Ian Rapoport
@RapSheet
#Colts S George Odum is signing with the #49ers for 3 years and $10.95 million, source said.

:cool:

We will miss him on ST :cool:

I’m sorry - I don’t buy it. Cheap may be the wrong word though. Every decision he makes maintains long term flexibility. He never makes a decision for now. The Colts can sign whoever the hell they want money wise, it just has an affect later that he’s not willing to pay. You can think that is smart, but I think it’s a mistake and limiting. The “Not For Long” league is about 2 year windows, not 4-5 year ones. Chaka and I argued about this in previous years. He said he’s working on building a dynasty. 5 years in and I’m confident in my conclusion he’s only building mediocrity. He’s going to waste the good shit he has done planning for 4 years down the road.

Just checking to make sure we didn't sign anybody. And, we haven't. Have a good weekend y'all!

DeShawn Watson is going to Cleveland for a haul and a ton of cash. Three 1sts and $230M guaranteed among other things.

5 new business licenses issued for massage parlors in Cleveland in last hour.

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DE Al-Quadin Muhammad Inks with Bears



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The Bears signed him to a two year, $10MM contract per Schefter.

https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/sta...04448891666434

No one is saying they want Ballard to go on some crazy spending spree that puts the Colts into salary cap hell going fwd. What we're saying is that Ballard needs to step out of his comfort zone and put some of this ridiculous amount of cap space to good use by filling some of the gaping holes this team has (which is his fault BTW).

Despite having the most cap space in the league going into to FA we're no better off than when it started:

At the start of FA we had the following needs: QB, LT, DE, WR2, WR3, CB2, TE2, DL depth, CB depth, S depth.

Now a week into it we have the following needs: QB, LT, WR2, WR3, CB1, CB2, TE2, DL depth, S depth, CB depth.

Hopefully now that Watson has decided where he's going things will start moving for us, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Bummer. We'll definitely miss him. Great ST player and a good backup at safety.

Nice flip flop there Jaff.

Ballard is trash, period, trash. Dude is stingy and he isn't any good at finding talent that doesn't fly around in the sky with a banner behind it saying "Hey, just so you know, I am really really good".

Have come to despise him.

I'm not sure he understands how the NFL works in today's world. It's an entirely different ballgame now.

What moves do you want him to make that he hasn't yet or that other teams have made? Make a specific case and quit talking in generalities. Don't say we have holes here and here and here and we have this many dollars. Who do you want to fill those holes with?

I just read that the Browns are getting Watson.

Assuming you're replying to me. Here's some some deals I would have liked the Colts to have made:

Mitch Trubisky - 2 yrs/$14M (possible $27M w/ incentives), $5M guaranteed
Allen Robinson - 3 yr/$45M, $30M guaranteed
Haason Reddick - 3 yr/$45M, $30M guaranteed
Emmanuel Ogbah - 4 yr/$65M, $32M guaranteed (although he re-signed with the Dolphins, so might not have been possible)
OJ Howard - 1 yr/$3.5M, $3.1M guaranteed (very Ballardesque signing)

We could have signed Trubisky, Robinson, Reddick, and Howard and still had plenty of cap space remaining even if we had to outbid for Robinson and Reddick. Reddick would have also allowed to us to hang onto Rock.

FAs available I'd like us to take a run at:

Terron Armstead - He'll be expensive, but we'd have the best OL in the league by far.

Duane Brown - Less expensive than Armstead, and should get us through a couple of years while a draft pick develops.

Fletcher Cox (depending on the price tag).

Marquez Valdes-Scantling

Lorenzo Carter (should be cheap)

Joe Haden (since we need CB now)

Obviously we can't sign all of the above, but I'd like to see a couple of the above end up with the Colts.

Yeah, hes been working in some form of football for 28 years. In the NFL for 21 years. How could he possibly know what WE know?

Yeah, Dewey you should apply for a job with the Colts, I’ll give you a recomendation

We have the most Cap money because we don't have a QB and a LT

Those 2 reasons are why we have the most cap money. My guess is we will spend most of the cap space we have once the QB is decided on.

I am guessing some of you want him to just sign a QB. But I am glad he is taking his time to try and get the best player at the best price.

He has already signed a DE to play the LEO position and I saw an article on FB that he had a DT from San Diego agreeing to come here but at the last minute Flus talked him into going to Chicago after the guy they signed failed the physical.

Some of you act like Ballard never does anything in FA. He does. He just doesn't waste money.

Spending BIG in FA is a losing combination more often that not. Especially if you don't have a great QB.

My guess is now that Watson is signed we will move quicker on the QB. Once that is determined then the LT will be next. I think we may get one FA WR but would prefer a FA TE. Get both I'd be happy.

Most of the rest will come in the draft.

BTW. I expect more moves on the D side of the ball than the offense.

After the qb situation is taken care of all the money will be spent. Don’t worry.

I struggle to understand the minutiae of managing the salary cap long term. My measure of success is the eye test of roster talent. Has Ballard collected more talent on this years roster compared to last? And perhaps more importantly, is it enough to be a legitimate threat come January? To be fair, I don’t expect answers to those questions just yet but I have a disquieting feeling about how things are shaping up.

:D

Sometimes I wonder if one of the required personality traits of an NFL GM, is you have to be asshole? Or is that just for the Colts?

First off, who's to say he didn't try to get some of those guys? Hopefully he didn't even consider Trubisky and Howard is whatever to me. Robinson was offered more money than that to play for the Super Bowl champs and move to Los Angeles as opposed to Indianapolis. Haason Reddick signed for exactly that much to go play in Philadelphia where he played at Temple. So are we knocking Ballard because he didn't offer them $48m? $50m?

Without Ngakoue, we were at something like $50m. Those four would cost something like $40m of that. Not saying he'll go after him or win the bid, but a Terron Armstead doesn't fit into that equation. Of course, the Colts simply might not grade those players as high as others.

And I know it's the naughty word for fans... but he has to consider the future. I want him to re-sign Quenton Nelson and Jonathan Taylor. If guys like Julian Blackmon and Khari Willis earn paydays, that's something to consider. Even moreso if guys like Kwity, Dayo, or Pittman become studs at those positions.

Your numbers are off but I don’t care enough to say what is. It’s less than we would like. We are getting Baker. We’ll see then.

Can you do last year next? Then the year before that? The year before that? It’s the same every off season - Colts are among the leaders in cap space yet are in such a unique situation that they can’t actually use it like other teams do. Or maybe they just have a risk adverse GM who only wants to bargain shop. Without a doubt Ballard is looking at extensions for Nelson and Taylor and saying the team has to maintain cap flexibility. Hell, he’s already thinking the same for Paye and Dayo. They likely won’t ever have salary cap problems. They will also never peak and win a SB. The Colts are operating in a way that puts them at a competitive disadvantage. Maybe after 3-4 more years of the same some of you will start to see. Hopefully they at least win a playoff game in that time. We can be certain they’ll maintain a salary cap situation that would make any accountant proud though.

I can't understand how / why he isn't graded on what he is tasked with, building a team that wins in the playoffs. From my vantage point, I really don't care if the Colts are a 2 win or 8/9 win team on the fringe of the playoffs- to me those are effectively the same team. Yeah one is a little more "fun" to watch but they are functionally equivalent.

His primary job is to field a team that is playoff caliber every single year and a legitimate SB contender on a semi-frequent basis- he has had 5 years, he has failed miserably at that task. Anyone that looks at this team as it sits now and thinks it is a better version of what it was at this point last year, is a dumb ass. As we sit here on Saturday March 19th, this team is not just swiss cheese, it is ripe with mold. We sit here after a humiliating end to our season, being laughed at by the rest of the league for F'king things up so badly, knowing we HAVE to get better at several positions, and this stooge is still stuffing paper cash under his mattress while the rest of the f'king league is dealing in bitcoin. How anyone justifies this MF'rs refusal to address the WR position- basically SINCE he has been here, is beyond me. I was listening to someone yesterday while driving- some talking head on either Fox or ESPN talk radio and they were breaking us down. They made an astute point- all the rancor in Indy is about the QB, gotta get a QB, gotta find someone that can lead, but you could put prime Joe Montana on this team as it sits and he would look bad- because in their opinion our WR situation is THE WORST IN THE AFC----- THE WORST IN THE AFC!!! People thought he was just bluffing when a couple months ago he said he was really comfortable with the WR room so he didn't look desperate for the position in FA----- NO, given the names that have gone off the board, it looks like he really is comfortable. So is Michael Straham actually really good- if so, then Frank must absolutely f-king suck at his part of this! I'm not sure he even knows what a tight end is supposed to look like at this point, and he clearly is using some type of off-brand evaluation system for identifying DE's.

He has had 5 years to prove what he is about, this isn't year 2, year 3, this is 5 years of doing this same shit, and as of March 19, 2022, this team is not even close to being a contender.

Just pause and think about this- by the end of today we will like have either Mayfield, Ryan, or Jimmy G under center. Do this, take off your blue and white hat, jersey, glasses and think about being a general football fan and the Monday night game on November 19th is The Colts vs the Baltimore Ravens. You know damn well as that general fan that loves to watch football the very first thing you think is "The Colts have Mayfield at QB, he isn't very good, I'll probably change that leaky faucet tonight vs spending my time watching that"---- and YOU know that's how we all do this.

We are NOT going to get where we all want to be with this dude running the personnel end of things, he is too rigid in his framework and his thinking 20 years forward is going to prevent us from ever "going for it" ala LAC this year.

We are getting baker

And I tried putting this in caps

Chopped, I’m not quite as anti-Ballard as you are. I actually like a lot about him and haven’t gotten to the point I want him fired - yet. But my patience is wearing out.

I honestly don’t blame him for the QB situation, it’s the philosophy that I have issues with. If you believe you have to have a superstar QB to compete then do what is necessary to draft one - including trading some of the top level guys if necessary. Or, if you believe you can compete without a superstar then get your average QB and then sell out to support them. He’s done neither. He muddles along “building through the draft” waiting for cheap, low risk solutions to magically fall in his lap.

And guys on here take every decision in isolation and defend them. They can’t solve WR because they don’t know who is at QB. Ok, what about when you had Rivers or Wentz? They were comfortable not signing any DEs because they were counting on Turray. Ok, so if they thought they they had someone ready to break out at DE why did they spend their 1st and 2nd round picks on a position that they thought was solved? Especially with such a need at LT. A need that everyone knew was coming….. and is still a major issue. The constant twisting to defend shit is ridiculous.

Ballard is a really good talent evaluator, but he’s shitty at assembling teams.

I posted rounded contract numbers for the players I listed who have signed. You asked for deals that other teams have made that I would have liked to have seen Ballard made, and so I listed a few.

I'm not saying we should be pissed at Ballard for not specifically bringing in those guys (although if Trubisky works out in Pittsburgh we should definitely be pissed about that). What we should be pissed off at Ballard for is that it's his job to improve the team and recently he's failed at that. We were worse in '21 than in '20, and while there's still plenty of time this offseason to turn things around Ballard is off to a disaster of a start.

Also, saying we need to hold back all kinds of cap space to potentially re-sign draft picks 3 and 4 years from now in case they work out is ridiculous. For starters, unless something crazy like COVID happens, the cap increases every year. Also, there are plenty of ways to manage the cap long term to be able to re-sign your own other than hoarding cap space like Ballard does. Most every other (at least successful) franchise is able to bring in some top tier FAs to fill needs while re-signing their own. So why the hell can't we?

Well said! Couldn't agree more!!

Unfortunately it’s the way the game is played. It’s why I no longer respond to them. They want specific players so they can justify each decision in isolation and not have to account for the overall pattern.

Bravo, bravo. Apparently something restricts Ballard from doing the same that these other teams do. So far as I can surmise that something, is Ballard.

Yeah, figured that was coming but I took the bait anyway.

I am so tired of reading that Ballard can't go improve the team b/c he has to re-sign Nelson. News flash: Nelson currently counts ~$14M against the cap, which is the 2nd highest cap hit for OGs in '22. The highest is Joe Thuney in KC at ~$18M. So if we extend Nelson and pay him in the $19-$20M/year range that's only $5-$6M more than his current hit, which leaves plenty of cap space for Ballard to get off his ass and make the team better.

It's typically to point out that guy-on-the-street doesn't have a grasp of the details and nuances of the decisions being made.

"Team X paid player Y a contract of Z. Well the Colts had that much room and should've spent it. Simple. I don't care if the guy wants to come here or not. Make him sign. I don't want a spending spree, but he needs to spend all the money because that's how you win in this league."

Once quarterback gets settled (hard to do), a huge chunk of that cap is gone. Then when a blue-chipper like Buckner becomes a possibility, they can go after that guy. Not upgrade a position from C+ to B- because fans saw this other team give a wide receiver $150m and it makes them antsy.

Sure. But add up Nelson, Taylor, Pittman, Blackmon, Kwity, Dayo, Willis, etc... Assuming these guys earn their paydays, that's a lot of money for guys we want to keep.

If Ballard has set such a culture that no one (again this isn’t any single transaction) wants to come here then that’s a pretty damn big indictment of his team building wouldn’t you think?

Hey man, if you are happy with the state of the team after 5 years that’s great. I’m not. You can tell me year in and year out how Ballard’s methods are superior, but come playoff time the truth seems to always come out.

How the fuck does any team every sign anyone in FA then? Doesn’t every team assume their draft picks are going to work out?

I guess if you think Ballard is such a great drafter that this team can win always worrying about 4-5 years down the road instead of maximizing shorter term windows then we simply disagree. Right now the record supports me.

Kwity and Dayo will hit FA 4 and 3 years down the road, respectively, so holding back spending now just in case they pan out and need to be re-signed is fucking stupid.

And again, every other decent franchise in the league is able to re-sign their own while bringing in FAs that aren't in the bargain bin. What can't Ballard do the same?

Look, I wish that Ballard's methodology of filling all the team's needs through the draft and bargain FAs worked, but it obviously hasn't.

I just want to point out one other thing. Losing some players to free agency isn’t a bad thing. It’s actually the sign of a good team. It comes with the benefit of comp picks. And the one thing most of us agree on is that Ballard can draft, so the extra picks would be great.

The key is keeping the right guys, not all of them. I like Willis, but he’s a replacement level player. Letting him walk wouldn’t be devastating by any means. And if we want to be truly honest, Taylor will probably not be a smart resigning- and he’s one of my favorite players. It’s the nature of the position.

Stop that, using facts.

Great post. Willis is a decent player, but not great. He probably deserves a Hines/MAC level pay day. If Ballard ignores all of these gaping holes the team has and ends up signing Willis to top level FA money then he needs to be shown the door.

JT's going to be a tough decision. He has without a doubt earned a big payday, but you don't want it to be a Zeke Elliott type situation where his legs are shot 2 years into said big payday and we still owe him a ton of guaranteed dollars. Either way that's at least a year away, if not 2. An NFL FO worth it's salt would be able to figure out how to take care of this without hoarding 10s of millions of dollars in cap space in the current offseason.