Ballard FA Grievances Thread (Merge)

[stitches]

28 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Yup. The Eagles seem to draft better, and are more aggressive in trades and free agency (where they also have a solid track record). It would be hard to keep up with that even if you nail every draft class. 

 

I think 2020 offseason is the upper limit of Ballard's aggresssiveness scale. He felt like most of the roster was settled, traded for a really good player, made another big FA signing, and was kind of aggressive going after guys he liked in the draft. I think it takes more than that these days.

Yeah, in a league with limited resources, there are really 3 avenues to add talent to this team - draft, FA and trade. And Ballard by his own volition has decided to pretty much ignore one of those and be extremely limited in the second one, while teams like the Eagles work the full field of opportunities.

[bluephantom87]

15 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

So you don’t like Ballard, but acknowledge you like the new HC.   
 

Do you know who picked the new HC?  
 

That’s right…..  

 

The least he could do.... 

[bluephantom87]

On 8/11/2023 at 12:43 PM, stitches said:

 

Do you guys and gals agree with NFC East Personnel Director? 

 

See above NCF

[NewColtsFan]

27 minutes ago, bluephantom87 said:

 

See above NCF

Not the least bit impressed.    Sorry. 

[bluephantom87]

On 5/22/2023 at 7:08 PM, Blueblood23 said:

Looks like the roster is not as strong as many on this board proclaimed.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/colts-roster-ranked-fourth-worst-123032813.html

 

How about this then NCF?

[John Waylon]

You know, after hearing what helped lead to McDaniels ouster and seeing the way he’s crashed and burned as a HC it sure doesn’t do any favors for my opinion on Ballard. Ending up with reich was no prize, but the only thing standing between Ballard and having the stink of hiring McDaniels on his hands is Irsay missing a dose or two of Imodium. 
 

“At least he wasn’t able to carry out the worst of his impulses” is not the kind of silver lining I want to have to look back on. 
 

[NewColtsFan]

On 10/31/2023 at 2:14 PM, bluephantom87 said:

 

How about this then NCF?

I think this confirms what I’ve been saying almost all year.   That this would be a semi-tank job.   The roster is young and inexperienced by design.   Other than the normal Ballard approach at free agency the team has done nothing to improve.   The team is fine letting the kids play and learning on the job.  
 

You wanted me to see this as a negative against Ballard.   Except I think it’s the opposite.   It proves that Ballard/Irsay are fine if the team finishes under 500.   This was the plan all along.   As it was in 2017.   
 

I appreciate you pointing this out to me.   I might’ve missed it.   Thnx.     
 

[SOMDColtsfan]

1 hour ago, John Waylon said:

You know, after hearing what helped lead to McDaniels ouster and seeing the way he’s crashed and burned as a HC it sure doesn’t do any favors for my opinion on Ballard. Ending up with reich was no prize, but the only thing standing between Ballard and having the stink of hiring McDaniels on his hands is Irsay missing a dose or two of Imodium. 
 

“At least he wasn’t able to carry out the worst of his impulses” is not the kind of silver lining I want to have to look back on. 
 

This is overlooked. Agree 

[NewColtsFan]

On 10/31/2023 at 11:04 AM, stitches said:

Yeah, in a league with limited resources, there are really 3 avenues to add talent to this team - draft, FA and trade. And Ballard by his own volition has decided to pretty much ignore one of those and be extremely limited in the second one, while teams like the Eagles work the full field of opportunities.

Welcome to the world where the Colts are a small market team and the Eagles are a big market team and can do things the Colts don’t want to.   
 

And Ballard’s approach is pretty close to Polian’s approach as well. 

[RollerColt]

58 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

I think this confirms what I’ve been saying almost all year.   That this would be a semi-tank job.   The roster is young and inexperienced by design.   Other than the normal Ballard approach at free agency the team has done nothing to improve.   The team is fine letting the kids play and learning on the job.  
 

You wanted me to see this as a negative against Ballard.   Except I think it’s the opposite.   It proves that Ballard/Irsay are fine if the team finishes under 500.   This was the plan all along.   As it was in 2017.   
 

I appreciate you pointing this out to me.   I might’ve missed it.   Thnx.     
 

And we’ve already reached our win total from last year with these young players. They’re getting great experience cutting their teeth.

[John Waylon]

1 hour ago, SOMDColtsfan said:

This is overlooked. Agree 

Well, it’s certainly pertinent now. It’s hard to defend the move. And we traded one miss for another. 
 

I just don’t have the faith anymore. I trusted the process, I’ve waited for the delayed gratification, and I’m just kinda done with him the same way I was frank in the end. He has his merits and I will give him that. He’s going to make a badass addition to someone else’s front office and scouting department. But as a GM… 

 

I just don’t have the confidence in him to build this team into a perennial contender. I wish I did but I do not. 

[BeanDiasucci]

18 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

Welcome to the world where the Colts are a small market team and the Eagles are a big market team and can do things the Colts don’t want to.   
 

And Ballard’s approach is pretty close to Polian’s approach as well. 

Some teams with smaller markets than the Colts are doing okay, Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, and lately the Bengals and Jags.

[2006Coltsbestever]

Just now, BeanDiasucci said:

Some teams with smaller markets than the Colts are doing okay, Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, and lately the Bengals and Jags.

All have very good to great QB's is why. When we had Peyton and Luck, we did okay (better than okay). Before the Bengals got Burrow (Great QB) they were terrible and before the Jags got Lawrence (very good QB) they had 1 good year in a decade, that was in 2017. Bills went like 20 years straight without making the playoffs, now they have Allen. Chiefs and Ravens have great QB's.

[BeanDiasucci]

6 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

All have very good to great QB's is why. When we had Peyton and Luck, we did okay (better than okay). Before the Bengals got Burrow (Great QB) they were terrible and before the Jags got Lawrence (very good QB) they had 1 good year in a decade, that was in 2017. Bills went like 20 years straight without making the playoffs, now they have Allen. Chiefs and Ravens have great QB's.

Somebody should have dropped Ballard a note about this a few years ago. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, BeanDiasucci said:

Somebody should have dropped Ballard a note about this a few years ago. 

I agree. 

[Yoshinator]

19 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

Welcome to the world where the Colts are a small market team and the Eagles are a big market team and can do things the Colts don’t want to.   
 

And Ballard’s approach is pretty close to Polian’s approach as well. 

Polian wasn't a great GM either when you use some hindsight and analysis. He rode the coattails of Peyton Manning and never really built him a defense besides Freeney and Mathis. Bob Sanders didn't last long unfortunately. Ballard would have been about the same IMO except he never got to ride the coattails of Luck. The D-Line wouldn't have hit, the secondary would have been bad still, the LBers would have been fine but that's it. Maybe Luck carries the WRs a bit better, but I'm not convinced Ballard is any better than Polian nor would he had put a better team around Luck than Polian put around Manning.

[NewColtsFan]

1 hour ago, BeanDiasucci said:

Some teams with smaller markets than the Colts are doing okay, Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, and lately the Bengals and Jags.

The teams you mentioned….   are led by Mahomes, Allen, Jackson,  Burrow and Lawrence.     When you have a top quarterback,  you can have more success.  
 

The Colts haven’t gotten the quarterback right since Luck.   Hopefully that changes with AR. 
 

 

[NewColtsFan]

Just now, Jared Cisneros said:

Polian wasn't a great GM either when you use some hindsight and analysis. He rode the coattails of Peyton Manning and never really built him a defense besides Freeney and Mathis. Bob Sanders didn't last long unfortunately. Ballard would have been about the same IMO except he never got to ride the coattails of Luck. The D-Line wouldn't have hit, the secondary would have been bad still, the LBers would have been fine but that's it. Maybe Luck carries the WRs a bit better, but I'm not convinced Ballard is any better than Polian nor would he had put a better team around Luck than Polian put around Manning.

Dear God, Jared!   You certainly aren’t afraid to humiliate yourself.    Bill Polian was a UNANIMOUS FIRST BALLOT Hall of Fame GM.    
 

He was great in Buffalo, great in Carolina, and great in Indianapolis until the last few years.    
 

Whenever you write these long rambling posts you get yourself into trouble.   I’m sorry, but this is another bad take. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

6 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

The teams you mentioned….   are led by Mahomes, Allen, Jackson,  Burrow and Lawrence.     When you have a top quarterback,  you can have more success.  
 

The Colts haven’t gotten the quarterback right since Luck.   Hopefully that changes with AR. 
 

 

I posted the same thing above. I agree.

[Yoshinator]

4 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

Dear God, Jared!   You certainly aren’t afraid to humiliate yourself.    Bill Polian was a UNANIMOUS FIRST BALLOT Hall of Fame GM.    
 

He was great in Buffalo, great in Carolina, and great in Indianapolis until the last few years.    
 

Whenever you write these long rambling posts you get yourself into trouble.   I’m sorry, but this is another bad take. 

In 14 years with the Colts Peyton Manning made 2 SBs and won 1, in 4 years with Denver, Peyton Manning made 2 SBs and won 1. Polian wasted Manning's prime years based on great Manning was (top 5 QB of all time). 

[Superman]

22 hours ago, John Waylon said:

You know, after hearing what helped lead to McDaniels ouster and seeing the way he’s crashed and burned as a HC it sure doesn’t do any favors for my opinion on Ballard. Ending up with reich was no prize, but the only thing standing between Ballard and having the stink of hiring McDaniels on his hands is Irsay missing a dose or two of Imodium. 
 

“At least he wasn’t able to carry out the worst of his impulses” is not the kind of silver lining I want to have to look back on. 
 

 

Calling the potential hiring of McDaniels an impulse is a stretch. 

 

The dude hid the fact that he was a spineless coward until the 11th hour. That's on him alone. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

19 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

In 14 years with the Colts Peyton Manning made 2 SBs and won 1, in 4 years with Denver, Peyton Manning made 2 SBs and won 1. Polian wasted Manning's prime years based on great Manning was (top 5 QB of all time). 

Winning SB's are tough. There is a reason why only 12 QB's in the history of the SB era have won 2 or more as a starter in the 57 SB's played. Can't win the SB every year, besides winning a SB and going to 2 here, you can't discredit our 109-35 Regular Season record between 2002-2010. Most team would kill for that.

[NewColtsFan]

15 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

In 14 years with the Colts Peyton Manning made 2 SBs and won 1, in 4 years with Denver, Peyton Manning made 2 SBs and won 1. Polian wasted Manning's prime years based on great Manning was (top 5 QB of all time). 

Jared….    All those great years with Manning, when the team eventually lost in the playoffs, it wasn’t because the defense wasn’t good enough.  It was because Manning himself wasn’t good enough in the biggest game of the year.  
 

Polian built an amazing offense and he wasn’t even afraid to trade Marshall Faulk and draft Edgerin James.   That’s how great Polian was.  
 

If Polian wasn’t great, then there’s never been a great GM in the NFL.   He’s as good as it gets, flaws and all. 

[John Waylon]

12 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

In 14 years with the Colts Peyton Manning made 2 SBs and won 1, in 4 years with Denver, Peyton Manning made 2 SBs and won 1. Polian wasted Manning's prime years based on great Manning was (top 5 QB of all time). 

I’d like to interject here. While I do believe that we didn’t win enough SBs with Peyton I think most of the blame for that lies, unfortunately, on Tony Dungy. 
 

Those teams all won their division. Many won first round byes. 
 

But we regularly got bounced from the playoffs before we should have, and I’ve always felt the onus of that blame falls more on Dungy’s philosophy more than anything else. They never approached a playoff game any differently than they did a throwaway Jags game in October. When the other team is standing over on the other sidelines hyped out of their minds coming prepared with everything they could think of to beat us and we’re just out there to “do what we do” it lead to a lot of those one and done and upset playoff losses we suffered. 

 

What was the one postseason that actually felt different than usual? 
 

The year we won a SB. And that was the only one Dungy ever got us to. It was the change to Caldwell, and a mentality change that got us there the next time. 
 

Polian built the teams, Dungy just didn’t get them up for the playoffs. 

[John Waylon]

5 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Calling the potential hiring of McDaniels an impulse is a stretch. 

 

The dude hid the fact that he was a spineless coward until the 11th hour. That's on him alone. 

I didn’t mean it literally, I’m just saying that “at least he didn’t get to do this like he wanted to” doesn’t give me much faith in a guy whose decisions I already question. 
 

Regardless of what happened, when, or why, Ballard was still ready to bring the guy here. Before it was frank it was this guy. 
 

Oof. 

[Yoshinator]

7 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

I’d like to interject here. While I do believe that we didn’t win enough SBs with Peyton I think most of the blame for that lies, unfortunately, on Tony Dungy. 
 

Those teams all won their division. Many won first round byes. 
 

But we regularly got bounced from the playoffs before we should have, and I’ve always felt the onus of that blame falls more on Dungy’s philosophy more than anything else. They never approached a playoff game any differently than they did a throwaway Jags game in October. When the other team is standing over on the other sidelines hyped out of their minds coming prepared with everything they could think of to beat us and we’re just out there to “do what we do” it lead to a lot of those one and done and upset playoff losses we suffered. 

 

What was the one postseason that actually felt different than usual? 
 

The year we won a SB. And that was the only one Dungy ever got us to. It was the change to Caldwell, and a mentality change that got us there the next time. 
 

Polian built the teams, Dungy just didn’t get them up for the playoffs. 

This is probably the right answer, and something I didn't remember well as a kid.

[John Waylon]

15 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

This is probably the right answer, and something I didn't remember well as a kid.

Yeah. It’s something that I don’t think a lot of people realized in real-time and haven’t really looked back on properly. 
 

I loved coach Dungy. He kept that squad operating like a finely tuned machine. He was a great coach, a great ambassador for both the city and the sport and he was just a great man. It was easy to overlook that flaw. 

 

But it was real. The year they won it all they talked about how the mentality changed once the playoffs started. 
 

The next year the mantra was literally “do what you do” and we got beat by Billy * Volek in our first game. I don’t remember if that was WC or if we had a bye. 
 

When Dungy announced his retirement I was really hoping his approach would change, but it didn’t and “do what you do” was lose to the Chargers in the playoffs because that’s exactly what happened. 
 

The squad was SB ready. They carried Caldwell to one in his first season. 
 

And all of this to say Dungy was a great coach. One of the greatest. But he bears a lot of responsibility for the way many of those playoff runs ended. Even the early losses to the Pats. When we came in doing the same stuff we did earlier in the season in the playoffs, what coach is better equipped to shut that % right down than Belichick? 

 

It’s always been an interesting subject to me. 

[BeanDiasucci]

 

 

1 hour ago, NewColtsFan said:

The teams you mentioned….   are led by Mahomes, Allen, Jackson,  Burrow and Lawrence.     When you have a top quarterback,  you can have more success.  
 

The Colts haven’t gotten the quarterback right since Luck.   Hopefully that changes with AR. 
 

 

 Yes, and, although others disagree, I hold Ballard most accountable for not getting it right since Luck. He should have known this was priority #1 and made it happen. 

[RollerColt]

Let us not forget that some of those playoff losses with Peyton were ridiculous. The ‘05 game against the Steelers where the refs were in the Steelers pocket for the entire postseason? We had a monster team that year. Technically more talented than the Super Bowl winning team. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

4 minutes ago, RollerColt said:

Let us not forget that some of those playoff losses with Peyton were ridiculous. The ‘05 game against the Steelers where the refs were in the Steelers pocket for the entire postseason? We had a monster team that year. Technically more talented than the Super Bowl winning team. 

We had no business losing in 2005. We were by far the best team in the NFL. I blame Dungy for that loss vs Pitt. He got outcoached by Cowher. 

[John Waylon]

13 minutes ago, RollerColt said:

Let us not forget that some of those playoff losses with Peyton were ridiculous. The ‘05 game against the Steelers where the refs were in the Steelers pocket for the entire postseason? We had a monster team that year. Technically more talented than the Super Bowl winning team. 

 

8 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

We had no business losing in 2005. We were by far the best team in the NFL. I blame Dungy for that loss vs Pitt. He got outcoached by Cowher. 

Both of these things are true. While the refs ultimately cost us the game late, we were a much better team than that and we should have never been in position for the refs to have had that impact. There was not a real killer instinct in that game at any time and that should not have been the case. 

[chad72]

11 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

We had no business losing in 2005. We were by far the best team in the NFL. I blame Dungy for that loss vs Pitt. He got outcoached by Cowher. 

 

I remember Dungy had a personal tragedy with his son's death and the Colts should have persuaded him to take a break while Caldwell or someone else coached the team, IMO. It is not something one overcomes easily in a few weeks to be all in 100%. It was a difficult situation overall for everyone involved.

[Superman]

1 hour ago, RollerColt said:

Let us not forget that some of those playoff losses with Peyton were ridiculous. The ‘05 game against the Steelers where the refs were in the Steelers pocket for the entire postseason? We had a monster team that year. Technically more talented than the Super Bowl winning team. 

 

The most controversial call in that game went against the Steelers. 

[Superman]

2 hours ago, John Waylon said:

I didn’t mean it literally, I’m just saying that “at least he didn’t get to do this like he wanted to” doesn’t give me much faith in a guy whose decisions I already question. 
 

Regardless of what happened, when, or why, Ballard was still ready to bring the guy here. Before it was frank it was this guy. 
 

Oof. 

 

I posted on this earlier. I put that entirely on McDaniels. He reformed his image with the help of some of the most reputable people around the NFL. And at the last minute, he showed that it was all an act. For me, it has no bearing on my opinion of Ballard.

 

I have no objection to you saying it doesn't help your opinion of Ballard. I just think it's misplaced to view it as a negative. 

 

Also, bigger picture, hiring a HC is hard. Most teams don't get it right. That's not an excuse for Ballard wanting McDaniels, just something I really came around on this offseason. That said, we could have done a lot worse than Reich. I don't think he's a bad HC, but I do think he has some faults and some blind spots. Point is I don't hold Reich against Ballard either. 

[BeanDiasucci]

13 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I posted on this earlier. I put that entirely on McDaniels. He reformed his image with the help of some of the most reputable people around the NFL. And at the last minute, he showed that it was all an act. For me, it has no bearing on my opinion of Ballard.

 

I have no objection to you saying it doesn't help your opinion of Ballard. I just think it's misplaced to view it as a negative. 

 

Also, bigger picture, hiring a HC is hard. Most teams don't get it right. That's not an excuse for Ballard wanting McDaniels, just something I really came around on this offseason. That said, we could have done a lot worse than Reich. I don't think he's a bad HC, but I do think he has some faults and some blind spots. Point is I don't hold Reich against Ballard either. 

I don't mean this to be snarky in asking, but do you hire people? Hiring someone as a leader who turns out to have the personal/leadership deficiencies that McDaniels in a crucial position like NFL head coach is a major fail. IMHO, you really blew it if this happens, especially if a guy did an image makeover like McDaniels and you fell for it. I wonder if getting burned in this situation was why the interviews this time around were so extensive. 

[RollerColt]

29 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

The most controversial call in that game went against the Steelers. 

It did? Am I misremembering that game for the Bengals game a week earlier?

[SOMDColtsfan]

4 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Polian wasn't a great GM either when you use some hindsight and analysis. He rode the coattails of Peyton Manning and never really built him a defense besides Freeney and Mathis. Bob Sanders didn't last long unfortunately. Ballard would have been about the same IMO except he never got to ride the coattails of Luck. The D-Line wouldn't have hit, the secondary would have been bad still, the LBers would have been fine but that's it. Maybe Luck carries the WRs a bit better, but I'm not convinced Ballard is any better than Polian nor would he had put a better team around Luck than Polian put around Manning.

While not agreeing 100% on the "Polian wasn't great" comment I do agree about the defense. Particularly in the trenches and the small LB's. Gashed up the middle for so many of the Manning years. Meanwhile we watched Vince Wilfork and Haloti Ngata dominate those years. Ironically, that's where Ballard has shined as far as building a defense.  

[Superman]

1 hour ago, RollerColt said:

It did? Am I misremembering that game for the Bengals game a week earlier?

 

The Polamalu interception that got overturned...

 

I don't remember the calls in the Bengals game. I know the SB had some questionable calls go the Steelers way. 

[Superman]

1 hour ago, BeanDiasucci said:

I don't mean this to be snarky in asking, but do you hire people? Hiring someone as a leader who turns out to have the personal/leadership deficiencies that McDaniels in a crucial position like NFL head coach is a major fail. IMHO, you really blew it if this happens, especially if a guy did an image makeover like McDaniels and you fell for it. I wonder if getting burned in this situation was why the interviews this time around were so extensive. 

 

I've hired people and sat on committees that make hiring recommendations. None of them with any real relevance to the kind of process that a HC candidate goes through. 

 

Where we disagree is I don't think the faults in this case fall on the people that fell for it. The person who ran the scam is responsible. 

 

But I do agree that this situation contributed to the extensive process this time around. IMO that's the way it always should be. 

[Solid84]

5 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

Jared….    All those great years with Manning, when the team eventually lost in the playoffs, it wasn’t because the defense wasn’t good enough.  It was because Manning himself wasn’t good enough in the biggest game of the year.  
 

Polian built an amazing offense and he wasn’t even afraid to trade Marshall Faulk and draft Edgerin James.   That’s how great Polian was.  
 

If Polian wasn’t great, then there’s never been a great GM in the NFL.   He’s as good as it gets, flaws and all. 

Not saying Manning was perfect and I'm not getting into the Polian thing. But to the high-lighted, that's just wrong. The entire time Manning was here we had a good defense one year, maybe two at most?