Colts offseason discussion / Ballard Grievances (merge)

[Shive]

2 hours ago, MFT5 said:

 

ok well he’s currently a free agent & i can express my opinion on a fan forum. bye 

Nobody told you not to express your opinion. You can post your opinion and other posters are free to respond to your opinion, even if that response is disagreeing. That's how this whole thing works.

[BProland85]

Gotta say I’m not big on the resigning of Stewart who’s purely a run stopping DT  at more than 10 mil per season. I don’t feel like we have much left to go out and get much help at safety, corner, and backup QB. 
 

The other resignings I do like for the Colts. 

[NewColtsFan]

1 hour ago, Blueblood23 said:

They let Moss walk out the door. Dumb

 

Even if you don’t like Ballard, don’t you like Steichen?   He had input into this decision.  

[TheNextGM]

18 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

Even if you don’t like Ballard, don’t you like Steichen?   He had input into this decision.  

let him walk?

You have no idea how much the team offered and why Moss went to Cincy.

[NewColtsFan]

1 hour ago, TheNextGM said:

let him walk?

You have no idea how much the team offered and why Moss went to Cincy.

Ate you even following this conversation?   I seriously doubt it.   I never said I knew anything.   I tossed out suggestions.   
 

Another poster said it was dumb not to bring Moss back.   I personally like Moss.  Literally said even if the ouster doesn’t like or trust Ballard then at least he should recognize that Steichen had input into this decision and Moss left.  
 

If you have a problem with any of this that’s a you problem.   If you’re looking to start a fight take it elsewhere.  I’m not interested.   

[Boss7894]

4 hours ago, ColtStrong2013 said:

There is something to be said about letting your team grow together. I’m watching a lot of turnover right now in the league, and every year people think and say team X had the best offseason because of the heavy hitters they brought in… rarely does it translate that way.

If we are going to use that strategy I would expect a better scouting department then… what do they look for?  what makes a good scout from a bad scout? Cause ain’t like your way works either

[Two_pound]

For those of you complaining about not signing any free agents yet again- when has signing free agents EVER made a difference other than when Manning or Luck were the quarterbacks? And on top of that, one could argue many of Grigsons free agent additions actually made the team WORSE. We have a quarterback now for only the 3rd time(Luck 2018, Rivers 2020) in Ballards tenure, let's see what happens. Ballard has done an excellent job, with the roster and being fiscally responsible. How many playoff games did Wilson win in Denver? How about Watson in Cleveland? Cincinnati went to the Super Bowl and then spent a fortune on their offensive line(three huge contracts) the very next free agency period and how has that worked out? Big money doesn't equal success, it usually just gives you large dead cap hits in the future(see Denver hahahaha) Keep up the good work Ballard.

[MFT5]

5 hours ago, Shive said:

Nobody told you not to express your opinion. You can post your opinion and other posters are free to respond to your opinion, even if that response is disagreeing. That's how this whole thing works.

 

he wasn’t disagreeing he was giving his subjective opinion on something that had nothing to do w my post

[Scott Pennock]

Ahhhhhh that time of the year when the very definition of insanity rears its ugly head again, and again, and again…..

 

Find another team to ‘cheer’ for if you are that upset and miserable about how this team is ran. 

 

Bye…..don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya! 
 

[VikingsFanInChennai]

7 hours ago, RollerColt said:

I like Moss, but I don’t think Cincy has improved after tonight. 
 

So far, I’d say the Chiefs are still looking the best. Mahomes, Kelce and now Jones are running  it back. They’ve got Pacheco, and will improve at WR either through the draft or FA. Biggest question for them now is Snead. 

Yeah, Cincy lost an elite player though Mixon has had more off-games recently and Moss hasn't been the same level of player, even though he had few great games last year.

 

Unlike people say here, I don't think Moss will get starting role, they might have given him assurance that he'd be in competition for the role, but I'm thinking Cincy will draft an RB, especially as you don't need to spend a first round draft pick this year to get a good RB. 

 

Don't forget RB Chase Brown drafted past year did well in limited snaps, and his OC said they wanted to see his capability towards the end of the season before he got injured and missed some time. Bengals should be able to manage with enough RBs and Mixon seemed to be declining. 

[rockywoj]

9 hours ago, Colts1324 said:

Or like a guy in the draft this year as a backup. We’ll see. 
 

Shocked we didn’t shell out 4 million per for Moss

I am not at all shocked.  Rolling with Hull and a rookie at RB backup is the financially prudent thing to do, operating under the assumption JT will be a healthy stud for the year. $$ for the backup with RB1 settled just never made sense.

[Yoshinator]

6 minutes ago, rockywoj said:

I am not at all shocked.  Rolling with Hull and a rookie at RB backup is the financially prudent thing to do, operating under the assumption JT will be a healthy stud for the year.  $$ for the backup with RB1 settled just never made sense.

Let me ask you this though. What would you rather have? $4 million and you use a 5th round pick on an rb, or Zack Moss and you keep the 5th round pick on another position? I guess the question is which do you value more (I'm hypothetically guessing we'd use a 5th on an rb in the draft in this scenario).

[Yoshinator]

1 hour ago, Two_pound said:

For those of you complaining about not signing any free agents yet again- when has signing free agents EVER made a difference other than when Manning or Luck were the quarterbacks? And on top of that, one could argue many of Grigsons free agent additions actually made the team WORSE. We have a quarterback now for only the 3rd time(Luck 2018, Rivers 2020) in Ballards tenure, let's see what happens. Ballard has done an excellent job, with the roster and being fiscally responsible. How many playoff games did Wilson win in Denver? How about Watson in Cleveland? Cincinnati went to the Super Bowl and then spent a fortune on their offensive line(three huge contracts) the very next free agency period and how has that worked out? Big money doesn't equal success, it usually just gives you large dead cap hits in the future(see Denver hahahaha) Keep up the good work Ballard.

I would have signed Brandon Jones to the 3 year, $20 million dollar contract that the Broncos got him for. PFF had him ranked as the 16th best S last year, and he would have been a cheap replacement for Julian Blackmon that could start immediately and the draft is weak at S so it works both ways. 

 

Other than that, I agree with you.

[rockywoj]

12 minutes ago, Yoshinator said:

Let me ask you this though. What would you rather have? $4 million and you use a 5th round pick on an rb, or Zack Moss and you keep the 5th round pick on another position? I guess the question is which do you value more (I'm hypothetically guessing we'd use a 5th on an rb in the draft in this scenario).

I’d rather keep the $4M and draft another RB in the 5th.  Assuming JT stays healthy, which is the premise one must proceed with, backup RB contributions should be able to be well looked after on the cheap young player route.  Plus, don’t discount the possibility of mid round RB picks being very capable backups.  

[Yoshinator]

3 minutes ago, rockywoj said:

I’d rather keep the $4M and draft another RB in the 5th.  Assuming JT stays healthy, which is the premise one must proceed with, backup RB contributions should be able to be well looked after on the cheap young player route.  Plus, don’t discount the possibility of mid round RB picks being very capable backups.  

Fair enough. I'm ok with both tbh. Moss would have been nice to keep though for that price IMO. I'm assuming we'll trade down though and get a couple more picks where we can grab an rb late. 

[Blueblood23]

7 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

Even if you don’t like Ballard, don’t you like Steichen?   He had input into this decision.  

Liking those two has nothing to do with my opinion. Just don’t believe it was a good decision to let him go unless he didn’t want to be here. 

[DavePSL]

These broad statements that free agency doesn't work is nonsense. It is very similar to the draft in that it's who you decide to bring on the team not whether it helps teams get better . Free agency can be very good if you go get the right players and that's Ballard's job to figure that out . Also, remember the reason why we are dependent on free agency is because Ballard keeps missing on draft picks........ Ex...safety is a huge need because he's missed on drafting safeties.

[Dingus McGirt]

11 hours ago, RollerColt said:

Happy for Jacoby. Say what you will, but dude’s a survivor. 

He's the Cousins of the backup tier.

[MFT5]

21 minutes ago, Blueblood23 said:

Liking those two has nothing to do with my opinion. Just don’t believe it was a good decision to let him go unless he didn’t want to be here. 

 

exactly just bc yu like somebody doesn’t mean yu agree blindly w all their decisions, god ppl are weirdos lol

[runthepost]

7 hours ago, TheNextGM said:

let him walk?

You have no idea how much the team offered and why Moss went to Cincy.

Joe Burrow is why he went there

[runthepost]

2 hours ago, Two_pound said:

For those of you complaining about not signing any free agents yet again- when has signing free agents EVER made a difference other than when Manning or Luck were the quarterbacks? And on top of that, one could argue many of Grigsons free agent additions actually made the team WORSE. We have a quarterback now for only the 3rd time(Luck 2018, Rivers 2020) in Ballards tenure, let's see what happens. Ballard has done an excellent job, with the roster and being fiscally responsible. How many playoff games did Wilson win in Denver? How about Watson in Cleveland? Cincinnati went to the Super Bowl and then spent a fortune on their offensive line(three huge contracts) the very next free agency period and how has that worked out? Big money doesn't equal success, it usually just gives you large dead cap hits in the future(see Denver hahahaha) Keep up the good work Ballard.

Kansas City spent money in free agency and has won 2 of the last 3 superbowls

[IndyD4U]

It’s always interesting this time of year on here. I appreciate all the perspectives. Let’s see what today brings. 
 

Go Colts!

[IndyD4U]

Grigson’s “Dream Team” free agency frenzy was all I needed to see back in the day. It didn’t work out too well. Guess I spent too much time in the Polian era and I’m okay with our approach. 

[Yoshinator]

3 minutes ago, runthepost said:

Kansas City spent money in free agency and has won 2 of the last 3 superbowls

This is true. Generally the reason why teams that spend in FA don't win is because they don't have a QB. It's not because spending in FA is a significantly worse thing to do. If you have a franchise QB and spend in FA, you can win a SB. It just doesn't happen as often because you are paying the QB usually.

[chad72]

AR is the key to the kingdom of winning the division title. It is ALL IN on AR, for Ballard this year. He feels that we were close enough to the division title that some upgrades weren't needed? Not sure what the thinking was.

 

We do forget that our schedule is tougher compared to last year:

 

HOME:

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Tennessee Titans

Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

Pittsburgh Steelers

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

 

AWAY:

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Tennessee Titans

New York Jets

New England Patriots

Denver Broncos

New York Giants

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

 

 

Historically, we have been bad against the Steelers, lucked into playing Trubisky last year, good chance we go back to our wretched luck against them, IMO. At Jags is always a nightmare for us. The bolded games, including Jets with Rodgers, I don't have a good feeling about. 9-8 this year would be different than 9-8 last year but might still not be enough to win the division. I am not confident between Bradley's scheme and our secondary, as is, that we can match up with what teams like the Bills, Dolphins, Lions and Packers throw at us. That is why I said, it is sink or swim with AR this year, based on the roster. That is a dangerous position to put ourselves in.

[Indeee]

2 hours ago, Scott Pennock said:

Ahhhhhh that time of the year when the very definition of insanity rears its ugly head again, and again, and again…..

 

Find another team to ‘cheer’ for if you are that upset and miserable about how this team is ran. 

 

Bye…..don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya! 
 

Good Morning. 

 

What is it with your certain group of guys and girls on here? 

 

There should not be one fan who, currently, should like this organization's philosophy of running things. 

 

It really has been a mediocre result. < This is the issue.  A middle of the pack team. 

 

Most of the high-end players get gobbled up on the 1st day of legal tampering. Do they get overpaid? Yes. Is that the norm? Yes.

 

Yet most on here keep stating the same thing. "I would never pay that or sacrifice that". News flash. The Colts brass obviously feels the same way. Unfortunately, the only thing to show from this is a middle of the pack team. At some point, that insanity you speak of needs to be projected onto the front office way of doing things and not on the fans who are getting restless.

 

If the Colts way of doing things were showing a high ratio of results, I personally would not be constantly nitpicking every move at this time of year or at any other time of year either.

 

So far, they have spent their money on players that have been part of that middle of the pack team. I just do not see how keeping and focusing on middle of the pack players and surrounding them with other middle of the pack FA's and unproven rookies will ever get this team out of the middle for a consistent duration of time. It has not happened albeit one year with Rivers out of 6 or 7. That ratio is not good regardless of whatever reason you lay at its feet. The one constant though is middle of the pack FAs in the majority. 

 

-Peace

 

 

[Archer]

4 minutes ago, Indeee said:

Good Morning. 

 

What is it with your certain group of guys and girls on here? 

 

There should not be one fan who, currently, should like this organization's philosophy of running things. 

 

It really has been a mediocre result. < This is the issue.  A middle of the pack team. 

 

Most of the high-end players get gobbled up on the 1st day of legal tampering. Do they get overpaid? Yes. Is that the norm? Yes.

 

Yet most on here keep stating the same thing. "I would never pay that or sacrifice that". News flash. The Colts brass obviously feels the same way. Unfortunately, the only thing to show from this is a middle of the pack team. At some point, that insanity you speak of needs to be projected onto the front office way of doing things and not on the fans who are getting restless.

 

If the Colts way of doing things were showing a high ratio of results, I personally would not be constantly nitpicking every move at this time of year or at any other time of year either.

 

So far, they have spent their money on players that have been part of that middle of the pack team. I just do not see how keeping and focusing on middle of the pack players and surrounding them with other middle of the pack FA's and unproven rookies will ever get this team out of the middle for a consistent duration of time. It has not happened albeit one year with Rivers out of 6 or 7. That ratio is not good regardless of whatever reason you lay at its feet. The one constant though is middle of the pack FAs in the majority. 

 

-Peace

 

 

Have we been mediocre recently?  Yes.  Is it our philosophy towards team-building that has kept us mediocre?  No.  It’s the lack of a top-tier QB.  We took the leap and drafted one last year, and our ascension to the top tier will primarily depend on Richardson’s progress and our ability to build a top scoring O with him at the helm.  As for our FA strategy, I think it’s kept us competitive despite being in QB hell…

[Archer]

Today, I’m hoping for a backup QB (Huntley?) and a potential swing tackle (Isaiah Wynn or Josh Jones?).

[TrueBlue4ever]

Let’s see what happens with Rigoberto, Moore and Blackmon. 2 out of 3 of those probably leave us.

Who is the Brock Purdy of this year’s QB draft?  I’m willing to wait till the 7th round to fill our back up QB need!

[richard pallo]

9 minutes ago, chad72 said:

AR is the key to the kingdom of winning the division title. It is ALL IN on AR, for Ballard this year. He feels that we were close enough to the division title that some upgrades weren't needed? Not sure what the thinking was.

 

We do forget that our schedule is much tougher compared to last year:

 

HOME:

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Tennessee Titans

Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

Pittsburgh Steelers

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

 

AWAY:

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Tennessee Titans

New York Jets

New England Patriots

Denver Broncos

New York Giants

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

 

 

Historically, we have been bad against the Steelers, lucked into playing Trubisky last year, good chance we go back to our wretched luck against them, IMO. At Jags is always a nightmare for us. The bolded games, including Jets with Rodgers, I don't have a good feeling about. 9-8 this year would be different than 9-8 last year but might still not be enough to win the division. I am not confident between Bradley's scheme and our secondary, as is, that we can match up with what teams like the Bills, Dolphins, Lions and Packers throw at us. That is why I said, it is sink or swim with AR this year, based on the roster. That is a dangerous position to put ourselves in.

I don’t think this schedule is the end of the world.  Many of the teams you would normally worry about have lost many starters and star players to FA and cap cuts.  The Colts have really lost no starters.  The Texans , Packers, and Lions are the only teams that I see are worrisome.  The Bills and Dolphins don’t scare me or the Steelers.  This is how I feel today and we haven’t added any FA yet.  We are in a great spot right now.  It can only improve now not get worse.

[Archer]

4 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Let’s see what happens with Rigoberto, Moore and Blackmon. 2 out of 3 of those probably leave us.

Who is the Brock Purdy of this year’s QB draft?  I’m willing to wait till the 7th round to fill our back up QB need!

Yeah, I’m starting to think that there is a very short list of backup QBs in FA that we’re considering, and if those don’t work out we’ll go with Ehlinger and a draftee…

[csmopar]

2 hours ago, Yoshinator said:

I would have signed Brandon Jones to the 3 year, $20 million dollar contract that the Broncos got him for. PFF had him ranked as the 16th best S last year, and he would have been a cheap replacement for Julian Blackmon that could start immediately and the draft is weak at S so it works both ways. 

 

Other than that, I agree with you.

Okay but… what in Jones wasn’t interested in Indy? This isn’t madden where you can just throw money at an FA and they’ll sign with the highest bidder. There’s other factors often overlooked. We just aren’t privy to all information and thus, people just assume we ignored this player or that one

[chad72]

8 minutes ago, richard pallo said:

I don’t think this schedule is the end of the world.  Many of the teams you would normally worry about have lost many starters and star players to FA and cap cuts.  The Colts have really lost no starters.  The Texans , Packers, and Lions are the only teams that I see are worrisome.  The Bills and Dolphins don’t scare me or the Steelers.  This is how I feel today and we haven’t added any FA yet.  We are in a great spot right now.  It can only improve now not get worse.

 

It is any given Sunday after all but like a broken record, it is all about the QB position and AR's ceiling being materialized to beat the best. We aren't going to game manage wins vs The Bills Or Dolphins or Texans or Packers or Lions, they all have good OL and offensive playmakers to deal with, IMO.

[chad72]

8 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Let’s see what happens with Rigoberto, Moore and Blackmon. 2 out of 3 of those probably leave us.

Who is the Brock Purdy of this year’s QB draft?  I’m willing to wait till the 7th round to fill our back up QB need!

 

Moore leaving us would put Bradley's D in a huge disadvantage, IMO. The others, I am not nearly as worried.

[csmopar]

2 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

Moore leaving us would put Bradley's D in a huge disadvantage, IMO. The others, I am not nearly as worried.

I agree. Moore would be harder to replace than Blackman. 

[Indeee]

6 minutes ago, Archer said:

Have we been mediocre recently?  Yes.  Is it our philosophy towards team-building that has kept us mediocre?  No.  It’s the lack of a top-tier QB.  We took the leap and drafted one last year, and our ascension to the top tier will primarily depend on Richardson’s progress and our ability to build a top scoring O with him at the helm.  As for our FA strategy, I think it’s kept us competitive despite being in QB hell…

I respectfully disagree. The QB ONLY excuse is getting old here. 

 

QB is one issue we have had yes, but not the only issue and any team or fan completely thinking that we are just a QB away is dumb.

 

It's a lot more than that. 

 

My real point is that when Ballard spent money and gave up assets for Buck it worked out as Buck was a top tier player. He needs to do more of this more consistently. I have never advocated to spend up all our money on every FA every offseason but using last year as an example, a kicker is needed but not necessarily where the root of the money should go. He needs to spend more on proven talent but also at the correct positions and the top positions outside of QB in the NFL today are WR, CB, and Edge Rusher. Is it a coincidence that those three areas are what we desperately need the most results from and subsequently are the same positions that we always ?

 

 

 

 

[Yoshinator]

7 minutes ago, csmopar said:

Okay but… what in Jones wasn’t interested in Indy? This isn’t madden where you can just throw money at an FA and they’ll sign with the highest bidder. There’s other factors often overlooked. We just aren’t privy to all information and thus, people just assume we ignored this player or that one

He may not have been. I'd be surprised if he'd rather have wanted to go to the Broncos instead of the Colts though. Maybe they offered him a starting job if he signed.

[richard pallo]

6 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

It is any given Sunday after all but like a broken record, it is all about the QB position and AR's ceiling being materialized to beat the best. We aren't going to game manage wins vs The Bills Or Dolphins or Texans or Packers or Lions, they all have good OL to deal with, IMO.

The Bills and Dolphins no longer have solid OL.  They both lost multiple key starters.  Like I said the Texans, Packers and Lions will be tough opponents.  Our great OL returns intact by the way.

[teganslaw]

The Colts have Jonathan Taylor and Evan Hull. Is Trey Sermon still with them? I wonder who will be #2 RB since Zack Moss is gone. 

[Colts1324]

There are honestly some good FA’s out there.

My top realistic targets:

Grab one of each the next couple of days (including our own (Blackmon, Kenny)

 

 

Safety:

• CGJ

• Julian Blackmon

• Justin Simmons

 

Edge:
• Josh Uche

• Chase Young

 

CB:

• Kendall Fuller

• Kenny Moore

• trade for veteran (Sneed, etc)

 

 

WR (if we target another one):

• Curtis Samuel

• Marquise Brown (would be the perfect fit for ARICH)

• Tyler Boyd