Colts offseason discussion / Ballard Grievances (merge)

[Happy2BeHere]

1 minute ago, stitches said:

That's all I wanted to hear from Flacco. Right now having a vet backup with the experience and desire to work with our young QB is very important and he seems to be excited about that possibility.

Not to mention that it’s also possible that it could eventually lead to a coaching position for a team by taking a backup role and willing to teach for a ridiculous amount of money 😊 

[NewColtsFan]

58 minutes ago, shasta519 said:

Holder is on Twitter talking about how great this team has drafted to be keeping guys they drafted 6-7 year ago. It’s always spin. 
 

HOU swapped out Greenard (coming off his first great season) for an AP ER in Hunter. Also brought in Autry as well. Upgraded at LB and added some DB help. Can’t take anyone seriously who say they haven’t improved. 
 

Grover would have gotten a good deal from someone. And Moore too. But that’s a lame reason to re-sign a player. 

Is wanting Grover and Moore back because they’re good players that the team values a good enough reason?   

[Colts1324]

I’m personally not too worried YET. I’ll give it a few more days. 
 

Surely, Ballard is going to sign a good safety. Then, I predict he swings a trade for an offensive weapon or defensive player. He likes the trades. Then, he’ll take the offensive weapon or CB/Safety we need come draft time. 

[w87r]

I posted this in my salary cap thread for easy access in finding,  but here it is here in case anyone wants to discuss.

 

Just wanted to touch base with where I think the cap space sits currently. Still waiting for mass updates.

 

 

 

Listed Cap Space:

Spotrac - $32,563,348(72 players on roster)

OtC - $31,913,378(70 players on roster)

 

 

Anyway, I have 72 players on the roster as well like Spotrac. Spotrac has (6) players contracts not updated, Pittman's extension and Zaire Franklin's extension.

 

 

Players name with cap increase from current listed Cap Hit

 

Franklin +$3m

Moore +$7m

Flacco +$3.6m

Sanchez +$1.6m

Harrison +1m

Sermon - minimum

Avery - minimum 

 

That totals up to: $16.2m

 

 

Pittman will save money on the cap, will go conservative with -$3m .

 

 

So $13.2m off of the listed Cap Hits above puts us at:

 

 

Spotrac - $19.3m

OtC - $18.7m

 

 

 

 

*** again these are just my estimates as we wait for official numbers to roll in.

[Iron Colt]

Trey Sermon was resigned. What do you guys think about him? Moss replacement?

[King Colt]

56 minutes ago, AKB said:

Houston's Dline is gonna be pretty good

Houston could be a sleeping giant this year. The new HC is very much loved here and not since Bum Phillips has that been true.

[richard pallo]

39 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

 

No big deal.  We have one of the best OL in the league.  Bring it on.

[w87r]

6 minutes ago, Iron Colt said:

Trey Sermon was resigned. What do you guys think about him? Moss replacement?

Guy who has been in the system. Will have a chance to make the roster, if not will likely be on the PS.

 

 

Still wouldn't rule out AJ Dillon, just depends what Dallas is offering him.

 

I'm sure we would go $3-$4m.

 

We would of went that for Moss as well I believe, but we just couldn't supply him with the same opportunity (role wise) as the Bengals. He would of had to been a 10 touches a game backup here 

3 minutes ago, richard pallo said:

No big deal.  We have one of the best OL in the league.  Bring it on.

[Scott Pennock]

6 hours ago, 1959Colts said:

I am miserable in life? Seriously? Because I didn't like the signing of 40 year old QBs Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan?

Thankfully, I am very happy with life. It seems you are the more miserable person, for taking such offense to my replies (to other folks comments. which were not directed to you in the first place). Regarding backing up my posts with a snapshot, I have to prove nothing to you. I did not "poo poo" every single move. Actually, my opinion, on the signings, is furthest thing from that. I think the Miami DT was a good signing, where as, nearly everyone else here, hated it. and I posted a few times, debating, as to why he was a good acquisition. I'm also hoping for a few more quality signings, of some new players, other than our own, over the rest of free agency.

 

I actually logged back on today to apologize for my choice of verbiage!  It was uncalled for and I shouldn’t have projected my frustrations with a lot of ‘fans’ and their incessant negativity on you. 

 

 

[coach kline]

All these signings are necessary but still don't see team getting better.

[Breeze]

11 hours ago, DoubleE Colt said:

Is the depth we've added better than the depth last year? And young guys having another year doesn't necessarily equate to improving a team. Kind of feel were in the treading water phase

If AR does not pan out, then yes, we’re treading water.  If he does, then we’re significantly better.  Simple as that.

[w87r]

In honor of @PrincetonTiger

 

We miss you buddy, hope you check back in sometime.

 

 

 

Patiently waiting for the Danny Pinter signing news to roll in. Lol.

[coach kline]

Just now, Breeze said:

If AR does not pan out, then yes, we’re treading water.  If he does, then we’re significantly better.  Simple as that.

🙏

[2006Coltsbestever]

12 minutes ago, w87r said:

In honor of @PrincetonTiger

 

We miss you buddy, hope you check back in sometime.

 

 

 

Patiently waiting for the Danny Pinter signing news to roll in. Lol.

Yeah, there have been a few disappear, I hope they are ok. Old Uncle Mark was a huge poster on the NBA thread, I haven't seen him in almost 2 years. 

[Dobbinblitz]

Not sure if he was a Ballard target, but CB Kendall Fuller signed a 2 year 16.5 mil contract with the Dolphins

[Goatface Killah]

1 hour ago, stitches said:

Umh... no... not really. This is very far from what my point is. I have barely criticized him for misses. I'm criticizing him for big picture stuff - roster building philosophy. I know perfectly well that noone bats 1.000... and I don't expect all his signings to be succesful. But I do want him to build a team based on what wins in 2024 rather than in the 80s. 

Again. I've never said anything like that. Everything I've said is about prioritization of resources. That doesn't mean run defense doesn't matter at all. And it doesn't mean anyone can do what Grover and Zaire Franklin can do... but I do think there is wider selection and cheaper selection of players who can approximate what they do and even if not playing at that exact level, the gains in other areas will be much more beneficial to wins. This has been the whole conversation here... 

If anyone's moves consistently don't work they are getting fired. BTW just for the record we've been closer to horrible more times than to contention in the 7 years of Ballard. 

But your big example is Frankie Luvu who doesnt even fit our scheme and was on the worst team in the league last year. 

 

Has he ever been on a winning team? So why would he help turn us into a winning team then if we are so bad? I honestly dont get it.

 

For every team you can point to that builds a team the way you think it should be built, and is successful, I can point to 2 that are complete failures and have the same philosophy. 

 

It only works if you have the QB. Thats just about all that truly matters. These teams are all very close to one another in overall talent. The QB is usually the difference. The Chiefs arent 2x defending champs because they have Chris Jones or Travis Kelce. They are 2x defending champs because they have Patrick Mahommes. Thats it. The 49ers are way more talented than them offensively and still lost to the Chiefs because of 1 guy. Mahommes. Thats how big of a deal it is. And they get solid QB play.

 

We have been playing with poor to average QB play. Thats why we havent been better. Our record is not an indictment of our overall talent level. We have avoided being horrible most years regardless because the rest of our team is actually pretty good. 

 

 

 

 

[Indeee]

2 hours ago, Shepman said:

Could we have packages where Stewart and Davis play inside together and push Buckner to edge?

I'm not sure. Anything is possible I suppose. 

[w87r]

Just now, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Yeah, there have been a few disappear, I hope they are ok. Old Uncle Mark was a huge poster on the NBA thread, I haven't seen him in almost 2 years. 

I've took a couple good long breaks from here, but always seem to make my way back to the madness. 

[NewColtsFan]

24 minutes ago, Breeze said:

If AR does not pan out, then yes, we’re treading water.  If he does, then we’re significantly better.  Simple as that.

“If AR doesn’t pan out then yes, we’re treading water”.  ????    Sorry, but huh?   
 

I think if AR doesn’t pan out, it’s a disaster for the entire franchise.    Heads roll.  Even if the new GM is Dodds or Brown, there will be changes in the front office.  And there might be considerable turnover of players.   
It might set back the franchise for several years.   
 

How is that treading water?   

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, w87r said:

I've took a couple good long breaks from here, but always seem to make my way back to the madness. 

Yeah, I have took a like a week or 2 at times but for some reason I keep coming back to you crazy people (sarcasm). 

[2006Coltsbestever]

5 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

“If AR doesn’t pan out then yes, we’re treading water”.  ????    Sorry, but huh?   
 

I think if AR doesn’t pan out, it’s a disaster for the entire team.   Heads roll.  Even if the new GM is Dodds or Brown, there will be changes in the front office.  And there might be considerable turnover of players.   
It might set back the franchise for several years.   
 

How is that treading water?   

If AR doesn't pan out, we are sunk. This is Ballard's guy and as of now I think he made the right choice, but I have been wrong before.

[Archer]

37 minutes ago, Iron Colt said:

Trey Sermon was resigned. What do you guys think about him? Moss replacement?

I like Goodson better, but between Taylor, Hull, Goodson, Sermon, and Zavier Scott, we should have 3 roster spots ably filled.  Wouldn’t be surprised to see a late-round pick at RB, though.

[w87r]

8 minutes ago, Dobbinblitz said:

Not sure if he was a Ballard target, but CB Kendall Fuller signed a 2 year 16.5 mil contract with the Dolphins

I'm sure he was a potential 2nd option behind the Sneed ordeal. His low AAV I'm sure, is throwing wrench in contract negotiations though.

 

 

Makes you think there some validity to the rumors, as we would more than likely already of brought a guy in. 

[w87r]

1 minute ago, Archer said:

I like Goodson better, but between Taylor, Hull, Goodson, Sermon, and Zavier Scott, we should have 3 roster spots ably filled.  Wouldn’t be surprised to see a late-round pick at RB, though.

I was thinking about going through the roster and seeing how many likely spots there are to be earned. How many locks we have.

 

 

I know it's early before draft but let's us know us know how many need filled there 

[Dobbinblitz]

4 hours ago, chad72 said:

 

No it is not recency bias, it is the quality of opposition Sneed has gone against. PFF probably dings him for penalties but for Spags, it is cost of doing business.

 

While you might be able to ding Sneed for all the penalties (17, per PFF), he is as physical as any corner in the NFL, and the results speak for themselves. The 26-year-old corner silences opponents. He's allowed 5-plus catches and 50-plus yards in a game just twice in the 2023 season, per Next Gen Stats, and he's given up ZERO touchdowns in 462 coverage snaps. His -29.7 target EPA is third-best among all CBs in 2023. His play is not just Pro Bowl-worthy -- it's All-Pro quality.

 

The upside is tremendous, as the fourth-year corner has locked up numerous top wide receivers. Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, JaMarr Chase and more can all attest to that. Sneed hasn't given up a single touchdown in coverage in the 2023 season and boasts an impressive 56.2 passer rating when targeted.

Excellent post, but do you think Ballard would actually surrender two first rounder draft picks for a non-exclusive franchised tagged player. If it is a trade scenario the cost to acquire remains pretty steep.  Chances are the Chiefs will want draft compensation given they have 15.5 mil in cap space heading into the draft. Given his history, I would be shocked if Ballard goes this route and pulls this off.

[stitches]

1 minute ago, Goatface Killah said:

But your big example is Frankie Luvu who doesnt even fit our scheme and was on the worst team in the league last year. 

 

Has he ever been on a winning team? So why would he help turn us into a winning team then if we are so bad? I honestly dont get it.

And Joe Thomas never was on a winning team and still he was the best OT of his generation. There are good players on bad teams. Frankie Luvu is just the easiest and most obvious example about the difference of what I think we needed vs what we got. I'm not stuck on him specifically. There are other LBs that could have helped with coverage and disrupting the passer more than Franklin. 

 

1 minute ago, Goatface Killah said:

 

For every team you can point to that builds a team the way you think it should be built, and is successful, I can point to 2 that are complete failures and have the same philosophy. 

 

It only works if you have the QB. Thats just about all that truly matters. These teams are all very close to one another in overall talent. The QB is usually the difference. The Chiefs arent 2x defending champs because they have Chris Jones or Travis Kelce. They are 2x defending champs because they have Patrick Mahommes. Thats it. The 49ers are way more talented than them offensively and still lost to the Chiefs because of 1 guy. Mahommes. Thats how big of a deal it is. And they get solid QB play.

On that I can agree to some degree... the QB is the most important piece bar none. But still ... the QB is still less than half of the equation here. Hitting on a QB affords you opportunities and the QB can cover for a lot of shortcomings of your roster. But still... hitting on a QB doesn't absolve you from the responsibility of building a good roster... because when you go to the playoffs, you will meet other teams with great QBs ... and some of them will have strong rosters in addition to the strong QB.

1 minute ago, Goatface Killah said:

 

We have been playing with poor to average QB play. Thats why we havent been better. Our record is not an indictment of our overall talent level. We have avoided being horrible most years regardless because the rest of our team is actually pretty good. 

 

QB play has a strong impact on our play on offense. On D, our roster construction and talent, defensive philosophy and coaching are the things that matter most. Majority of this is on Ballard. 

 

BTW not having a great QB play is on Ballard too. And this is not hindsight, either. The moment Luck retired my contention has been that we need to go find our next QB from the draft ASAP. This is another philosophical disagreement I had with Ballard for the 3 years after Luck's retirement. Him and Reich wanted vets... 

[w87r]

Just now, Dobbinblitz said:

Excellent post, but do you think Ballard would actually surrender two first rounder draft picks for a non-exclusive franchised tagged player. If it is a trade scenario the cost to acquire remains pretty steep.  Chances are the Chiefs will want draft compensation given they have 15.5 mil in cap space heading into the draft. Given his history, I would be shocked if Ballard goes this route and pulls this off.

It will be for a 3rd rounder tops

Likely a 4th and conditional 2025 5th(4th) or something.

[ColtStrong2013]

17 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Yeah, there have been a few disappear, I hope they are ok

they are probably just tired of @AKB’s controversial statements. 😂 

[Blueblood23]

39 minutes ago, richard pallo said:

No big deal.  We have one of the best OL in the league.  Bring it on.

Yes, but they can’t stay healthy. 

[NewColtsFan]

48 minutes ago, Iron Colt said:

Trey Sermon was resigned. What do you guys think about him? Moss replacement?

Possible…. But I’m a Sermon fan.   But my read of things here is that the Colts would likely prefer former Packer AJ Dillon. 

[Dobbinblitz]

1 minute ago, w87r said:

It will be for a 3rd rounder tops

Likely a 4th and conditional 2025 5th(4th) or something.

If that turns out to be true. Start the bus - all in on Sneed.

Hard to imagine some other team would not up the ante.

Would love for that to get done for mid to late picks.

[w87r]

Looks like he won't be coming to Indy.

 

Probably could of saw that with the Sermon re-signing.

 

 

[Yoshinator]

1 minute ago, w87r said:

 

 

 

Dang, that was one of the few people I really wanted. I guess we'll probably draft a day 3 RB now.

[NewColtsFan]

8 minutes ago, stitches said:

And Joe Thomas never was on a winning team and still he was the best OT of his generation. There are good players on bad teams. Frankie Luvu is just the easiest and most obvious example about the difference of what I think we needed vs what we got. I'm not stuck on him specifically. There are other LBs that could have helped with coverage and disrupting the passer more than Franklin. 

 

On that I can agree to some degree... the QB is the most important piece bar none. But still ... the QB is still less than half of the equation here. Hitting on a QB affords you opportunities and the QB can cover for a lot of shortcomings of your roster. But still... hitting on a QB doesn't absolve you from the responsibility of building a good roster... because when you go to the playoffs, you will meet other teams with great QBs ... and some of them will have strong rosters in addition to the strong QB.

QB play has a strong impact on our play on offense. On D, our roster construction and talent, defensive philosophy and coaching are the things that matter most. Majority of this is on Ballard. 

 

BTW not having a great QB play is on Ballard too. And this is not hindsight, either. The moment Luck retired my contention has been that we need to go find our next QB from the draft ASAP. This is another philosophical disagreement I had with Ballard for the 3 years after Luck's retirement. Him and Reich wanted vets... 

 

Him and Frank AND Irsay too.   That’s important.   The team was built to win then, and they needed a veteran QB and not a rookie.  

[CardiacColts]

1 hour ago, jskinnz said:

I am 56. We got a very late start on becoming parents with an 8 and 10 year old. But it is glorious that we can go to bed the same time as our kids at 8:30. 

I love that for you! My lady is a little older, and we have been together for a long time. So my 2 step kids will officially both be in college as of next fall. So I will be an empty nester by 37. Life works in very mysterious ways. And there is never a linear path through it. Best regards! 

[w87r]

1 minute ago, Yoshinator said:

Dang, that was one of the few people I really wanted. I guess we'll probably draft a day 3 RB now.

Dobbins

Akers

Helaire

Cook

Hunt

Zeke

McKinnon

Foreman

Scott

Penny

 

Few options out there.

[Colts1324]

27 minutes ago, Dobbinblitz said:

Not sure if he was a Ballard target, but CB Kendall Fuller signed a 2 year 16.5 mil contract with the Dolphins

That is a very reasonable contract. But if Ballard is trying to get Sneed, it’s a moot point. He might think our young guys are going to take that next step this year too. Can’t rule out our guys being very good year 2

[Colts1324]

15 minutes ago, w87r said:

It will be for a 3rd rounder tops

Likely a 4th and conditional 2025 5th(4th) or something.

We’ll see. I imagine it’ll take at least 2nd. We’re competing with a few teams according to reports. I’d be ecstatic with a 3rd or 4th rounder for him even if we do have to pay him 

[csmopar]

36 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Yeah, there have been a few disappear, I hope they are ok. Old Uncle Mark was a huge poster on the NBA thread, I haven't seen him in almost 2 years. 

Yeah several disappeared during Covid too. Hoping it’s not what it seems to be

[stitches]

9 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Him and Frank AND Irsay too.   That’s important.   The team was built to win then, and they needed a veteran QB and not a rookie.  

There were reports that Irsay wanted us to draft and grow our next QB pretty much from the start after Luck retired, but he trusted Ballard and Reich and let them proceed with their plan.