GoColts8818

He was pretty much MIA here. I don’t know if it as much he left to be a star as it was the Colts didn’t try very hard to keep him so he took a job from a team who was willing to give him one.

Pretty sure she means Sam.

Could be that or RSV, or the Flu, or pneumonia, or some other virus. All can be deadly for older folks. I join those in hoping for a swift recovery.

I think Vrabel will either just wait for a HC job he wants or go to New England if he’s going to be a DC and named as BB’s replacement in waiting.

Sssh facts don’t matter when you want to blame Ballard.

Pittman said he told the Colts he didn’t want to have contract talks until after the season but yeah sure blame Ballard.

Yeah and it sounds like Pitt knows it’s coming.

Yeah if you listen to what he’s saying and not looking for what you want to happen it’s pretty clear what Shane is saying and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t want Gus back.

Full statement from the Colts:

Yeah you can make the cap work so you can pay most players and Ballard is very good at setting up contracts with the cap in mind.

People have in other threads, specifically the Bradley one, they have referenced the things Shane in this presser.

I know I mentioned Downs. He’s their slot guy which is important but it’s kinda a specialized position like Moore is their slot corner. Can still be a very good and very important player but fans are really looking at the outside WRs which is why Downs is getting left out. Doesn’t mean Downs can’t develop into an outside WR, Hilton did, he’s just not there yet.

It’s just a sign of what some fans do. They nitpick their own and expose that the Colts player isn’t perfect (which no player is even the great Peyton Manning had flaws) focus in on those flaws and only those flaws because they get tunnel vision on it and then use that to justify saying this player isn’t worth X because he can’t do Z while ignoring the rest of the alphabet of the things that player can do or taking them for granted. Then they see highlight of another player and go oh I want that without studying that players flaws nearly to the level they did of the Colts player. That’s only natural because they aren’t fans of the team the other player plays for so they of course they don’t follow him as close. I saw it for years when the Colts had Harrison and Wayne and then later Wayne and Hilton all fans wanted was a big physical position WR to the point people questioned if Hilton was a number one because he couldn’t be a position WR and all he could do is catch deep passes down the field. Now the Colts have their position WR and some fans want to show him the door because he’s not a true number one (even though he’s one of four Colts receivers in history to have 100 catches in a season and one of 27 or 28 WRs to go over 1000 yards with a backup QB most of the season) because he can’t go deep like TY Hilton. Not every WR can do everything. No Pittman isn’t the best WR in the NFL but he’s a darn good one. Not every team in the league can have a top 10 WR. So if you don’t of course you keep looking for one but you don’t toss a really good one a way while you look. Keeping Pittman doesn’t prevent the Colts from adding to the WR room. They could easily still draft one in the first or second round. The key is add to it so you have as many weapons as you can for Richardson. How good do you think Reggie Wayne would have been if when he came along the Colts went sorry Marvin we don’t need you anymore? How good would Hilton have been if the Colts went sorry Reggie we drafted this Hilton kid we don’t need you anymore. You want as many good receivers as you can get and when you have a darn good one like Pittman you keep him and look to add a complementary player. They added one in a slot guy in Downs. What they are missing is the burner which they hope Pierce will be. There is evidence to suggest simply keeping Richardson healthy will get him to be that but if not you draft a guy who can compete with him. Say that kid works out or Pierce figures it out. That would be one deadly WR room that says pick your poison. Now add Richardson and Taylor running and Shane’s creative mind and that’s an offense a lot of teams won’t want to face. I don’t know about most of you but I prefer that over the option of well we don’t want to pay Pittman so we will let one third of the offenses production last year leave and we will depend on Pierce to be our number one next year with Downs as our only proven WR coming back and really hope this rookie the Colts draft works outs, which he might not, look at Moncrief, Dorrsett, and Campbell as examples. Being drafted high doesn’t guarantee success. You don’t make the room better by getting rid of the best player you have in there and hope you can find someone else who can give you the production you are already getting. Pittman is a good player and good players cost money. That’s just the way it is. Will he probably get paid more than people think his performance is worth? Yes he will but that’s how contracts work in the NFL. One guy gets a contact the next guy comes along and gets a bigger one so on and so on. That’s why I said the numbers don’t matter. It’s how it’s structured and one thing that’s been common during Ballard’s time as GM is when you see the structure of the contract it almost always favors the Colts and gives them flexibility. I see no reason to think Pittman’s contract won’t ultimately follow the same pattern. I also find it ironic that so many of the same fans who like call Ballard bargain bin Ballard and mock him for not spending money are the same ones saying don’t pay your good players! Who’s really the cheap one?

You can’t be blanketed on run plays. The Colts called very few pass plays in the second half and at least a couple of those went his way. I think the chase as a number two was a typo and he meant Higgins.

And listen to what he says not listen for what you want to hear. So it’s now Ballard’s fault the Colts didn’t convert the fourth and one? That’s a stretch.

In order to get a chance vs Houston you’d have to throw the ball which the Colts didn’t virtually the whole second half and the few times they did it went to him for the most part.

Yep some Colts fans are real good at hating their own, not wanting to pay them market value, developing grass is greener on the other side syndrome for other players, and then blaming the GM if they let that player walk and that position is now a struggle.

That’s why I am not even considering FA here. Aside from Pittman what big star WR is going to be a free agent? It sounds like the Bengals have promised Burrow they will keep Higgins and I doubt they are going to lie to their franchise QB and tick him off.

Happily. The Colts don’t really have a choice here unless Ballard has some monster trade cooking like the Dolphins did with Hill a few years ago, and even then they already had Waddle or fans are willing to sit through more delayed gratification, which they love to mock, because that’s what you are going to get with a WR core that has Piece as the number one, Downs, and a rookie first round pick and a QB who has started all of four games in his NFL career. Also, if they let Pittman walk you are telegraphing to the world you are going WR with your first pick and that’s dangerous at 15 as there is plenty of chances of other WR needy teams to jump in front of you and get the guy you want.

Look I want Pittman re-sign you don’t. You aren’t going to change my mind and I am not going to change yours so I am not going to waste my time trying.

I bet the Chiefs would give their right arm for Michael Pittman right now with all their struggles at WR. also yeah he had better numbers than the Ravens, Packers, and, Steelers number one WR and similar numbers to the Bucs, Browns, Bills, and, Texans number one WR. so the numbers say he would have been the number one WR on about half the teams in the playoffs.

I don’t know about that. That’s not his game. That’s Pierce. Pittman is the you have to have this catch move the chains guy. A lot like Wayne the later part of his career.

I agree I find it hard to believe there is enough passes for Higgins but wouldn’t be for Pittman if you swapped them.

Yes but often times you extend players going into their final year of the contract. That’s why he brought up this year. However, I think Ballard has enough real free agents he’s not going to busy with extensions right now. I also don’t think Franklin is the kind of guy you need to extend a year early.