2023 Colts and NFL free agency news, rumors, discussions

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

We are going  to have a young QB. Learn a lesson from jags and go find a proven ver who is still young. That’s how you find out what you have with the young QB. They need all the weapons you can give them.

[Indyfan4life]

11 minutes ago, Indeee said:

God let's hope he doesn't to both of those. Needs to trade Taylor soon while there is still value.

Taylor. Isn’t. Going. To. Be. Traded. 

[LJpalmbeacher2]

8 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

He needs to find that 3 WR. Not Dulin either.  Fans and media have been screaming about this since 2018. 

Especially JMV!

9 minutes ago, Indeee said:

God let's hope he doesn't to both of those. Needs to trade Taylor soon while there is still value.

 

It's a difficult decision when a star RB's rookie deal is up and he deserves the big contract BUT you know that most likely his best days are behind him. 

Zeke is a great example. 

[Indeee]

3 minutes ago, Indyfan4life said:

Taylor. Isn’t. Going. To. Be. Traded. 

He. Should. Be. But. Ballard. Is. An. *.

 

3 minutes ago, Indyfan4life said:

Taylor. Isn’t. Going. To. Be. Traded. 

 

[Dingus McGirt]

On 3/18/2023 at 6:20 PM, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

Kelly’s bonus is only 1 million. So colts might be ok paying it and trading him later. Moored is only 500k.

“Only”

[Solid84]

29 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

We are going  to have a young QB. Learn a lesson from jags and go find a proven ver who is still young. That’s how you find out what you have with the young QB. They need all the weapons you can give them.

Was done with Burrow, Hurts, Allen and Lawrence. Needs to happen here as well. I just don’t think Ballard will do it. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

31 minutes ago, Solid84 said:

Was done with Burrow, Hurts, Allen and Lawrence. Needs to happen here as well. I just don’t think Ballard will do it. 

He has proven he will pay for defense. But he needs to start doing it for offense too.

[Patrick Miller]

Another one gone 

[NewColtsFan]

2 minutes ago, Patrick Miller said:

Another one gone 

Well….  Props to @Jared Cisneros

 

He predicted Hollins would get signed today!   Right guy, right day.   Just wrong team.     2 out of 3 ain’t too bad!   

[Indyfan4life]

55 minutes ago, Indeee said:

He. Should. Be. But. Ballard. Is. An. *.

 

 

Assuming we don’t run with Minshew this season, wouldn’t you WANT your rookie QB to have a weapon like Taylor? It’s obvious Ballard isn’t going to actually address the WR and Oline. 

[DiogoSales]

2 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

“Nothing has changed with Ballard’s approach so far.”   ???

 

Huh?

 

Ballard has done more this free agency period than any year except 2017, the throw away year with Pagano.  
 

That was just last week!

 

All the moves he made last week are far more than he’s done in any other first week of free agency in 18-22.   Im sorry you apparently missed it. 
 

Remember, free agency isn’t one week long.   It goes for months.  Tomorrow starts week 2.    There’s tons of time left. 

A kicker, the only starter (good move btw).

 

Maybe a avg rotation DE

[Yoshinator]

5 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

Well….  Props to @Jared Cisneros

 

He predicted Hollins would get signed today!   Right guy, right day.   Just wrong team.     2 out of 3 ain’t too bad!   

Thanks! I really was hoping to get him for a cheap, one year deal. I was close lol!  

[Indeee]

9 minutes ago, Indyfan4life said:

Assuming we don’t run with Minshew this season, wouldn’t you WANT your rookie QB to have a weapon like Taylor? It’s obvious Ballard isn’t going to actually address the WR and Oline. 

Steichen said throw to score points. Run to win games.

 

You really want Ballard to give top money to a clock eater? Not to mention a position not highly valued anymore.

 

Ballard has been building a football team like he is a GM 2 decades ago. If he doesn't start acting like a GM of this decade, he's history, just like his style of team building. 

 

 

[Aaron86]

1 hour ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

 

I totally agree.

Something is not right in Baltimore, not just the Not resigning the Lamar Jackson thing. I think their best days are behind them for awhile. As far as Harbaugh, he gave away 2 games by not kicking the PAT and going for two, among other things. He may not be coaching in Baltimore for long and then he'll be a Hot Signing for a team with a opening. Who knows, maybe his brother will coach the Ravens? 

I think the Bengals will contend for the division for the foreseeable future with the Steelers improving and the brownies with Watson. Rarely, four teams are good in a division, and the Ravens will be the odd team out.....just a feeling/hunch. Hope I'm wrong cause I like Baltimore and the Ravens. 

Baltimore is not the same since Polock Johnny's closed down on The Block, lol. 

By far the Best Hot Dog joint I've ever been to. 

Something is really off with them. I cant see anybody taking the division from the Bengals for a min, the Steelers are the only team I can see making some noise to challenge Cincy. I'm just not sold on the Browns one bit, mainly because its the browns. 

[Indyfan4life]

31 minutes ago, Indeee said:

Steichen said throw to score points. Run to win games.

 

You really want Ballard to give top money to a clock eater? Not to mention a position not highly valued anymore.

 

Ballard has been building a football team like he is a GM 2 decades ago. If he doesn't start acting like a GM of this decade, he's history, just like his style of team building. 

 

 

Let me know how this offense does without Taylor and Dulin as a starting WR. 

[TomDiggs]

FWIW, all the "Ballard is cheap" and "Ballard won't spend on offense", etc is a little bit misconstrued. 

 

I wont re-hash old posts where i showed how the Colts spent the most in the entire NFL on offense the past handful of years, but at the minimum here let's talk "philosophy".

 

What Ballard will not do is compete with other teams for players and go above the player's value to outbid someone else who is willing to pay the player more than he is worth. He is disciplined and sets a number and sticks to it. And if the player ends up elsewhere as a result so be it. He has essentially said he won't play "B" players "A" money. 

 

What the Jags did last year for Lawrence was not good business. Did it work? Sure did. And because of that people will give kudos.  But paying Christian Kirk what they did was mocked and was actually not a great thing. Kirk ended up playing up to that contract and earning it. Which is awesome. But for every Kirk there is a Golladay that does not live up to it.

 

The smarter and more astute thing the Jags did and should be praised for was them buying low on Calvin Ridley in a trade. That could pay off huge this season.

 

Ballard is much more the type to trade for a guy and then extend him. Once he is on our team and it is us negotiating with the player and not us plus 3-5 other teams negotiating with the player against each other.

 

He also, obviously, spends to keep players that we grew and who proved they worked out here. That way he knows his investment is in both proven talent and talent that fits here and has proven to fit here. 

 

All this to say, if or when he extends guys like JT and Pittman it will be because they earned it and deserved it and proved they did prior. And because we are extending them bidding against only ourselves in that moment. 

 

It is very much a measured approach. And is all the more reason why we shouldn't ever expect big fish in FA to be pursued and won. Which is truly frustrating at times. I get it. I truly do. 

 

I also have to admit there are very, very few FAs that signed this off-season so far that I said "damn I wish we got him for that".

 

And the few that i have said that to i can see why they went where they went and likely wouldn't have come to a rebuilding Indy team for the same thing. We would have had to player "A" prices for "B" talent to get them here.

 

All of that being said, I am all for us continuing to add the next few weeks or so before the draft.

 

We need a reliable swing OT. Badly. We need someone to compete at RG. We still need depth along the DL especially at DT even with Bryan signing. We need probably 3 CBs. And another S. And a slot WR. And a blocking TE. 

 

Lots of work still to do but happy it will be at the lower thresholds of prices. 

[TomDiggs]

Also, while i expected Kelly and Kenny to be moved before today, I also commend the approach when it comes to them.

 

Right now before today teams probably sat there and said "I am not giving them a 6th or a 7th for Kelly or Moore when they are going to cut them before Sunday anyhow and I can just sign them for no pick loss". 

 

Now that the Colts picked up those options, it at least gives the perception (if not the true reality) that we are keeping these guys in the absence of someone making us a valid offer for them.

 

So if that entices people to then get a fire under themselves to come with an offer, great. 

[OLD FAN MAN]

2 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

Kelly’s bonus wasn’t that much so I wonder if it was just a respect thing letting him have his bonus but still could get cut.

i dont know how anyone can think ballard is doing a good job as the colts sink to the bottom of the nfl during his tenure

[OLD FAN MAN]

8 minutes ago, TomDiggs said:

FWIW, all the "Ballard is cheap" and "Ballard won't spend on offense", etc is a little bit misconstrued. 

 

I wont re-hash old posts where i showed how the Colts spent the most in the entire NFL on offense the past handful of years, but at the minimum here let's talk "philosophy".

 

What Ballard will not do is compete with other teams for players and go above the player's value to outbid someone else who is willing to pay the player more than he is worth. He is disciplined and sets a number and sticks to it. And if the player ends up elsewhere as a result so be it. He has essentially said he won't play "B" players "A" money. 

 

What the Jags did last year for Lawrence was not good business. Did it work? Sure did. And because of that people will give kudos.  But paying Christian Kirk what they did was mocked and was actually not a great thing. Kirk ended up playing up to that contract and earning it. Which is awesome. But for every Kirk there is a Golladay that does not live up to it.

 

The smarter and more astute thing the Jags did and should be praised for was them buying low on Calvin Ridley in a trade. That could pay off huge this season.

 

Ballard is much more the type to trade for a guy and then extend him. Once he is on our team and it is us negotiating with the player and not us plus 3-5 other teams negotiating with the player against each other.

 

He also, obviously, spends to keep players that we grew and who proved they worked out here. That way he knows his investment is in both proven talent and talent that fits here and has proven to fit here. 

 

All this to say, if or when he extends guys like JT and Pittman it will be because they earned it and deserved it and proved they did prior. And because we are extending them bidding against only ourselves in that moment. 

 

It is very much a measured approach. And is all the more reason why we shouldn't ever expect big fish in FA to be pursued and won. Which is truly frustrating at times. I get it. I truly do. 

 

I also have to admit there are very, very few FAs that signed this off-season so far that I said "damn I wish we got him for that".

 

And the few that i have said that to i can see why they went where they went and likely wouldn't have come to a rebuilding Indy team for the same thing. We would have had to player "A" prices for "B" talent to get them here.

 

All of that being said, I am all for us continuing to add the next few weeks or so before the draft.

 

We need a reliable swing OT. Badly. We need someone to compete at RG. We still need depth along the DL especially at DT even with Bryan signing. We need probably 3 CBs. And another S. And a slot WR. And a blocking TE. 

 

Lots of work still to do but happy it will be at the lower thresholds of prices. 

tell he keeps his own to paris and the lb okerkee

9 minutes ago, TomDiggs said:

FWIW, all the "Ballard is cheap" and "Ballard won't spend on offense", etc is a little bit misconstrued. 

 

I wont re-hash old posts where i showed how the Colts spent the most in the entire NFL on offense the past handful of years, but at the minimum here let's talk "philosophy".

 

What Ballard will not do is compete with other teams for players and go above the player's value to outbid someone else who is willing to pay the player more than he is worth. He is disciplined and sets a number and sticks to it. And if the player ends up elsewhere as a result so be it. He has essentially said he won't play "B" players "A" money. 

 

What the Jags did last year for Lawrence was not good business. Did it work? Sure did. And because of that people will give kudos.  But paying Christian Kirk what they did was mocked and was actually not a great thing. Kirk ended up playing up to that contract and earning it. Which is awesome. But for every Kirk there is a Golladay that does not live up to it.

 

The smarter and more astute thing the Jags did and should be praised for was them buying low on Calvin Ridley in a trade. That could pay off huge this season.

 

Ballard is much more the type to trade for a guy and then extend him. Once he is on our team and it is us negotiating with the player and not us plus 3-5 other teams negotiating with the player against each other.

 

He also, obviously, spends to keep players that we grew and who proved they worked out here. That way he knows his investment is in both proven talent and talent that fits here and has proven to fit here. 

 

All this to say, if or when he extends guys like JT and Pittman it will be because they earned it and deserved it and proved they did prior. And because we are extending them bidding against only ourselves in that moment. 

 

It is very much a measured approach. And is all the more reason why we shouldn't ever expect big fish in FA to be pursued and won. Which is truly frustrating at times. I get it. I truly do. 

 

I also have to admit there are very, very few FAs that signed this off-season so far that I said "damn I wish we got him for that".

 

And the few that i have said that to i can see why they went where they went and likely wouldn't have come to a rebuilding Indy team for the same thing. We would have had to player "A" prices for "B" talent to get them here.

 

All of that being said, I am all for us continuing to add the next few weeks or so before the draft.

 

We need a reliable swing OT. Badly. We need someone to compete at RG. We still need depth along the DL especially at DT even with Bryan signing. We need probably 3 CBs. And another S. And a slot WR. And a blocking TE. 

 

Lots of work still to do but happy it will be at the lower thresholds of prices. 

his method has us sinking fast

[TomDiggs]

Just now, OLD FAN MAN said:

tell he keeps his own to paris and the lb okerkee

No offense to Campbell, but Campbell really did not do anything to justify keeping. 

 

Okereke absolutely justified being kept, but not when he was outplayed by Franklin who is making $4M a year and Bobby O would have come back as a part time guy for $10M+ behind Shaq and Z.

 

So those are examples where I can see not keeping the home-grown guys sadly. 

 

 

[OLD FAN MAN]

11 minutes ago, TomDiggs said:

FWIW, all the "Ballard is cheap" and "Ballard won't spend on offense", etc is a little bit misconstrued. 

 

I wont re-hash old posts where i showed how the Colts spent the most in the entire NFL on offense the past handful of years, but at the minimum here let's talk "philosophy".

 

What Ballard will not do is compete with other teams for players and go above the player's value to outbid someone else who is willing to pay the player more than he is worth. He is disciplined and sets a number and sticks to it. And if the player ends up elsewhere as a result so be it. He has essentially said he won't play "B" players "A" money. 

 

What the Jags did last year for Lawrence was not good business. Did it work? Sure did. And because of that people will give kudos.  But paying Christian Kirk what they did was mocked and was actually not a great thing. Kirk ended up playing up to that contract and earning it. Which is awesome. But for every Kirk there is a Golladay that does not live up to it.

 

The smarter and more astute thing the Jags did and should be praised for was them buying low on Calvin Ridley in a trade. That could pay off huge this season.

 

Ballard is much more the type to trade for a guy and then extend him. Once he is on our team and it is us negotiating with the player and not us plus 3-5 other teams negotiating with the player against each other.

 

He also, obviously, spends to keep players that we grew and who proved they worked out here. That way he knows his investment is in both proven talent and talent that fits here and has proven to fit here. 

 

All this to say, if or when he extends guys like JT and Pittman it will be because they earned it and deserved it and proved they did prior. And because we are extending them bidding against only ourselves in that moment. 

 

It is very much a measured approach. And is all the more reason why we shouldn't ever expect big fish in FA to be pursued and won. Which is truly frustrating at times. I get it. I truly do. 

 

I also have to admit there are very, very few FAs that signed this off-season so far that I said "damn I wish we got him for that".

 

And the few that i have said that to i can see why they went where they went and likely wouldn't have come to a rebuilding Indy team for the same thing. We would have had to player "A" prices for "B" talent to get them here.

 

All of that being said, I am all for us continuing to add the next few weeks or so before the draft.

 

We need a reliable swing OT. Badly. We need someone to compete at RG. We still need depth along the DL especially at DT even with Bryan signing. We need probably 3 CBs. And another S. And a slot WR. And a blocking TE. 

 

Lots of work still to do but happy it will be at the lower thresholds of prices. 

lower prices mean poorer talent as ballards record shows

[nyyankeechris]

I will just add this...."Sometimes you just got to swing for the fences....not all the time mind you.  Those times a hit and run or small ball is necessary,  but if you don't at least try to swing for it all...you will never hit a Home Run."

[NewColtsFan]

38 minutes ago, OLD FAN MAN said:

i dont know how anyone can think ballard is doing a good job as the colts sink to the bottom of the nfl during his tenure

The problem with your never-ending lava flow of negative Ballard posts is that you were making them during good years too.  2018 with Luck?   2020 with Rivers?   You weren’t heaping praise on Ballard.  
 

So you’ve been writing the same negative posts for going on 7 straight seasons.  And people who support Ballard don’t understand that. 

[Yoshinator]

Honestly, Ballard needs to probably get two of three of a WR, depth O-Lineman, and CB before the draft. We have 9 picks, but not all will be starters, and one will be used on a QB in the first two rounds (at worst). So we need to fill in a couple spots. The Seumalo miss was pretty bad as that was a perfect fit with our coach at a position of need that was affordable. 

 

So we'll see, but my trust in Ballard in FA is low, just as my trust in Ballard in the draft is high.

[GoColts8818]

44 minutes ago, TomDiggs said:

No offense to Campbell, but Campbell really did not do anything to justify keeping. 

 

Okereke absolutely justified being kept, but not when he was outplayed by Franklin who is making $4M a year and Bobby O would have come back as a part time guy for $10M+ behind Shaq and Z.

 

So those are examples where I can see not keeping the home-grown guys sadly. 

 

 

Some don’t get that keep your own doesn’t mean keep everyone.  You can’t in free agency.

[GoColts8818]

13 minutes ago, nyyankeechris said:

I will just add this...."Sometimes you just got to swing for the fences....not all the time mind you.  Those times a hit and run or small ball is necessary,  but if you don't at least try to swing for it all...you will never hit a Home Run."

Yes and they did that with Wentz and Ryan.  It didn’t work.  It’s also not the time to do that when you are looking at drafting a rookie QB and at least going through a retooling if not a rebuild.

[nyyankeechris]

My definition of swinging for the fences is NOT directed at signing or trading for "retreads".....especially at QB.

[crazycolt1]

1 minute ago, Jared Cisneros said:

So we'll see, but my trust in Ballard in FA is low, just as my trust in Ballard in the draft is high.

Is your distrust of Ballards free agent signings due to the lack of, or something else?

[Yoshinator]

1 minute ago, crazycolt1 said:

Is your distrust of Ballards free agent signings due to the lack of, or something else?

It's not really due to the lack of FAs, generally he signs a decent amount of depth guys that supplement the draft. My problem is that he rarely pays for a top-quality FA. FA is meant to fill needs, as opposed to the draft where you generally get the best available talent for the future. There have been plenty of times where we could have filled a need for a starter if we spent money, and failed to do so. The EDGE position and LT are examples for a long time. Seumalo this year was one that set me off as he worked with Steichen in Philly, could have started at RG, and went for cheaper than market value. The only real time Ballard spent up was Gilmore, and that was late in FA. 

 

I just don't think Ballard is using FA effectively enough to supplement the draft. You can't get all your starters through the draft.

[crazycolt1]

11 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

It's not really due to the lack of FAs, generally he signs a decent amount of depth guys that supplement the draft. My problem is that he rarely pays for a top-quality FA. FA is meant to fill needs, as opposed to the draft where you generally get the best available talent for the future. There have been plenty of times where we could have filled a need for a starter if we spent money, and failed to do so. The EDGE position and LT are examples for a long time. Seumalo this year was one that set me off as he worked with Steichen in Philly, could have started at RG, and went for cheaper than market value. The only real time Ballard spent up was Gilmore, and that was late in FA. 

 

I just don't think Ballard is using FA effectively enough to supplement the draft. You can't get all your starters through the draft.

Ballard has explained his views on free agency and I really don't find fault with what he said. It's all a hit and miss business.  

[Yoshinator]

26 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

Ballard has explained his views on free agency and I really don't find fault with what he said. It's all a hit and miss business.  

Other teams like the Chiefs, 49ers, Bengals and Jaguars think differently and are making the playoffs and making and winning SBs, so I will agree with their GMs over our GM in Ballard. Ballard is GMing like a fan in Madden except he doesn't have the benefit of the job being as easy as Madden and the players in the draft developing just by starting. Sometimes you just need good, proven players that don't cost picks and just money and we aren't taking advantage of that like other GMs that are on winning teams.

 

Ballard is making this choice himself and has been for going on 7 years now. He has always had the cap to do it as he manages the cap well. We should have been signing FAs at the premium positions (outside of QB) since we were hitting big in the draft at the non-premium positions. Could have had a mixture of guys under contract as rookies and veterans before paying the rookies to make more of an effort to compete. 

 

Sorry, but no GM of any sports team I'm a fan of has made me more frustrated as a fan than Chris Ballard. As bad as Grigson was, his process was right, he was just horrible at his job. Ballard is the opposite. He is good at his job, and his process is wrong, which is 100X more frustrating because we could be a winning team if he had the right philosophy for building a team.

[VikingsFanInChennai]

6 hours ago, NFLfan said:

 

Thanks. All the best to Adam, a fan favorite who grew up a Vikes fan and was signed as an undrafted free agent by his favorite team. Whenever he retires, he will sign a one-day deal to retire as a Viking. 

He's still with the Vikings East (or South division wise)   in DN terms. 

[NewColtsFan]

4 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Other teams like the Chiefs, 49ers, Bengals and Jaguars think differently and are making the playoffs and making and winning SBs, so I will agree with their GMs over our GM in Ballard. Ballard is GMing like a fan in Madden except he doesn't have the benefit of the job being as easy as Madden and the players in the draft developing just by starting. Sometimes you just need good, proven players that don't cost picks and just money and we aren't taking advantage of that like other GMs that are on winning teams.

 

Ballard is making this choice himself and has been for going on 7 years now. He has always had the cap to do it as he manages the cap well. We should have been signing FAs at the premium positions (outside of QB) since we were hitting big in the draft at the non-premium positions. Could have had a mixture of guys under contract as rookies and veterans before paying the rookies to make more of an effort to compete. 

 

Sorry, but no GM of any sports team I'm a fan of has made me more frustrated as a fan than Chris Ballard. As bad as Grigson was, his process was right, he was just horrible at his job. Ballard is the opposite. He is good at his job, and his process is wrong, which is 100X more frustrating because we could be a winning team if he had the right philosophy for building a team.

Ok….   You’re entitled to whatever opinion you want so I’m not going to respond to the majority of this post. 
 

But I see you still have Cincinnati  on your list of franchises that know how to build properly.   Even after I twice pointed out that to build the Bengals they won between 2-6 games for SIX STRAIGHT years.    Thanks.  Six straight years of double digit losses.  You would never have lasted those six years as a Cincy fan. 

 

But now you’ve also added Jacksonville.   The Jags, who before the 2022 free agency period that you love to rave about had spent over the previous decade $1.4 BILLION in free agency, the MOST in the entire NFL.   And had almost nothing to show for it.  A decade of nothing.   And let’s remember, the Jags only got Trevor Lawrence because the NYJets lost a late season game giving J’Ville the first overall pick.   Pure luck.   So this new HC has a 1-year track record but you think they’re an example of doing things right.  Just one year. 
 

I don’t think you’re aware of how flawed your arguments are.  

[NewColtsFan]

5 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

It's not really due to the lack of FAs, generally he signs a decent amount of depth guys that supplement the draft. My problem is that he rarely pays for a top-quality FA. FA is meant to fill needs, as opposed to the draft where you generally get the best available talent for the future. There have been plenty of times where we could have filled a need for a starter if we spent money, and failed to do so. The EDGE position and LT are examples for a long time. Seumalo this year was one that set me off as he worked with Steichen in Philly, could have started at RG, and went for cheaper than market value. The only real time Ballard spent up was Gilmore, and that was late in FA. 

 

I just don't think Ballard is using FA effectively enough to supplement the draft. You can't get all your starters through the draft.

A friendly reminder…..

 

DE    Justin Houston 2/23

DE/DT.  D’Nico Autry. 3/16

WR   Devin Funchess. 1/10

TE.    Eric Ebron.      2/12

LT.     Eric Fisher.      1/10

 

Some of these worked out.   Others clearly didn’t.   But that doesn’t mean Ballard hasn’t made FA moves.   Which, other than Gilmore, you said he hadn’t made.   That’s just not true.   

[cdgacoltsfan]

7 hours ago, TomDiggs said:

FWIW, all the "Ballard is cheap" and "Ballard won't spend on offense", etc is a little bit misconstrued. 

 

I wont re-hash old posts where i showed how the Colts spent the most in the entire NFL on offense the past handful of years, but at the minimum here let's talk "philosophy".

 

What Ballard will not do is compete with other teams for players and go above the player's value to outbid someone else who is willing to pay the player more than he is worth. He is disciplined and sets a number and sticks to it. And if the player ends up elsewhere as a result so be it. He has essentially said he won't play "B" players "A" money. 

 

What the Jags did last year for Lawrence was not good business. Did it work? Sure did. And because of that people will give kudos.  But paying Christian Kirk what they did was mocked and was actually not a great thing. Kirk ended up playing up to that contract and earning it. Which is awesome. But for every Kirk there is a Golladay that does not live up to it.

 

The smarter and more astute thing the Jags did and should be praised for was them buying low on Calvin Ridley in a trade. That could pay off huge this season.

 

Ballard is much more the type to trade for a guy and then extend him. Once he is on our team and it is us negotiating with the player and not us plus 3-5 other teams negotiating with the player against each other.

 

He also, obviously, spends to keep players that we grew and who proved they worked out here. That way he knows his investment is in both proven talent and talent that fits here and has proven to fit here. 

 

All this to say, if or when he extends guys like JT and Pittman it will be because they earned it and deserved it and proved they did prior. And because we are extending them bidding against only ourselves in that moment. 

 

It is very much a measured approach. And is all the more reason why we shouldn't ever expect big fish in FA to be pursued and won. Which is truly frustrating at times. I get it. I truly do. 

 

I also have to admit there are very, very few FAs that signed this off-season so far that I said "damn I wish we got him for that".

 

And the few that i have said that to i can see why they went where they went and likely wouldn't have come to a rebuilding Indy team for the same thing. We would have had to player "A" prices for "B" talent to get them here.

 

All of that being said, I am all for us continuing to add the next few weeks or so before the draft.

 

We need a reliable swing OT. Badly. We need someone to compete at RG. We still need depth along the DL especially at DT even with Bryan signing. We need probably 3 CBs. And another S. And a slot WR. And a blocking TE. 

 

Lots of work still to do but happy it will be at the lower thresholds of prices. 

Thanks Chris!

[Yoshinator]

1 hour ago, NewColtsFan said:

Ok….   You’re entitled to whatever opinion you want so I’m not going to respond to the majority of this post. 
 

But I see you still have Cincinnati  on your list of franchises that know how to build properly.   Even after I twice pointed out that to build the Bengals they won between 2-6 games for SIX STRAIGHT years.    Thanks.  Six straight years of double digit losses.  You would never have lasted those six years as a Cincy fan. 

 

But now you’ve also added Jacksonville.   The Jags, who before the 2022 free agency period that you love to rave about had spent over the previous decade $1.4 BILLION in free agency, the MOST in the entire NFL.   And had almost nothing to show for it.  A decade of nothing.   And let’s remember, the Jags only got Trevor Lawrence because the NYJets lost a late season game giving J’Ville the first overall pick.   Pure luck.   So this new HC has a 1-year track record but you think they’re an example of doing things right.  Just one year. 
 

I don’t think you’re aware of how flawed your arguments are.  

The bottom line is that both Cinci and Jacksonville got QBs that at or close to Luck's level at no1 overall. The difference between these teams and the Colts is they have competent GMs that have built around these guys in FA and the draft. Both QBs have a solid offense around them, and the premium positions are filled. I realize Grigson was the GM at the time Luck was drafted, but the Bengals and Jags are doing what Grigson wished he could do, and that's build a competent team around their no1 overall pick QB. 

 

Once the Bengals got Burrow, they made the SB in two years. Once the Jags got a competent coach, they rebuilt in FA and won six extra games and won a playoff game. They are doing it the right way. They learned how not to do it from us. Again, I don't blame Ballard directly for Luck retiring as that was on Grigson, but Cinci and Jax are building a team around Burrow and Lawrence the right way.

 

Ballard could learn a thing or two from these two organizations and GMs. 

[Yoshinator]

1 hour ago, NewColtsFan said:

A friendly reminder…..

 

DE    Justin Houston 2/23

DE/DT.  D’Nico Autry. 3/16

WR   Devin Funchess. 1/10

TE.    Eric Ebron.      2/12

LT.     Eric Fisher.      1/10

 

Some of these worked out.   Others clearly didn’t.   But that doesn’t mean Ballard hasn’t made FA moves.   Which, other than Gilmore, you said he hadn’t made.   That’s just not true.   

Autry and Ebron were small offers. Houston, Funchess, and Fisher were medium offers. Ballard has probably been one of the most passive GMs in FA in 7 years since being GM. He made no real effort to build around Luck in the 3 years of FA that Luck was on the team under Ballard (even though he retired before the 2019 season). 

 

It's old at this point that Ballard hasn't changed his ways and that Irsay is still enabling his behavior. Even worse is that Steichen doesn't seem to be doing anything to affect him either except maybe getting Minshew. I wanted more Eagles FAs and it's been disappointing. 

 

Sorry, those FAs are standard for most teams. Just because they are a big signing for Ballard doesn't mean it's normal for other teams. We aren't winning enough to excuse being passive in FA. We aren't the Packers or Ravens with Ballard. 

 

Not getting Seumalo sent me from a 10 to a 0. It's a terrible interior O-Line draft class and he was the perfect FA to start at RG. Familiarity with Steichen and a reasonable price. I feel worse about it after sleeping last night. The O-Line sucks and we are about to probably release Kelly. 

 

I just legitimately don't care anymore. Ballard has sucked the football spirit out of me. 

 

 

[jvan1973]

44 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

The bottom line is that both Cinci and Jacksonville got QBs that at or close to Luck's level at no1 overall. The difference between these teams and the Colts is they have competent GMs that have built around these guys in FA and the draft. Both QBs have a solid offense around them, and the premium positions are filled. I realize Grigson was the GM at the time Luck was drafted, but the Bengals and Jags are doing what Grigson wished he could do, and that's build a competent team around their no1 overall pick QB. 

 

Once the Bengals got Burrow, they made the SB in two years. Once the Jags got a competent coach, they rebuilt in FA and won six extra games and won a playoff game. They are doing it the right way. They learned how not to do it from us. Again, I don't blame Ballard directly for Luck retiring as that was on Grigson, but Cinci and Jax are building a team around Burrow and Lawrence the right way.

 

Ballard could learn a thing or two from these two organizations and GMs. 

You think Mike Brown is a good general manager?   He has had a good run the last few years.    Before that he had about 30 years of failure

[jvan1973]

4 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Autry and Ebron were small offers. Houston, Funchess, and Fisher were medium offers. Ballard has probably been one of the most passive GMs in FA in 7 years since being GM. He made no real effort to build around Luck in the 3 years of FA that Luck was on the team under Ballard (even though he retired before the 2019 season). 

 

It's old at this point that Ballard hasn't changed his ways and that Irsay is still enabling his behavior. Even worse is that Steichen doesn't seem to be doing anything to affect him either except maybe getting Minshew. I wanted more Eagles FAs and it's been disappointing. 

 

Sorry, those FAs are standard for most teams. Just because they are a big signing for Ballard doesn't mean it's normal for other teams. We aren't winning enough to excuse being passive in FA. We aren't the Packers or Ravens with Ballard. 

 

Not getting Seumalo sent me from a 10 to a 0. It's a terrible interior O-Line draft class and he was the perfect FA to start at RG. Familiarity with Steichen and a reasonable price. I feel worse about it after sleeping last night. The O-Line sucks and we are about to probably release Kelly. 

 

I just legitimately don't care anymore. Ballard has sucked the football spirit out of me. 

 

 

Looks like they will be keeping Kelly.  Either that or they just wasted a million dollars on the roster bonus he got yesterday 

[Yoshinator]

4 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

You think Mike Brown is a good general manager?   He has had a good run the last few years.    Before that he had about 30 years of failure

His daughter has major say in running the team now. I think she is a very good decision maker yes.