of Rhodes was…. Bjorn freaking Werner. Reason enough for you to be angry.

Honestly any first round draft pick not named Andrew Luck or Ryan Kelly that Grigson made was enough to be mad but for some reason Dorsett just took the cake with me even if I miss remembered the draft with him and the draft with Rhodes. I do remember wanting Rhodes when he came out though and being disappointed that the Colts didn’t get him,

March 19

19 minutes ago, NFLfan said:

I agree. I cannot recall who else he drafted in 2015 but I could not understand why he drafted the WR out of Miami at #29 that year.

I got mad the night they took Dorsett and I still get mad when I think about it. Look at all the good players he passed on for him. I wanted Xavier Rhodes in that draft and they could have had him. No single first round draft pick upsets me as much as Phillip freaking Dorsett.

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