2023 Colts and NFL free agency news, rumors, discussions

[VikingsFanInChennai]

4 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

We picked 21st, Fields went 11th, and Mac went 15th. We had opportunities in two drafts in 2020 and 2021. 2022 I don't blame Ballard for as every team was passing up on the QBs besides Pickett. IMO, both Reich and Ballard should have been fired at the end of last season for the QB debacle and Ed Dodds should have been promoted to GM.

One has to point out that Jalen Hurts was missed in 2020, almost every other team missed but the QB needy team GMs need to look at their mirror and question if they are able to evaluate QBs well. 

 

Ballard has yet to prove he and his staff and his scouts could evaluate QBs well. Hurts could have been seen just as raw as Richardson is now and understandably most teams would've seen him as "hey here's another bust, who can't make every throw and would run around the football field for few years before he's out of the league". But, GMs like Ballard who need a franchise QB should start to think "hey let's take a chance, it's second round draft pick after all". 

 

Howie Roseman, Philly GM, doesn't exactly sniff a franchise QB from a mile away, as he was proven to be wrong when he drafted Wentz, but he does a lot of good things as GM. He, first of all, admits when he's wrong and isn't afraid to change his philosophy (which Ballard is stubborn about). Roseman took chance at Hurts rather than trying to make Wentz work, which most GMs would do. If Hurts wouldn't have worked out well in the NFL, you can bet he'd be sniffing at this draft class right now like a K9 dog even more hornier than Ballard sitting with his precious #4 draft pick. Roseman does take a lot of risks, taking in lot of free agents, even high priced ones, even when cap space is seemingly full. He got AJ Brown before the league could smell that the player could be lured out of Tennessee., for whom he'd have to give up high draft pick and make a huge contract agreement. He failed in evaluating Justin Jefferson and instead drafted Reagor, but made amends immediately by drafting Smith and acquiring Brown. (This shows that he identifies when he goes wrong, and sets out to correct the mistake almost in his next opportunity, just like drafting Hurts after Wentz and after trading for Sam Bradford - 2 mistakes, but he got one hit in many tries). 

 

Roseman doesn't try to be smart in free agency. He gets all kinds of free agents - cheap, expensive, trades, draft pick and draft day trades, mid year trade if the team needs like getting Miami RB in their SB win season, getting fleeced, fleecing the heck out of others, guys of high character and questionable character or work ethic or off-field issues - doesn't matter, he gets things done, always keeps most of the position group over flowing with talent. He gets coveted FAs, also gets smart waiver claims like Safety Marcus Epps, whom they utilized for cheap before letting him go this free agency. 

 

Roseman actually has built one of the best offensive and defensive lines in NFL for years now, and continues to replenish trenches while adding FAs in all the position groups. He sends out one of the best RBs in the league in free agency, and easily fills the position without getting stuck with a player unless the player has a fair contract for both sides. He's got different philosophy for different position groups, and doesn't tie himself into thinking there's only one right way to build a successful contender. Even among QBs, he's drafted and traded for pure pocket passers, and has evolved with how the league develops to move on to QBs who can escape from pocket and create out-of-structure plays. Because of his openness to any ideas to continue to evolve the football game, he's able to draft Jalen Hurts - not just taking a blind shot at a QB available in the 2nd round. 

 

What I want to point out, taking the example of Philly GM, is that a successful GM thinks in multi-dimensional ways, accepts ideas he's not familiar with and generally goes by, isn't afraid to maximize and squeeze cap numbers putting the franchise at risk for the future while also being bold to make moves to clear cap space by letting players go when time comes, and isn't stuck with "only one way" each and every year when it comes to franchise building. 

 

Now, compare that to Ballard and see how limited Ballard keeps his options, and how average his overall FA, draft and results on the field are. I believe Ballard needs to come out of his cocoon and be ready to make bold moves anytime, and if they fail, know there's always chance to make corrections and amends, like Roseman proved in QB and WR positions for example. 

 

I worked and lived in Philly suburbs and was actually supporting Chip Kelly when he threw Roseman out to another department and made himself the GM. I was proven wrong when Roseman took over the position and went to Super Bowl twice and won in less than the decade next. For a franchise who was always ridiculed as ZERO-SB trophy team in the NFC East and in East Coast, and not many championships in 90-year history. 

 

So, I'm in no way a fan of Roseman as GM, but if you compare Ballard to top GMs and their ways of franchise building, Ballard falls short to below average in multiple ways. 

 

Ballard could start writing a new chapter RIGHT NOW, if he could evaluate and draft the right QB in this draft. I'm afraid however that he had not done it properly, or otherwise he could've moved up to #1 to get that one QB he wants (or out of two options). Now, even if he has evaluated perfectly, he stands to miss out the QBs if Carolina and Houston gets them first. I don't believe, and actually laugh at the idea that all QBs in this draft class are equal and everybody has flaws, and picking #4 still could mean Colts get the QB they always wanted. NO, IT'S NOT, stop joking around. No way all 4 or 5 QBs could be starter level in this draft class, in my estimation 2-3 won't work out well. We can't excuse Ballard saying all QBs have flaws, yes they do, every NFL prospect does every year, Ballard should've evaluated one or two in this Draft class and should've moved up for them. If he did not want to move up, that's okay and in that case, he should be bold to do the process of getting franchise QB right the very next year even if he drafts one at #4 and that QB looks average but not above average. 

 

Ballard would know if he misses the QBs they desired, and if that's the case he would need to start being aggressive at least from the next time. Correct and rectify if you make mistakes, move on to next level and next challenge, and get the franchise to be one of the best. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

 

[Dobbinblitz]

51 minutes ago, cdgacoltsfan said:

"Were" is way different than "are"

Yes, of course

[richard pallo]

37 minutes ago, TomDiggs said:

I usually really like Baldy and love his takes. Especially along the defensive and offensive fronts.

 

But my goodness this is a brutal take. 

 

"If you are looking for experienced depth and position flexibility on your offensive line then make a phone call to Pryor. Not many guys this big this young this experienced walking around. Get Pryor; Get Better."

 

 

 

Bahahahahaa

 

 

The way I saw last season was that Ballard brought Pryor back to play LT and told him it was his position to lose.  To do that Pryor proceeded to lose around 25 pounds to help him be quicker to play the position.  Playing primarily guard the previous season he was much heavier and was pretty effective actually.  Even a few times at tackle he didn’t get overwhelmed. The move to LT last year didn’t work out as he had hoped.  It’s just not his natural position.  But for me Pryor can be an effective guard in the league.  On the order of Glowinski. Not an all pro but definitely a very serviceable backup player who could eventually develop into a starter.  LT no. But Guard I wouldn’t mind bringing him back.   

 

[GoColts8818]

1 hour ago, TomDiggs said:

I usually really like Baldy and love his takes. Especially along the defensive and offensive fronts.

 

But my goodness this is a brutal take. 

 

"If you are looking for experienced depth and position flexibility on your offensive line then make a phone call to Pryor. Not many guys this big this young this experienced walking around. Get Pryor; Get Better."

 

 

 

Bahahahahaa

 

 

 

Great example of people around the NFL falling in love with what a player COULD be.  Pryor has made a nice little career and earned a nice pay check from it.

[Indeee]

21 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

 

Of course, they are...

 

Look, I'm very cynical. *SHOCKER* ....Ha!!

 

But I swear Ballard seriously is going to kill this team further and further. He is going to die on this Pittman and Pierce hill and take us all with him.

 

At this point, I really wish he would offer Kelly to the Cards for the rights to Nuk. At least Hopkins could bring some excellence to a WR room where no one wants to seem to be an alpha. 

 

Hardman would be a cheap get and a possibility on becoming an alpha here amongst children in that room. In KC, it was Kelse and Hill, here there is zippy.

 

I really thought this was a good play for the Colts, yet crickets...

 

I don't care what everyone says. Ballard is an enigma. I can't see what this guy thinks or think sensically <NEW WORD ALERT,  what this guy sees.. 

 

 

 

 

[Yoshinator]

18 minutes ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

One has to point out that Jalen Hurts was missed in 2020, almost every other team missed but the QB needy team GMs need to look at their mirror and question if they are able to evaluate QBs well. 

 

Ballard has yet to prove he and his staff and his scouts could evaluate QBs well. Hurts could have been seen just as raw as Richardson is now and understandably most teams would've seen him as "hey here's another bust, who can't make every throw and would run around the football field for few years before he's out of the league". But, GMs like Ballard who need a franchise QB should start to think "hey let's take a chance, it's second round draft pick after all". 

 

Howie Roseman, Philly GM, doesn't exactly sniff a franchise QB from a mile away, as he was proven to be wrong when he drafted Wentz, but he does a lot of good things as GM. He, first of all, admits when he's wrong and isn't afraid to change his philosophy (which Ballard is stubborn about). Roseman took chance at Hurts rather than trying to make Wentz work, which most GMs would do. If Hurts wouldn't have worked out well in the NFL, you can bet he'd be sniffing at this draft class right now like a K9 dog even more hornier than Ballard sitting with his precious #4 draft pick. Roseman does take a lot of risks, taking in lot of free agents, even high priced ones, even when cap space is seemingly full. He got AJ Brown before the league could smell that the player could be lured out of Tennessee., for whom he'd have to give up high draft pick and make a huge contract agreement. He failed in evaluating Justin Jefferson and instead drafted Reagor, but made amends immediately by drafting Smith and acquiring Brown. (This shows that he identifies when he goes wrong, and sets out to correct the mistake almost in his next opportunity, just like drafting Hurts after Wentz and after trading for Sam Bradford - 2 mistakes, but he got one hit in many tries). 

 

Roseman doesn't try to be smart in free agency. He gets all kinds of free agents - cheap, expensive, trades, draft pick and draft day trades, mid year trade if the team needs like getting Miami RB in their SB win season, getting fleeced, fleecing the heck out of others, guys of high character and questionable character or work ethic or off-field issues - doesn't matter, he gets things done, always keeps most of the position group over flowing with talent. He gets coveted FAs, also gets smart waiver claims like Safety Marcus Epps, whom they utilized for cheap before letting him go this free agency. 

 

Roseman actually has built one of the best offensive and defensive lines in NFL for years now, and continues to replenish trenches while adding FAs in all the position groups. He sends out one of the best RBs in the league in free agency, and easily fills the position without getting stuck with a player unless the player has a fair contract for both sides. He's got different philosophy for different position groups, and doesn't tie himself into thinking there's only one right way to build a successful contender. Even among QBs, he's drafted and traded for pure pocket passers, and has evolved with how the league develops to move on to QBs who can escape from pocket and create out-of-structure plays. Because of his openness to any ideas to continue to evolve the football game, he's able to draft Jalen Hurts - not just taking a blind shot at a QB available in the 2nd round. 

 

What I want to point out, taking the example of Philly GM, is that a successful GM thinks in multi-dimensional ways, accepts ideas he's not familiar with and generally goes by, isn't afraid to maximize and squeeze cap numbers putting the franchise at risk for the future while also being bold to make moves to clear cap space by letting players go when time comes, and isn't stuck with "only one way" each and every year when it comes to franchise building. 

 

Now, compare that to Ballard and see how limited Ballard keeps his options, and how average his overall FA, draft and results on the field are. I believe Ballard needs to come out of his cocoon and be ready to make bold moves anytime, and if they fail, know there's always chance to make corrections and amends, like Roseman proved in QB and WR positions for example. 

 

I worked and lived in Philly suburbs and was actually supporting Chip Kelly when he threw Roseman out to another department and made himself the GM. I was proven wrong when Roseman took over the position and went to Super Bowl twice and won in less than the decade next. For a franchise who was always ridiculed as ZERO-SB trophy team in the NFC East and in East Coast, and not many championships in 90-year history. 

 

So, I'm in no way a fan of Roseman as GM, but if you compare Ballard to top GMs and their ways of franchise building, Ballard falls short to below average in multiple ways. 

 

Ballard could start writing a new chapter RIGHT NOW, if he could evaluate and draft the right QB in this draft. I'm afraid however that he had not done it properly, or otherwise he could've moved up to #1 to get that one QB he wants (or out of two options). Now, even if he has evaluated perfectly, he stands to miss out the QBs if Carolina and Houston gets them first. I don't believe, and actually laugh at the idea that all QBs in this draft class are equal and everybody has flaws, and picking #4 still could mean Colts get the QB they always wanted. NO, IT'S NOT, stop joking around. No way all 4 or 5 QBs could be starter level in this draft class, in my estimation 2-3 won't work out well. We can't excuse Ballard saying all QBs have flaws, yes they do, every NFL prospect does every year, Ballard should've evaluated one or two in this Draft class and should've moved up for them. If he did not want to move up, that's okay and in that case, he should be bold to do the process of getting franchise QB right the very next year even if he drafts one at #4 and that QB looks average but not above average. 

 

Ballard would know if he misses the QBs they desired, and if that's the case he would need to start being aggressive at least from the next time. Correct and rectify if you make mistakes, move on to next level and next challenge, and get the franchise to be one of the best. 

Bravo!!!! Would give this a thousand likes if I could! Great post! You tell to a T the differences between a GM like Howie Roseman compared to Ballard. The Eagles have made two SBs and won one under him. Both times with different QBs and rebuilding quickly. Ballard can't be fired quickly enough. It's a comical joke at this point. 

[Aaron86]

2 hours ago, Dobbinblitz said:

 

 

 

Yeah, my reaction as well.

Mine as well. And I don't think it really worked that well. I just got tired of trying to convince them.

[NFLfan]

7 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

@NFLfan

 

 

Oh gosh. No. I have no problem with the player. I do not want us to mortgage our future by paying him so much and giving up draft picks.

 

Please no. 

[NFLfan]

7 hours ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

cap space?!  

 

@NFLfan

 

We are in trouble. I'm going to have to find another sport to follow. My NY Mets are spending so much. No wonder their $100Million player is out for the year. That is not a winning formula in football. 

[Yoshinator]

I'm probably going to take a break for awhile. I thought we were going to get some Eagles FAs, and the only one we got is Minshew. Matt Gay is a great K, but being our best FA signing is a joke. There's no one left that is probably going to be a starter for us tbh, and the players that I had interest in still have gone the last couple days and guys like Schultz and Singletary went to HOU, which is just another dagger at this point. 

 

I'm tired of caring for a team ruled by a GM that won't change his ways. I'm tired of pretending we have a chance to get better and having faith. There's only one reason I can have faith that's left, and that's if we get Lamar Jackson, Being stressed out over this is going to give me an ulcer. I hate Ballard for ruining my passion and love for the Indianapolis Colts and can't do anything about it.

 

I'll come back if Ballard signs Lamar and eat crow, but other than that, barring a huge trade that benefits us, I think I need to leave for my health. This horrible GM isn't worth having health problems over. I love this community, but I can't handle it anymore (especially people still defending him). I'll return at some point.

[NFLfan]

9 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

I'm probably going to take a break for awhile. I thought we were going to get some Eagles FAs, and the only one we got is Minshew. Matt Gay is a great K, but being our best FA signing is a joke. There's no one left that is probably going to be a starter for us tbh, and the players that I had interest in still have gone the last couple days and guys like Schultz and Singletary went to HOU, which is just another dagger at this point. 

 

I'm tired of caring for a team ruled by a GM that won't change his ways. I'm tired of pretending we have a chance to get better and having faith. There's only one reason I can have faith that's left, and that's if we get Lamar Jackson, Being stressed out over this is going to give me an ulcer. I hate Ballard for ruining my passion and love for the Indianapolis Colts and can't do anything about it.

 

I'll come back if Ballard signs Lamar and eat crow, but other than that, barring a huge trade that benefits us, I think I need to leave for my health. This horrible GM isn't worth having health problems over. I love this community, but I can't handle it anymore (especially people still defending him). I'll return at some point.

 

Are you not joining us for the Gavin Mock Draft?

[GoColts8818]

11 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

I'm probably going to take a break for awhile. I thought we were going to get some Eagles FAs, and the only one we got is Minshew. Matt Gay is a great K, but being our best FA signing is a joke. There's no one left that is probably going to be a starter for us tbh, and the players that I had interest in still have gone the last couple days and guys like Schultz and Singletary went to HOU, which is just another dagger at this point. 

 

I'm tired of caring for a team ruled by a GM that won't change his ways. I'm tired of pretending we have a chance to get better and having faith. There's only one reason I can have faith that's left, and that's if we get Lamar Jackson, Being stressed out over this is going to give me an ulcer. I hate Ballard for ruining my passion and love for the Indianapolis Colts and can't do anything about it.

 

I'll come back if Ballard signs Lamar and eat crow, but other than that, barring a huge trade that benefits us, I think I need to leave for my health. This horrible GM isn't worth having health problems over. I love this community, but I can't handle it anymore (especially people still defending him). I'll return at some point.

1.  No GM changes their spots.  They got where they are by believing what they believe.

 

2.  Yes you absolutely should take a break if this is impacting your health.  No team is worth impacting your health over, especially if you aren’t working for them and they have no impact on your life in terms of your job or anything like that.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

This might be far fetched but I wonder if colts didn’t trade or cut Kelly or Moore in case they want to move up to 3. Maybe they are using them as trade pieces. Another thought is they don’t want to cut them until the draft plays out and see who they get.

[NFLfan]

1 hour ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

 

 

No more free agents. Please. We have done enough shopping. Unlike many here, I am not a fan of signing expensive free agents. 

[Dobbinblitz]

16 minutes ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

One has to point out that Jalen Hurts was missed in 2020, almost every other team missed but the QB needy team GMs need to look at their mirror and question if they are able to evaluate QBs well. 

 

Ballard has yet to prove he and his staff and his scouts could evaluate QBs well. Hurts could have been seen just as raw as Richardson is now and understandably most teams would've seen him as "hey here's another bust, who can't make every throw and would run around the football field for few years before he's out of the league". But, GMs like Ballard who need a franchise QB should start to think "hey let's take a chance, it's second round draft pick after all". 

 

Howie Roseman, Philly GM, doesn't exactly sniff a franchise QB from a mile away, as he was proven to be wrong when he drafted Wentz, but he does a lot of good things as GM. He, first of all, admits when he's wrong and isn't afraid to change his philosophy (which Ballard is stubborn about). Roseman took chance at Hurts rather than trying to make Wentz work, which most GMs would do. If Hurts wouldn't have worked out well in the NFL, you can bet he'd be sniffing at this draft class right now like a K9 dog even more hornier than Ballard sitting with his precious #4 draft pick. Roseman does take a lot of risks, taking in lot of free agents, even high priced ones, even when cap space is seemingly full. He got AJ Brown before the league could smell that the player could be lured out of Tennessee., for whom he'd have to give up high draft pick and make a huge contract agreement. He failed in evaluating Justin Jefferson and instead drafted Reagor, but made amends immediately by drafting Smith and acquiring Brown. (This shows that he identifies when he goes wrong, and sets out to correct the mistake almost in his next opportunity, just like drafting Hurts after Wentz and after trading for Sam Bradford - 2 mistakes, but he got one hit in many tries). 

 

Roseman doesn't try to be smart in free agency. He gets all kinds of free agents - cheap, expensive, trades, draft pick and draft day trades, mid year trade if the team needs like getting Miami RB in their SB win season, getting fleeced, fleecing the heck out of others, guys of high character and questionable character or work ethic or off-field issues - doesn't matter, he gets things done, always keeps most of the position group over flowing with talent. He gets coveted FAs, also gets smart waiver claims like Safety Marcus Epps, whom they utilized for cheap before letting him go this free agency. 

 

Roseman actually has built one of the best offensive and defensive lines in NFL for years now, and continues to replenish trenches while adding FAs in all the position groups. He sends out one of the best RBs in the league in free agency, and easily fills the position without getting stuck with a player unless the player has a fair contract for both sides. He's got different philosophy for different position groups, and doesn't tie himself into thinking there's only one right way to build a successful contender. Even among QBs, he's drafted and traded for pure pocket passers, and has evolved with how the league develops to move on to QBs who can escape from pocket and create out-of-structure plays. Because of his openness to any ideas to continue to evolve the football game, he's able to draft Jalen Hurts - not just taking a blind shot at a QB available in the 2nd round. 

 

What I want to point out, taking the example of Philly GM, is that a successful GM thinks in multi-dimensional ways, accepts ideas he's not familiar with and generally goes by, isn't afraid to maximize and squeeze cap numbers putting the franchise at risk for the future while also being bold to make moves to clear cap space by letting players go when time comes, and isn't stuck with "only one way" each and every year when it comes to franchise building. 

 

Now, compare that to Ballard and see how limited Ballard keeps his options, and how average his overall FA, draft and results on the field are. I believe Ballard needs to come out of his cocoon and be ready to make bold moves anytime, and if they fail, know there's always chance to make corrections and amends, like Roseman proved in QB and WR positions for example. 

 

I worked and lived in Philly suburbs and was actually supporting Chip Kelly when he threw Roseman out to another department and made himself the GM. I was proven wrong when Roseman took over the position and went to Super Bowl twice and won in less than the decade next. For a franchise who was always ridiculed as ZERO-SB trophy team in the NFC East and in East Coast, and not many championships in 90-year history. 

 

So, I'm in no way a fan of Roseman as GM, but if you compare Ballard to top GMs and their ways of franchise building, Ballard falls short to below average in multiple ways. 

 

Ballard could start writing a new chapter RIGHT NOW, if he could evaluate and draft the right QB in this draft. I'm afraid however that he had not done it properly, or otherwise he could've moved up to #1 to get that one QB he wants (or out of two options). Now, even if he has evaluated perfectly, he stands to miss out the QBs if Carolina and Houston gets them first. I don't believe, and actually laugh at the idea that all QBs in this draft class are equal and everybody has flaws, and picking #4 still could mean Colts get the QB they always wanted. NO, IT'S NOT, stop joking around. No way all 4 or 5 QBs could be starter level in this draft class, in my estimation 2-3 won't work out well. We can't excuse Ballard saying all QBs have flaws, yes they do, every NFL prospect does every year, Ballard should've evaluated one or two in this Draft class and should've moved up for them. If he did not want to move up, that's okay and in that case, he should be bold to do the process of getting franchise QB right the very next year even if he drafts one at #4 and that QB looks average but not above average. 

 

Ballard would know if he misses the QBs they desired, and if that's the case he would need to start being aggressive at least from the next time. Correct and rectify if you make mistakes, move on to next level and next challenge, and get the franchise to be one of the best. 

Excellent Post. I think Ballard's method of team building puts immense pressure on him to be almost perfect in the draft - and he is just not ( (Neither is any other GM). Roseman is a good example of a GM who has made number of mistakes and then was proactive and adapted. Ballard has shown to be a very stubborn GM. Sitting at #4 I thought the Colts would make the bold move of trading to #1 and ensuring they drafted their highest rated QB on their board and roll with it. To date, the team has signed a few good players at good overall value, but is the team actually better - so far. Where is the OL help.

[IrsaysArmy]

21 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

I'm probably going to take a break for awhile. I thought we were going to get some Eagles FAs, and the only one we got is Minshew. Matt Gay is a great K, but being our best FA signing is a joke. There's no one left that is probably going to be a starter for us tbh, and the players that I had interest in still have gone the last couple days and guys like Schultz and Singletary went to HOU, which is just another dagger at this point. 

 

I'm tired of caring for a team ruled by a GM that won't change his ways. I'm tired of pretending we have a chance to get better and having faith. There's only one reason I can have faith that's left, and that's if we get Lamar Jackson, Being stressed out over this is going to give me an ulcer. I hate Ballard for ruining my passion and love for the Indianapolis Colts and can't do anything about it.

 

I'll come back if Ballard signs Lamar and eat crow, but other than that, barring a huge trade that benefits us, I think I need to leave for my health. This horrible GM isn't worth having health problems over. I love this community, but I can't handle it anymore (especially people still defending him). I'll return at some point.

It’s Baseball season my guy. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Just a thought but maybe Minshew could recruit Chark to colts. He does have a history with him.  I think we need someone with a different body type then what we have.

[cdgacoltsfan]

29 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

I'm probably going to take a break for awhile. I thought we were going to get some Eagles FAs, and the only one we got is Minshew. Matt Gay is a great K, but being our best FA signing is a joke. There's no one left that is probably going to be a starter for us tbh, and the players that I had interest in still have gone the last couple days and guys like Schultz and Singletary went to HOU, which is just another dagger at this point. 

 

I'm tired of caring for a team ruled by a GM that won't change his ways. I'm tired of pretending we have a chance to get better and having faith. There's only one reason I can have faith that's left, and that's if we get Lamar Jackson, Being stressed out over this is going to give me an ulcer. I hate Ballard for ruining my passion and love for the Indianapolis Colts and can't do anything about it.

 

I'll come back if Ballard signs Lamar and eat crow, but other than that, barring a huge trade that benefits us, I think I need to leave for my health. This horrible GM isn't worth having health problems over. I love this community, but I can't handle it anymore (especially people still defending him). I'll return at some point.

Yep...take a little time off. See ya tomorrow.

[TomDiggs]

1 hour ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

Howie Roseman, Philly GM, doesn't exactly sniff a franchise QB from a mile away, as he was proven to be wrong when he drafted Wentz, but he does a lot of good things as GM.

Loved the post and agreed w a ton of it. I have said in repeated topics that if you put Howie and Ballard together you’d have the perfect GM. 
 

imho, Howie is not the best drafter. He has had some misses and some terrible evals in the draft. But he is a wizard in FA and in trading. 
 

I think the hard part that our fan base just can’t seem to come to grips with is that our philosophy is not going to be to be big players in free agency w this GM. He has said it over and over and fans that get hopes up are always disappointed. 
 

I will add this tidbit that everyone seems to ignore:

 

we truly have no inside insight into how Irsay thinks about this. For all we know, he is all on board w this approach and leading the charge. The colts are his lifeblood. He doesn’t have a major source of income outside of it. We know from very sources that the colts have a budget they set every year that they can’t go above. This might be something restricting our spending snd even Ballard’s willingness to change his stripes. 
 

I will also admit that there haven’t been many free agents under Ballard that we have added where I later regretted the addition nor the contract. 
 

whereas when we last spent freely under Grigson, a lot didn’t work out. I remember how excited I was the Andre Johnson and Frank Gore year and how terrible it went lol. 
 

I often stick up for Ballard only because I genuinely couldn’t name 10 GMs I’d rather have right now. And definitely can’t think of a specific candidate I’d take over him if he walked. 
 

like other, I’d like to see what Dodds or Morocco would do in the same position. But they at least have to have some alignment philosophically w Ballard or they wouldn’t still be here and be his top lieutenants. 
 

here’s hoping the turn around starts w this rookie QB and that that turn around includes opening the check book while the rookie is on that rookie qb contract in years 2-4. 

[csmopar]

44 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

I'm probably going to take a break for awhile. I thought we were going to get some Eagles FAs, and the only one we got is Minshew. Matt Gay is a great K, but being our best FA signing is a joke. There's no one left that is probably going to be a starter for us tbh, and the players that I had interest in still have gone the last couple days and guys like Schultz and Singletary went to HOU, which is just another dagger at this point. 

 

I'm tired of caring for a team ruled by a GM that won't change his ways. I'm tired of pretending we have a chance to get better and having faith. There's only one reason I can have faith that's left, and that's if we get Lamar Jackson, Being stressed out over this is going to give me an ulcer. I hate Ballard for ruining my passion and love for the Indianapolis Colts and can't do anything about it.

 

I'll come back if Ballard signs Lamar and eat crow, but other than that, barring a huge trade that benefits us, I think I need to leave for my health. This horrible GM isn't worth having health problems over. I love this community, but I can't handle it anymore (especially people still defending him). I'll return at some point.

[Dingus McGirt]

1 hour ago, Jared Cisneros said:

I'm probably going to take a break for awhile. I thought we were going to get some Eagles FAs, and the only one we got is Minshew. Matt Gay is a great K, but being our best FA signing is a joke. There's no one left that is probably going to be a starter for us tbh, and the players that I had interest in still have gone the last couple days and guys like Schultz and Singletary went to HOU, which is just another dagger at this point. 

 

I'm tired of caring for a team ruled by a GM that won't change his ways. I'm tired of pretending we have a chance to get better and having faith. There's only one reason I can have faith that's left, and that's if we get Lamar Jackson, Being stressed out over this is going to give me an ulcer. I hate Ballard for ruining my passion and love for the Indianapolis Colts and can't do anything about it.

 

I'll come back if Ballard signs Lamar and eat crow, but other than that, barring a huge trade that benefits us, I think I need to leave for my health. This horrible GM isn't worth having health problems over. I love this community, but I can't handle it anymore (especially people still defending him). I'll return at some point.

Ok.

 

See you here tomorrow.

[Indyfan4life]

26 minutes ago, Dingus McGirt said:

Ok.

 

See you here tomorrow.

He does have a right to be upset about it if he wants. People are tired of Ballard doing…well, not much. 

[RNGDShobby]

8 minutes ago, Indyfan4life said:

He does have a right to be upset about it if he wants. People are tired of Ballard doing…well, not much. 

Theres a whole other thread for Ballard complaints. This is for FA.

[New Zealands #1 Colts Fan]

2 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

I'm probably going to take a break for awhile. I thought we were going to get some Eagles FAs, and the only one we got is Minshew. Matt Gay is a great K, but being our best FA signing is a joke. There's no one left that is probably going to be a starter for us tbh, and the players that I had interest in still have gone the last couple days and guys like Schultz and Singletary went to HOU, which is just another dagger at this point. 

 

I'm tired of caring for a team ruled by a GM that won't change his ways. I'm tired of pretending we have a chance to get better and having faith. There's only one reason I can have faith that's left, and that's if we get Lamar Jackson, Being stressed out over this is going to give me an ulcer. I hate Ballard for ruining my passion and love for the Indianapolis Colts and can't do anything about it.

 

I'll come back if Ballard signs Lamar and eat crow, but other than that, barring a huge trade that benefits us, I think I need to leave for my health. This horrible GM isn't worth having health problems over. I love this community, but I can't handle it anymore (especially people still defending him). I'll return at some point.

[Defjamz26]

On Twitter, Moton floated the idea of the Colts trading Ryan Kelly to the Jets who legitimately have no center currently.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

2 minutes ago, Defjamz26 said:

On Twitter, Moton floated the idea of the Colts trading Ryan Kelly to the Jets who legitimately have no center currently.

Yeah that’s been mentioned as a possibility. Maybe waiting on rodgers thing to get done.

[Indyfan4life]

43 minutes ago, RNGDShobby said:

Theres a whole other thread for Ballard complaints. This is for FA.

Yes, I’m aware. 

[compuls1v3]

3 hours ago, Indeee said:

Of course, they are...

 

Look, I'm very cynical. *SHOCKER* ....Ha!!

 

But I swear Ballard seriously is going to kill this team further and further. He is going to die on this Pittman and Pierce hill and take us all with him.

 

At this point, I really wish he would offer Kelly to the Cards for the rights to Nuk. At least Hopkins could bring some excellence to a WR room where no one wants to seem to be an alpha. 

 

Hardman would be a cheap get and a possibility on becoming an alpha here amongst children in that room. In KC, it was Kelse and Hill, here there is zippy.

 

I really thought this was a good play for the Colts, yet crickets...

 

I don't care what everyone says. Ballard is an enigma. I can't see what this guy thinks or think sensically <NEW WORD ALERT,  what this guy sees.. 

 

 

 

 

I disagree about the Alpha statement.  I think both Pittman and Pierce both play with an Alpha mentality.  Problem is Pittman is not consistent enough to be considered a number one, and Pierce is still learning.

[Bearzzz]

1 hour ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

Yeah that’s been mentioned as a possibility. Maybe waiting on rodgers thing to get done.

Probably waiting for Rodgers approval.

[stitches]

4 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

Just a thought but maybe Minshew could recruit Chark to colts. He does have a history with him.  I think we need someone with a different body type then what we have.

Chark has followed a bunch of Panthers players on social media. They are probably going to sign him soon.

[stitches]

@TomDiggs @VikingsFanInChennai good posts, I will only talk about one part of it though - the misses in the draft. This is counter intuitive but some studies suggest that over the long term all GMs(with some outliers) have about the same success rate with picks in the draft and short term sways one way or the other are mainly due to chance. In other words, you can expect every GM to have similar success in the draft over the long haul. They will all have hits and they will all have misses and when you draw the line the rates will be similar. So what becomes important is other things like - what positions do they value? Do they get good value in trades? Do they trade back enough(this is something Ballard has done well with) because it's better to have 2 picks in the 40s than 1 pick in the 20s? Do they enter the draft with no major needs so they can freely draft according to their board, etc.? 

 

I still think the biggest thing that is hindering Ballard is his team building philosophy and what he values and what he thinks wins in this league. 

[VikingsFanInChennai]

23 minutes ago, stitches said:

@TomDiggs @VikingsFanInChennai good posts, I will only talk about one part of it though - the misses in the draft. This is counter intuitive but some studies suggest that over the long term all GMs(with some outliers) have about the same success rate with picks in the draft and short term sways one way or the other are mainly due to chance. In other words, you can expect every GM to have similar success in the draft over the long haul. They will all have hits and they will all have misses and when you draw the line the rates will be similar. So what becomes important is other things like - what positions do they value? Do they get good value in trades? Do they trade back enough(this is something Ballard has done well with) because it's better to have 2 picks in the 40s than 1 pick in the 20s? Do they enter the draft with no major needs so they can freely draft according to their board, etc.? 

 

I still think the biggest thing that is hindering Ballard is his team building philosophy and what he values and what he thinks wins in this league. 

Regarding the misses, and rate at which all GMs miss, I think it could be true for GMs being in that position with one or more franchises. It could be very well true for all GMs for most of the position groups, excluding QB position. 

 

If we consider the QB position hit and miss, I'm pretty sure not all GMs would've the same rate. It would be sugarcoating to include QB among all other position groups and come up with the study results to show all GMs have not much difference in hits and misses. 

 

I think the Reality is if we take QB position alone into the account, some GMs would have very poor rate, some GMs would've similar rate to other positions due to drafting average starters or starters for only few years, some GMs would just simply sway away from drafting QBs for the fear of not getting it right (Vikings former GM Rick Speilman, Ballard so far), some GMs just wouldn't have got the right opportunity, time, draft picks and draft class at the same time (could include Ballard? if we're being generous), very few would've very good hits (but among those could be terrible GMs who just happened to have their team picking at top 3 overall draft picks and eventually getting the right franchise QB at the right time). 

 

There are too many factors in hits and misses on QBs, but I can say one thing for sure. The more you try at the top of the draft or at least by early day 2 in the draft, the more the chances of getting a franchise QB, at least one who ends up around above average level in the league for more than 5 years. 

 

If the GM doesn't try often or at all, then more chances he ends up as bad and fired, like Speilman got out of the league after going FA QB Carousel too many times after Teddy Bridgewater got injured. 

 

GMs and their staff, scouts and coaches also need to evaluate QB draft prospects pretty well to have a good success rate, and QB evaluation is the most difficult part of predicting college prospects transitioning to the NFL. 

 

One other thing successful GMs do is re-evaluation of their own processes on QB scouting, and evolving with how college systems change, what concepts NFL evolves to combine college football concepts, how college QBs have evolved (for example, athleticism and mobile) and how all that affects the QB prospects coming out of college over the years and decades transitioning into NFL. 

 

It's a tough job, and that's why GMs need to take more chances. As long as the NFL owner is supportive, GM should try often whenever their evaluation hits on a college prospect and GMs should continue to evolve in their evaluation process. 

[TomDiggs]

40 minutes ago, stitches said:

@TomDiggs @VikingsFanInChennai good posts, I will only talk about one part of it though - the misses in the draft. This is counter intuitive but some studies suggest that over the long term all GMs(with some outliers) have about the same success rate with picks in the draft and short term sways one way or the other are mainly due to chance. In other words, you can expect every GM to have similar success in the draft over the long haul. They will all have hits and they will all have misses and when you draw the line the rates will be similar. So what becomes important is other things like - what positions do they value? Do they get good value in trades? Do they trade back enough(this is something Ballard has done well with) because it's better to have 2 picks in the 40s than 1 pick in the 20s? Do they enter the draft with no major needs so they can freely draft according to their board, etc.? 

 

I still think the biggest thing that is hindering Ballard is his team building philosophy and what he values and what he thinks wins in this league. 

 

All valid points and i will be the first to say that my desire to not move on from Ballard is directly linked to he (and his staff's) ability to be good when it comes to the Draft. Because obviously free agency has not been great. There have not been many swings and misses where we gave out big money and missed out, but there haven't been many big swings at all, which is obviously a collective criticism we all make of him.

 

That being said, in the Howie Roseman example given earlier and, in the team-building philosophy ballpark, Roseman and Ballard have a very, very similar approach.

 

Roseman has been the Eagles GM since 2010, with the exception of the one Chip Kelly year (2015).

 

His 1st rounders since then? 

 

2022 — Jordan Davis (DL)
2021 — DeVonta Smith (WR)
2020 — Jalen Reagor (WR)
2019 — Andre Dillard (OL)
2018 — No first-round pick
2017 — Derek Barnett (DL)
2016 — Carson Wentz (QB)
2015 — Chip Kelly’s draft (Nelson Agholor)
2014 — Marcus Smith (DL)
2013 — Lane Johnson (OL)
2012 — Fletcher Cox (DL)
2011 — Danny Watkins (OL)
2010 — Brandon Graham (DL)

 

So Howie has made 11 1st round picks in his tenure and of those, 8 of them have been in the trenches. That is a lot. And the only outliers are QB once and then WR twice. We can argue if the Wentz pick was good or bad. It is clear one of the WR picks was bad and the other looks good at least so far. 

 

But my only point here is that the Ballard philosophy of at least building through the trenches is shared by Roseman (and others), and i was mainly trying to compare to Roseman. 

 

Now, I will also happily join the "fire Ballard" camp if the drafting prowess tails off and we have more drafts like the 2017 and 2019 drafts that don't pan out well. Mainly because beyond solid drafts, he has not brought a ton of value to the table.

 

But I also recognize that really the thing holding him back is the QB position.

 

I am excited to see us get someone to stabilize the spot for say 3 years and see what happens then. Even if the guys isn't a total superstar. Even a top-15 to top-10 type of guy would let us see how things look when that critical spot is solved or resolved. 

 

Because so far, the only major thing that i personally have seen in terms of Ballard's evals that I truly disagree with is that he de-emphasizes the importance of WR seemingly and that he also feels like he can't get behind some of the shifty smaller guys (which i do think we would benefit from in many cases).

 

That is what makes this draft so exciting and fascinating for me as a fan. 

[King Colt]

No one should pick up Lamar Jackson because he has proven to the football world he is a fool and no one wants a fool.

[2006Coltsbestever]

9 hours ago, Dingus McGirt said:

Sorry, sir.  But who in the forum is ok with mediocre play AND saving money?  

Easy question to answer. The 20 or so posters that are ok with an aging Vet being our starting QB and a lot of the same people that are ok with Ballard being frugal in free agency. People that would be ok with not drafting a QB and want nothing to do with Lamar. Just read all the posts and you will know who these people are.

[VikingsFanInChennai]

11 minutes ago, King Colt said:

No one should pick up Lamar Jackson because he has proven to the football world he is a fool and no one wants a fool.

well, if we can't go to the Caribbean, we find the beach that's closest to our location and that looks closest to the Caribbean. 

 

Not all GMs are smart, if they can't find Gold, they fall for fool's gold. Like Browns did for Watson. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

14 minutes ago, King Colt said:

No one should pick up Lamar Jackson because he has proven to the football world he is a fool and no one wants a fool.

How so?

[stitches]

1 hour ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

Regarding the misses, and rate at which all GMs miss, I think it could be true for GMs being in that position with one or more franchises. It could be very well true for all GMs for most of the position groups, excluding QB position. 

 

If we consider the QB position hit and miss, I'm pretty sure not all GMs would've the same rate. It would be sugarcoating to include QB among all other position groups and come up with the study results to show all GMs have not much difference in hits and misses. 

 

I think the Reality is if we take QB position alone into the account, some GMs would have very poor rate, some GMs would've similar rate to other positions due to drafting average starters or starters for only few years, some GMs would just simply sway away from drafting QBs for the fear of not getting it right (Vikings former GM Rick Speilman, Ballard so far), some GMs just wouldn't have got the right opportunity, time, draft picks and draft class at the same time (could include Ballard? if we're being generous), very few would've very good hits (but among those could be terrible GMs who just happened to have their team picking at top 3 overall draft picks and eventually getting the right franchise QB at the right time). 

Well the thing is... if we only take QBs... or any position really we significantly reduce the sample size and it becomes almost meaningless as a predictor. Example - Ryan Grigson is 100% at drafting QBs because he only drafted 1 and it was Luck. Was he good at drafting QBs or was he lucky that the only time he drafted one he was in position to draft the most no brainer pick in recent history of the draft? You generally need large samples to know how good you are at drafting and by the nature of the position pretty much no GM in the league has large enough sample of drafting QBs for us to know for sure what their expected hit-rate would be. 

 

1 hour ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

There are too many factors in hits and misses on QBs, but I can say one thing for sure. The more you try at the top of the draft or at least by early day 2 in the draft, the more the chances of getting a franchise QB, at least one who ends up around above average level in the league for more than 5 years. 

 

If the GM doesn't try often or at all, then more chances he ends up as bad and fired, like Speilman got out of the league after going FA QB Carousel too many times after Teddy Bridgewater got injured. 

 

GMs and their staff, scouts and coaches also need to evaluate QB draft prospects pretty well to have a good success rate, and QB evaluation is the most difficult part of predicting college prospects transitioning to the NFL. 

 

One other thing successful GMs do is re-evaluation of their own processes on QB scouting, and evolving with how college systems change, what concepts NFL evolves to combine college football concepts, how college QBs have evolved (for example, athleticism and mobile) and how all that affects the QB prospects coming out of college over the years and decades transitioning into NFL. 

 

It's a tough job, and that's why GMs need to take more chances. As long as the NFL owner is supportive, GM should try often whenever their evaluation hits on a college prospect and GMs should continue to evolve in their evaluation process. 

On this I absolutely agree. The answer to having a miss at QB or risking a miss in the draft is not to stop trying... it's the complete opposite - try again! And if it doesn't work - try AGAIN. Keep trying until you hit, because the alternative is worse. The alternative is QB purgatory. 

[stitches]

1 hour ago, TomDiggs said:

 

All valid points and i will be the first to say that my desire to not move on from Ballard is directly linked to he (and his staff's) ability to be good when it comes to the Draft. Because obviously free agency has not been great. There have not been many swings and misses where we gave out big money and missed out, but there haven't been many big swings at all, which is obviously a collective criticism we all make of him.

Agreed. with Ballard and free agency it's a bit weird... because with most significant signings he's made, he's actually hit.  Gilmore, Houston, Autry, Sheard, Ebron, Rivers. Even Fisher had his good moments. Pretty much the only big miss was Funchess and that's because he got injured week 1.  He just doesn't use FA as much as maybe he should. If he made more signings like these at that success-rate, we would have a better team. 

1 hour ago, TomDiggs said:

That being said, in the Howie Roseman example given earlier and, in the team-building philosophy ballpark, Roseman and Ballard have a very, very similar approach.

 

Roseman has been the Eagles GM since 2010, with the exception of the one Chip Kelly year (2015).

 

His 1st rounders since then? 

 

2022 — Jordan Davis (DL)
2021 — DeVonta Smith (WR)
2020 — Jalen Reagor (WR)
2019 — Andre Dillard (OL)
2018 — No first-round pick
2017 — Derek Barnett (DL)
2016 — Carson Wentz (QB)
2015 — Chip Kelly’s draft (Nelson Agholor)
2014 — Marcus Smith (DL)
2013 — Lane Johnson (OL)
2012 — Fletcher Cox (DL)
2011 — Danny Watkins (OL)
2010 — Brandon Graham (DL)

 

So Howie has made 11 1st round picks in his tenure and of those, 8 of them have been in the trenches. That is a lot. And the only outliers are QB once and then WR twice. We can argue if the Wentz pick was good or bad. It is clear one of the WR picks was bad and the other looks good at least so far. 

 

But my only point here is that the Ballard philosophy of at least building through the trenches is shared by Roseman (and others), and i was mainly trying to compare to Roseman. 

 

Now, I will also happily join the "fire Ballard" camp if the drafting prowess tails off and we have more drafts like the 2017 and 2019 drafts that don't pan out well. Mainly because beyond solid drafts, he has not brought a ton of value to the table.

Yeah, it's more complicated than just the drafts. Teams generally have limited resources for roster building - limited draft picks and limited salary cap. They intertwine a little bit, but in the grand scheme IMO Roseman, especially in the last few years has prioritized the important position much more than Ballard has. QB pick in the second after he already had a supposed franchise QB, Weapons galore in the first 2 rounds(it's actually 3 1st rounders on WRs because he traded 1st for AJ Brown, Goedert, JJAW), big money on WR, CBs and DEs... 

 

1 hour ago, TomDiggs said:

But I also recognize that really the thing holding him back is the QB position.

 

I am excited to see us get someone to stabilize the spot for say 3 years and see what happens then. Even if the guys isn't a total superstar. Even a top-15 to top-10 type of guy would let us see how things look when that critical spot is solved or resolved. 

 

Because so far, the only major thing that i personally have seen in terms of Ballard's evals that I truly disagree with is that he de-emphasizes the importance of WR seemingly and that he also feels like he can't get behind some of the shifty smaller guys (which i do think we would benefit from in many cases).

 

That is what makes this draft so exciting and fascinating for me as a fan. 

Yeah, this draft has a lot of shifty small guys, I'm almost certain he won't draft one of them though... but lets see... Ultimately the story of this draft will be the QB, if he hits on the QB, this draft will be a success... if not... it's very possible this will be the last QB he will draft for the Colts.