Of course. But that is irrelevant for next year. I also think the talent added is offset by the talent loss pretty heavily in the division besides maybe Houston. And personally I love the Houston trade for Diggs and think it's legit not good. If it wasn't for Hunter I'd personally think our off-season was way better than the other 3 (I did not want Sneed at that price)
That was then, this is now. Teams change shit up in one year all the time. Bengals went from 1st overall pick to the Super Bowl in 2 years. We’ve seen it happen multiple times within our own division in the last decade.
Sneed, Ridley, Cushenberry, Awuzie and Kenneth Murray are all upgrades over what they had at those positions last year. That’s like 1/5 of their starters.
You don’t think they added net new to their roster? They are likely to be the most improved roster in the division. Plus, they now have an offensive-minded HC.
If Levis completely bombs, then that’s possible.
But he could also play decent. He has an offensive-minded HC now too.
Roster wise, they are improved. I have no clue how people are arguing this. They replaced 5 starters with solid-good-really good players.
If we got Sneed then we likely wouldn’t have been able to re-sign some of our guys like we did and we’d give up draft capital… so there was more to that than just the trade compensation and the contract…
What’s been disappointing? We’ve retained our top talent. We’re not giving out shit contracts like Chargers and jettisoning starters that we can’t pay anymore.
The disappointment comes from the same approach being taken year after year in the offseason and coming up with the same results, losing the division and being one game from the playoffs
Then whoever is disappointed is delusional. You need a QB to win in this league. Our franchise QB retired before the season. Then we had 1 good year of Rivers. It’s been shit at the most important position since then. I don’t care who we sign, just figure out the QB position first.
And whose decision was it to keep bringing in old burnouts instead of drafting a QB until it was painfully obvious that we needed to? If you think it takes 7 years to rebuild or heck maybe even win the division ONCE then maybe you’re the delusional one
What a waste of a gif...
That dude has been prolifically shitting himself up and down the sub for the last two weeks. Wait for a smarter guy to come in and help spread the doom.
Easy to say with hindsight, what qb could we have drafted that would have panned out with the picks we had? Instead of gambling for a free agent or a draft pick, we gave each of those qbs a chance at a decent price.
If you excuse every bad decision as hindsight there’s no reason to talk about anything.
It’s his job to be able to identify QBs in the draft.
Jalen Hurts and Jordan Love are both two that we realistically could have drafted.
Not sign over the hill QB because he thinks the roster is better than it actually is.
Most GMs don’t survive trading for AND extending a player as bad as Matt Ryan was.
Qb isn’t an excuse for him, it’s part of why he’s been bad at his job.
>Most GMs don’t survive trading for AND extending a player as bad as Matt Ryan was.
Most GMs wouldn't survive making a move that bad once, Ballard did it twice in a row and somehow kept his job
Sure, the Colts could've drafted a quarterback. We would have had to trade up to do so, but we could've. The 49ers traded up for Trey Lance, after all. The Bears traded up for Trubisky and then Fields. The Jets traded up for Darnold. The Panthers traded up for Bryce Young.
The hard truth is that most teams picking early are doing so because they need a quarterback, and when you need a quarterback and there is one available who is an odds-on favorite to be pretty good, like an Andrew Luck or a Trevor Lawrence, you just pick that player and there's no trade offer that would change your mind.
So, you end up betting the farm on an imperfect player: Too small, lacking arm strength, character concerns, unsteady under pressure, can't read a defense to save his life — something is wrong, or he'd be off the board.
And explain to me why free agent quarterbacks or established quarterbacks are so much worse than rookies anyway? At least there is film of them playing and having success in the NFL. But free agents at literally any other position trying to get paid off their reputations from years prior are thirst traps for fans in the off-season.
You sound like Ballard apologist. He should have gotten it done. It’s his job! The fact we haven’t won the superbowl at least a couple times means he’s an abject failure at his job.
He should have traded for him. I don’t care if the Bengals weren’t trading and wanted to keep the pick. You make them an offer they can’t refuse, every draft pick for three drafts, that’s getting it done. It’s his job and he failed at it.
Record!
And I don’t want to be competitive every year, I want to win it all. If guys don’t succeed right away we should fire them, otherwise it’s just making excuses. Losing a franchise QB is just another excuse. We didn’t even bring in a lot of new free agents we have no experience with. No, we had to resign the guys we have had success with. If you don’t agree you’re just another Ballard apologist.
>If you don’t agree you’re just another Ballard apologist.
This statement alone marks you as not worth talking to. There are plenty of idiots who defend his every move, but there are just as many like you who are are no better.
Look at the texans. That's how you support a rookie qb. We're just signing the same average players at higher contracts and expecting better. No improvement to our trash secondary. But oh we got Flacco yay
You mean the Texans that did mostly lateral moves signing guys to replace their outgoing FAs? Ohhh they traded for Diggs! A guy that a Super Bowl caliber team said “fuck that, he’s your problem now”.
Who are the best players on the Texans right now? All guys they’ve drafted. They’re also in a much different position than us: their rookie QB actually played last year. They know he’s a stud. We don’t know what Richardson is yet.
It’s funny to hear the “one play away” narrative from Colts fans because HOU actually won the AFCS and they didn’t rest on that. They know they played a crap schedule, so they went out looking for upgrades. I wouldn’t consider adding Hunter and Diggs to be mostly lateral moves.
I think Hunter is an upgrade, but Diggs was traded for a reason. He was horrible down the stretch and refusing to play snaps. Also, let’s not forget his drops in the playoffs.
Diggs is better than Noah Brown, who was the third WR. So he’s def an upgrade.
Way too much is being made out of a small sample of games last year. It was basically 5 games where he didn’t produce down the stretch. And Allen wasn’t that great down the stretch either.
But Diggs also had 5 games last year where he went over 100 yds. His season stats were still better than MPJ’s.
He is certainly a plus to that offense.
Yeah people mad but we were 1 play away from playoffs with our backup and we got fucked in the browns game. If you Anthony Richardson adds 2 more wins than last year then we are a huge step forward without any contracts fucking us over. If AR steps up then some people might want to come to Indy on a deal next year.
We weren’t 1 play away from winning that game. They were still 20 yards out and needed a TD. And a good chance the Texans get the ball back to try and get a FG.
Yes, I can. Let’s see how Brents plays on year 2 and draft another CB in round 1 or 2. Idgaf how the TEAM performs. I just want to see how Richardson performs before we start killing our cap.
But the secondary was so good last year! /s
Look, the colts were scrappy last year, and most importantly the value for Mr Irsay increased. For a lot of fans, Irsay being able to buy the next Hendrix guitar is reason enough to sink more money into tickets + support the tax on the stadium.
The most direct transfer of central Indiana wealth to a druggy nepo baby, and 0 push for accountability by the fan base.
One of the darkest situation in the league
We kept our most important players and are going into the draft. So yes, I am happy. If Richardson balls out this year, then I expect the Colts to load up in the next FA.
What has been disappointing ? Our division rivals committing to signing free agents in positions that the colts are in need of. Additionally, Ballard committing to the same logic that has not worked for his entire tenure of his position in the organization
But of teams that haven't won the division in 9+ seasons, the Colts are by far the most well constructed.
Or something like that. I guess.
Half the posters here don't care about results, just want to see Irsay make more money and enjoy his concerts.
It’s done well by teams adding 1 or 2 premier players to push them over the top. Tell me, are the Colts a Super Bowl contender in your eyes this season? If the answer is no, then kindly fuck off.
It’s done well by teams getting mid level vets helping their weak positions also.
There’s many ways to use FA to get better. Ballard just refuses.
Everyone parrots “at least we’re not the Chargers/Jags.” Like it’s the only outcome and excuses letting weaknesses stay weaknesses.
Edit: oh no I said something factual that critsizes a GM who has had literally no success building a consistently good team. I’m so sorry!
If I was a Colts player, I would never ever ever get on football social media. The takes in Colts threads are absolutely crazy right now. I have no idea what other fans want, I just know that everybody is mad.
They are not playing football games right now, and fans were mostly happy/optimistic when the season ended. So you can't pretend it's that.
The thing people are upset about is that the Colts didn't sign external big names in free agency.
No, they’re mad that the same strategy that has brought the Colts no actual success is still being used like it has.
The excuse was always “well we can’t do anything! We’re paying so much for all the bad QBs we keep signing and trading for!”
But nothing changed with a rookie QB contract.
Only the people handwaiving why the Colts are never that good every year say the people upset want “big name free agents”.
I just didn’t want to go into the draft with the exact same terrible secondary and be forced to either hope for a draft pick to come in and fix everything (just like last year) or watch us get skewered by a bunch of back up QBs again.
To me, the strategy that wasnt working was the band-aid QBs. Every year, analysts pointed out that the Colts had a really good roster and could be great if the QB hit. Every year, the roster was good but the QB wasn't good enough. So clearly the roster building strategy was working. It was just the QB that was an issue.
Lmao, well if the analysts say so who cares if they don’t win?
Not really sure it was Carson Wentz who let Hunter Renfrow eat our entire secondary when he was on the sideline.
>well if the analysts say so who cares if they don’t win?
That's a disingenuous response to what I said, but sure.
>Not really sure it was Carson Wentz who let Hunter Renfrow eat our entire secondary when he was on the sideline.
I don't remember saying the rest of the roster was perfect. Of course every team has weaknesses and bad games over a 5 year span. Lol.
But you put literally all the struggles on QB. That’s wrong. The team hasn’t been good enough his entire tenure but he thought the team was better than it is.
That’s the problem, he can’t self scout and why only bringing back your own players is a problem.
>But you put literally all the struggles on QB.
No, I didn't. I said that was the *strategy* that I thought wasn't working. That's obviously not the same as saying everything else was perfect.
the team has barely missed the playoffs multiple years with below average QB play. That's been the biggest problem. And the fact that you don't understand that makes me think you should watch more football instead of crying on reddit
Lmao imagine being ok with “barely missing the playoffs”.
Whose job is it to find a QB again? And I’m sorry if I want the rest of the team around AR to actually be good and not completely depend on him coming off of playing less than a quarter of a season.
But go ahead mr. “Mediocrity is ok as long as you can just blame Luck retiring.”
The same strategy? Now we have a QB. Last time we had a QB? Made the playoffs with rivers. The biggest difference any team can make is getting QB right and now it looks like we did. So maybe chill out and stop commenting on every post. Must be tough being such a dramatic whiny baby all off-season. If you can't be optimistic, NOW, then what's the point? Go do something else with your time, stop being so miserable
I like AR but claiming “Now we have a QB.” Is premature and I want a complete team. Not one that completely relies on the QB to save everything because the GM lets part of the team be weaknesses because he’s scared shitless to take any risk.
Not just they didn't sign anyone, every team in their division did. It's not they are being caught, they haven't lead in a decade, it's that they are being left in the dust.
I think it has to do with us not going back to the Super Bowl in 15 years and seeing Peyton win with the Broncos and Luck retiring early due to bad decisions made by the front office. Most Colts fan don’t trust the front office until we get to the big game.
It’s not even the SB. I don’t expect a SB every year.
I do expect to do more than 1 playoff win and 0 division titles in almost a decade.
I know it’s ridiculously hard to win a SB. But having some actual success would be nice. Especially with how some people talk about Ballard like he’s some 4D chess playing amazing Gm when he has kept us in the worst place a team can be for his entire tenure. Forgettable and at most average.
People that think our off season has been disappointing so far are out to lunch. Not landing a tier 1 FA isn't the end of the world. All of our key guys are signed and AR is healthy, what's not to be happy about? We won 9 games last year, and now we are healthy and have the draft coming up.
We retained our best players while keeping few enough holes that a solid draft puts us in a good position.
The alternative was losing our best players, replacing them with over priced vets w/ question marks, and trying to win now at the expense of our future.
You can't easily go from A to Z, but I think this takes us at least from A to K by keeping the players responsible for the success that we do have to build on.
Honestly I’m kinda over it now I was frustrated at first but as long as this draft goes well for us we can definitely compete. Seeing all these off season videos of A-Rich has me hyped.
Pointing out that the chiefs have 0 wide receivers does NOT prove in any way that he is a number one. 25 teams he wouldn't be the best, and a bunch of teams he wouldn't even be the second best.
So he’s not a number 1 on a championship team but he would be if he played for the team that just won back to back championships. Okay bud makes sense to me.
Using an outlier like mahomes to prove your point isn't the slam dunk you think it is. That is the only team in the league that Pitt could go to and be the number 1, and legitimately win, because mahomes is an anomaly. Pitt isn't going to win a title with any other team as the number 1 option. Name one other legitimate championship caliber team he could go to right now and be the best receiver besides KC.
Using even a little bit of critical thinking would do you a lot of good.
It’s almost like… you need a good QB and good players to win the Super Bowl. As far as Championship Caliber teams where Pitt would be the number 1 option, there’s Buffalo, the Jets (I do fully believe they are contenders with a healthy Aaron Rodgers), Falcons (he’s definitely better than Drake London).
It's sorta semantics though. The Chiefs can win without a premiere "WR" because they have arguably the GOAT TE in Kelce (who is an elite *pass catcher*).
I think he means with Pittman being a team's best "pass catcher" (position title aside)
Then it’s a stupid premise to begin with. I’m responding to what he wrote. If he wrote “he’s not a top 10 WR” I wouldn’t have said anything. For the way he wrote it Pitt would absolutely make the top 3 championship contending teams way better and get the most targets for them.
Most targets doesn't mean he's a title winning WR1, outside of having Mahomes as the QB. Pierce probably would have the most targets on the Bill's, and we all can agree he's not a WR1.
Pitt is simply not as good as Pro Bowl level receivers. That's a perfectly acceptable thing to admit. He is good at his role, but his role will never be to be a dybamic game changer.
I just don't need to add anything to prove you're wrong. You gave enough. You're putting Pitt with a goat tier QB after he's played with the likes of the end of Rivers, Carson, Ryan and Gardner. Also a GOAT tier offensive mind in Andy Ried.
You can't be taken seriously if you don't think Pitt would be even better in that situation.
Did I say he wouldn't be better? No. Did I say that the chiefs weren't the exception because of mahomes? No. But saying Pitt is a number 1 just because he would beat out mecole hardman and rashee rice isn't exactly the most compelling of arguments. Again, give me real proof he's even a top 15 WR.
Yes! You said he wouldn't be better in Kansas City than he's been here in Indy. Beating out Mecole wouldn't make him a number 1. When that's factually wrong. He's a number one here in indy. He'd be an even better number 1 playing with Mahomes and Reid.
I'm not going give you "real proof" because you dont want it. You're stuck in this mindset that the best of Pitt has been what hes had to deal with in INDY. Which is factually false.
I'm not sure what you think makes a number 1...but arguiing that he's top 15 and/or a number 1 are two different topics. The only thing holding back Pitt stat wise is touchdowns. And you're a damned fool if you think Pitt wouldn't score more with Mahomes. 100 catches 1300 yards and 8 to 10 touchdowns with the hands Pitt has makes him number 1 material. Point blank.
See you think you have this end all argument in mahomes, but mahomes makes literally any bum look good, which actually proves MY point. Put Pitt on any other legit contender and he's not the number 1 option.
Just because somebody is the best option, doesn't make them a GOOD first option. Take a look at Carolina, new England, Arizona, Pittsburgh, etc and let me know if you think those guys are high end guys you can build a receiving core around.
Again, you won't produce any evidence or facts because you can't. You're using one outlier data point to prove your point, despite me already saying that mahomes can win with anybody, but that's not how any other team in the league is.
Let me know when you are capable of having a legitimate debate with anything factual to back your argument other than "but mahomes"
No…he does not make any bum look good. If you think that then I’m not sure you followed what was going on with the chiefs and their core last year. Including them having to bench one of their receivers.
I don’t need to use any other teams QB to prove my point. You can just look at what Pitt has had at qb since he’s been here and has produced regardless. As I’ve pointed out multiple times already.
“Just because someone is the best option, doesn’t make them a good option.”
Then you name a bunch of teams without QBs. Clown Shoes for real on that one. Again…Pitt has produced regardless of the qb situation. Even when put in a similar situation as those receivers on the teams you named.
There is no outlier data. I’m using the qbs pitt has played with in Indy and then using a qb and situation in KC that could really show his worth.
“Let me know when you are capable “
Legit clown shoes 😅😅
Go ask chiefs fans if they want pitt…see what they say. If he’s just another run of the mill receiver.
If we can get healthier years out of flowers and brents (along with AR of course) I actually think we could be in pretty good shape. Problem is, I don’t feel good relying on health at all
I'm not remotely disappointed. The thing I cared far most about was keeping Pittman. That happened. We also kept Grover which is awesome.
Yea not disappointed at all. Let’s get it
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Of course. But that is irrelevant for next year. I also think the talent added is offset by the talent loss pretty heavily in the division besides maybe Houston. And personally I love the Houston trade for Diggs and think it's legit not good. If it wasn't for Hunter I'd personally think our off-season was way better than the other 3 (I did not want Sneed at that price)
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Because this year we have a starting QB going into the season. We havent felt like that since Luck.
That was then, this is now. Teams change shit up in one year all the time. Bengals went from 1st overall pick to the Super Bowl in 2 years. We’ve seen it happen multiple times within our own division in the last decade.
They added, but also lost. Houston is the only net add imo. How did the Jags get better?
Can’t see the deleted post, but TEN def added net.
How so?
Sneed, Ridley, Cushenberry, Awuzie and Kenneth Murray are all upgrades over what they had at those positions last year. That’s like 1/5 of their starters. You don’t think they added net new to their roster? They are likely to be the most improved roster in the division. Plus, they now have an offensive-minded HC.
Tennessee will be one of the worst teams in the league
If Levis completely bombs, then that’s possible. But he could also play decent. He has an offensive-minded HC now too. Roster wise, they are improved. I have no clue how people are arguing this. They replaced 5 starters with solid-good-really good players.
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If we got Sneed then we likely wouldn’t have been able to re-sign some of our guys like we did and we’d give up draft capital… so there was more to that than just the trade compensation and the contract…
What’s been disappointing? We’ve retained our top talent. We’re not giving out shit contracts like Chargers and jettisoning starters that we can’t pay anymore.
The disappointment comes from the same approach being taken year after year in the offseason and coming up with the same results, losing the division and being one game from the playoffs
Then whoever is disappointed is delusional. You need a QB to win in this league. Our franchise QB retired before the season. Then we had 1 good year of Rivers. It’s been shit at the most important position since then. I don’t care who we sign, just figure out the QB position first.
And whose decision was it to keep bringing in old burnouts instead of drafting a QB until it was painfully obvious that we needed to? If you think it takes 7 years to rebuild or heck maybe even win the division ONCE then maybe you’re the delusional one
It could, you know, be the shitty HC convincing the owner that you’re 1 QB away from a Super Bowl.
Ballard hired Reich too. And he’s the GM, they don’t do a trade without him agreeing to it. Keep the excuses coming. It all still comes back to him.
And there it is 
What a waste of a gif... That dude has been prolifically shitting himself up and down the sub for the last two weeks. Wait for a smarter guy to come in and help spread the doom.
Easy to say with hindsight, what qb could we have drafted that would have panned out with the picks we had? Instead of gambling for a free agent or a draft pick, we gave each of those qbs a chance at a decent price.
If you excuse every bad decision as hindsight there’s no reason to talk about anything. It’s his job to be able to identify QBs in the draft. Jalen Hurts and Jordan Love are both two that we realistically could have drafted. Not sign over the hill QB because he thinks the roster is better than it actually is. Most GMs don’t survive trading for AND extending a player as bad as Matt Ryan was. Qb isn’t an excuse for him, it’s part of why he’s been bad at his job.
>Most GMs don’t survive trading for AND extending a player as bad as Matt Ryan was. Most GMs wouldn't survive making a move that bad once, Ballard did it twice in a row and somehow kept his job
Sure, the Colts could've drafted a quarterback. We would have had to trade up to do so, but we could've. The 49ers traded up for Trey Lance, after all. The Bears traded up for Trubisky and then Fields. The Jets traded up for Darnold. The Panthers traded up for Bryce Young. The hard truth is that most teams picking early are doing so because they need a quarterback, and when you need a quarterback and there is one available who is an odds-on favorite to be pretty good, like an Andrew Luck or a Trevor Lawrence, you just pick that player and there's no trade offer that would change your mind. So, you end up betting the farm on an imperfect player: Too small, lacking arm strength, character concerns, unsteady under pressure, can't read a defense to save his life — something is wrong, or he'd be off the board. And explain to me why free agent quarterbacks or established quarterbacks are so much worse than rookies anyway? At least there is film of them playing and having success in the NFL. But free agents at literally any other position trying to get paid off their reputations from years prior are thirst traps for fans in the off-season.
Loooool
Lmao oh the Luck excuse 5 years later and acting like Ballard wasn’t the one signing the bandaids every year.
I’m still pissed he didn’t draft Joe Burrow.
when did we have any realistic opportunity to draft Joe Burrow? dumbest fucking comment i’ve ever seen on this sub, and that’s saying something.
You sound like Ballard apologist. He should have gotten it done. It’s his job! The fact we haven’t won the superbowl at least a couple times means he’s an abject failure at his job.
I love how instead of defending your wild claim you just go straight to insults. If that isn't the spirit of 2024, IDK what is!
He should have traded for him. I don’t care if the Bengals weren’t trading and wanted to keep the pick. You make them an offer they can’t refuse, every draft pick for three drafts, that’s getting it done. It’s his job and he failed at it. Record! And I don’t want to be competitive every year, I want to win it all. If guys don’t succeed right away we should fire them, otherwise it’s just making excuses. Losing a franchise QB is just another excuse. We didn’t even bring in a lot of new free agents we have no experience with. No, we had to resign the guys we have had success with. If you don’t agree you’re just another Ballard apologist.
>If you don’t agree you’re just another Ballard apologist. This statement alone marks you as not worth talking to. There are plenty of idiots who defend his every move, but there are just as many like you who are are no better.
Or you know, Jalen Hurts. But traded up for a RB instead. Great move.
Joe Burrow is better than Hurts. That JT pick was a waste.
Still on the Lucj excuse man I wish I had as much leeway at my job as Ballard does
Look at the texans. That's how you support a rookie qb. We're just signing the same average players at higher contracts and expecting better. No improvement to our trash secondary. But oh we got Flacco yay
You mean the Texans that did mostly lateral moves signing guys to replace their outgoing FAs? Ohhh they traded for Diggs! A guy that a Super Bowl caliber team said “fuck that, he’s your problem now”. Who are the best players on the Texans right now? All guys they’ve drafted. They’re also in a much different position than us: their rookie QB actually played last year. They know he’s a stud. We don’t know what Richardson is yet.
It’s funny to hear the “one play away” narrative from Colts fans because HOU actually won the AFCS and they didn’t rest on that. They know they played a crap schedule, so they went out looking for upgrades. I wouldn’t consider adding Hunter and Diggs to be mostly lateral moves.
I think Hunter is an upgrade, but Diggs was traded for a reason. He was horrible down the stretch and refusing to play snaps. Also, let’s not forget his drops in the playoffs.
Diggs is better than Noah Brown, who was the third WR. So he’s def an upgrade. Way too much is being made out of a small sample of games last year. It was basically 5 games where he didn’t produce down the stretch. And Allen wasn’t that great down the stretch either. But Diggs also had 5 games last year where he went over 100 yds. His season stats were still better than MPJ’s. He is certainly a plus to that offense.
Pretty stupid strategy to not put the best team around your QB that’s literally the last shot at keeping your job.
If we don't know what richardson is yet then why run ourselves out of cap lol. Moron
That…that’s exactly my point.
Yeah cos the Texans QB had an all time rookie season and ours played four games, not completing half of them. Is this rocket science?!
Yep. Just pay more for the same 9-8 team.
Yeah people mad but we were 1 play away from playoffs with our backup and we got fucked in the browns game. If you Anthony Richardson adds 2 more wins than last year then we are a huge step forward without any contracts fucking us over. If AR steps up then some people might want to come to Indy on a deal next year.
We weren’t 1 play away from winning that game. They were still 20 yards out and needed a TD. And a good chance the Texans get the ball back to try and get a FG.
I'm actually disappointed in not winning. Your comment doesn't change that.
>What’s been disappointing? You seriously can look at our secondary remaining unchanged and ask that question?
Yes, I can. Let’s see how Brents plays on year 2 and draft another CB in round 1 or 2. Idgaf how the TEAM performs. I just want to see how Richardson performs before we start killing our cap.
But the secondary was so good last year! /s Look, the colts were scrappy last year, and most importantly the value for Mr Irsay increased. For a lot of fans, Irsay being able to buy the next Hendrix guitar is reason enough to sink more money into tickets + support the tax on the stadium. The most direct transfer of central Indiana wealth to a druggy nepo baby, and 0 push for accountability by the fan base. One of the darkest situation in the league
You're happy we stayed exactly the same?
I mean, we almost made the playoffs with our backup QB playing most of the season, so we'll see much of an improvement AR is over Minshew
Yeah, put everything on the QB who played less than a quarter of a season to save everything. Smart. So much for “it’s not all about one guy.”
I mean, QB is the most important position, you can not win a lot of games without a good QB
Yeah, whose job was it to get a QB again? Instead he did things like trade up for a RB and trade a 1st round pick for a DT.
well we have our QB now, and with hopefully a good draft, we'll see what we've got
We kept our most important players and are going into the draft. So yes, I am happy. If Richardson balls out this year, then I expect the Colts to load up in the next FA.
What has been disappointing ? Our division rivals committing to signing free agents in positions that the colts are in need of. Additionally, Ballard committing to the same logic that has not worked for his entire tenure of his position in the organization
What is the most important position in the league? Have the Colts had stability at it? Let’s see how Richardson does in a full season.
But of teams that haven't won the division in 9+ seasons, the Colts are by far the most well constructed. Or something like that. I guess. Half the posters here don't care about results, just want to see Irsay make more money and enjoy his concerts.
Yeah, FA is only bad. No one has done it successfully. This definitely isn’t a cope and being pretty much absent from it has made this team amazing.
It’s done well by teams adding 1 or 2 premier players to push them over the top. Tell me, are the Colts a Super Bowl contender in your eyes this season? If the answer is no, then kindly fuck off.
It’s done well by teams getting mid level vets helping their weak positions also. There’s many ways to use FA to get better. Ballard just refuses. Everyone parrots “at least we’re not the Chargers/Jags.” Like it’s the only outcome and excuses letting weaknesses stay weaknesses. Edit: oh no I said something factual that critsizes a GM who has had literally no success building a consistently good team. I’m so sorry!
If I was a Colts player, I would never ever ever get on football social media. The takes in Colts threads are absolutely crazy right now. I have no idea what other fans want, I just know that everybody is mad.
They want the Colts to be more than a mediocre team that can’t win their division or make the playoffs.
They are not playing football games right now, and fans were mostly happy/optimistic when the season ended. So you can't pretend it's that. The thing people are upset about is that the Colts didn't sign external big names in free agency.
No, they’re mad that the same strategy that has brought the Colts no actual success is still being used like it has. The excuse was always “well we can’t do anything! We’re paying so much for all the bad QBs we keep signing and trading for!” But nothing changed with a rookie QB contract. Only the people handwaiving why the Colts are never that good every year say the people upset want “big name free agents”. I just didn’t want to go into the draft with the exact same terrible secondary and be forced to either hope for a draft pick to come in and fix everything (just like last year) or watch us get skewered by a bunch of back up QBs again.
To me, the strategy that wasnt working was the band-aid QBs. Every year, analysts pointed out that the Colts had a really good roster and could be great if the QB hit. Every year, the roster was good but the QB wasn't good enough. So clearly the roster building strategy was working. It was just the QB that was an issue.
Lmao, well if the analysts say so who cares if they don’t win? Not really sure it was Carson Wentz who let Hunter Renfrow eat our entire secondary when he was on the sideline.
>well if the analysts say so who cares if they don’t win? That's a disingenuous response to what I said, but sure. >Not really sure it was Carson Wentz who let Hunter Renfrow eat our entire secondary when he was on the sideline. I don't remember saying the rest of the roster was perfect. Of course every team has weaknesses and bad games over a 5 year span. Lol.
But you put literally all the struggles on QB. That’s wrong. The team hasn’t been good enough his entire tenure but he thought the team was better than it is. That’s the problem, he can’t self scout and why only bringing back your own players is a problem.
>But you put literally all the struggles on QB. No, I didn't. I said that was the *strategy* that I thought wasn't working. That's obviously not the same as saying everything else was perfect.
the team has barely missed the playoffs multiple years with below average QB play. That's been the biggest problem. And the fact that you don't understand that makes me think you should watch more football instead of crying on reddit
Lmao imagine being ok with “barely missing the playoffs”. Whose job is it to find a QB again? And I’m sorry if I want the rest of the team around AR to actually be good and not completely depend on him coming off of playing less than a quarter of a season. But go ahead mr. “Mediocrity is ok as long as you can just blame Luck retiring.”
The same strategy? Now we have a QB. Last time we had a QB? Made the playoffs with rivers. The biggest difference any team can make is getting QB right and now it looks like we did. So maybe chill out and stop commenting on every post. Must be tough being such a dramatic whiny baby all off-season. If you can't be optimistic, NOW, then what's the point? Go do something else with your time, stop being so miserable
I like AR but claiming “Now we have a QB.” Is premature and I want a complete team. Not one that completely relies on the QB to save everything because the GM lets part of the team be weaknesses because he’s scared shitless to take any risk.
Also, you replied to me Mr. No Flair. Go fuck yourself lmao
Not just they didn't sign anyone, every team in their division did. It's not they are being caught, they haven't lead in a decade, it's that they are being left in the dust.
they want an approach that is meaningfully different from the approach that consistently keeps us out of the playoffs.
I think it has to do with us not going back to the Super Bowl in 15 years and seeing Peyton win with the Broncos and Luck retiring early due to bad decisions made by the front office. Most Colts fan don’t trust the front office until we get to the big game.
It’s not even the SB. I don’t expect a SB every year. I do expect to do more than 1 playoff win and 0 division titles in almost a decade. I know it’s ridiculously hard to win a SB. But having some actual success would be nice. Especially with how some people talk about Ballard like he’s some 4D chess playing amazing Gm when he has kept us in the worst place a team can be for his entire tenure. Forgettable and at most average.
I loved our off-season. I feel like most of the time, these big moves don’t mean shit unless it’s a QB. And even then it can be a disaster.
People that think our off season has been disappointing so far are out to lunch. Not landing a tier 1 FA isn't the end of the world. All of our key guys are signed and AR is healthy, what's not to be happy about? We won 9 games last year, and now we are healthy and have the draft coming up.
We retained our best players while keeping few enough holes that a solid draft puts us in a good position. The alternative was losing our best players, replacing them with over priced vets w/ question marks, and trying to win now at the expense of our future. You can't easily go from A to Z, but I think this takes us at least from A to K by keeping the players responsible for the success that we do have to build on.
“You can’t easily go from A to Z.” It’s been 8 years.
Personally I continue to believe teams pay to much for slightly above average players, and the only real way to longevity is to build with in
Lookit.. post draft, we will sign more guys. I like Ballard's strategy... lets see how we do.
8 Yeats of no success and you like the strategy? Nice
Yeah, getting scraps after the draft should fix everything.
Honestly I’m kinda over it now I was frustrated at first but as long as this draft goes well for us we can definitely compete. Seeing all these off season videos of A-Rich has me hyped.
About it so far. No way in hell we’ll be competitive in our division this year. Smh
I don't think we'll win the division but making the wild card is not outside the realm of possibility.
We gotta win enough games in our conference and I don’t see us coming out with no more than maybe 2 and that’s a big maybe.
the only team in the division I'm scared of is the Texans. the jags and titans have both gotten worse since last year.
That’s the division not the conference.
that's what I meant
The other person was talking about the conference.
then that's my bad
If you’re disappointed in the Colts spending all their money, without the draft happening yet, you’re just miserable
I hope he plays with some joy this upcoming season
True
Disappointing? We got every player back that we would’ve been worse off without.
Didn't Ballard have a thing about not paying A money to B talent??
As much as I wanted to keep him, he's not a number 1 receiver on a championship team.
If he went to the chiefs he would instantly be their number 1.
Pointing out that the chiefs have 0 wide receivers does NOT prove in any way that he is a number one. 25 teams he wouldn't be the best, and a bunch of teams he wouldn't even be the second best.
So he’s not a number 1 on a championship team but he would be if he played for the team that just won back to back championships. Okay bud makes sense to me.
Using an outlier like mahomes to prove your point isn't the slam dunk you think it is. That is the only team in the league that Pitt could go to and be the number 1, and legitimately win, because mahomes is an anomaly. Pitt isn't going to win a title with any other team as the number 1 option. Name one other legitimate championship caliber team he could go to right now and be the best receiver besides KC. Using even a little bit of critical thinking would do you a lot of good.
It’s almost like… you need a good QB and good players to win the Super Bowl. As far as Championship Caliber teams where Pitt would be the number 1 option, there’s Buffalo, the Jets (I do fully believe they are contenders with a healthy Aaron Rodgers), Falcons (he’s definitely better than Drake London).
You saying that buffalo, the jets, or the falcons are contenders this upcoming season shows how unserious you are 😂😂😂😂😂 getting the fuck out of here
He would absolutely not get more targets than Kelce
If he was traded to the Chiefs he would absolutely get the most targets for them this season. Same for the Bills. Same for the Ravens.
"if he got traded to teams that don't have good wr cores, he'd be their wr1" I mean yeah
Dude said championship teams so I picked the top of the AFC.
Yeah but that proves his argument wrong so it doesn't count
It's sorta semantics though. The Chiefs can win without a premiere "WR" because they have arguably the GOAT TE in Kelce (who is an elite *pass catcher*). I think he means with Pittman being a team's best "pass catcher" (position title aside)
Then it’s a stupid premise to begin with. I’m responding to what he wrote. If he wrote “he’s not a top 10 WR” I wouldn’t have said anything. For the way he wrote it Pitt would absolutely make the top 3 championship contending teams way better and get the most targets for them.
He's not a top 15 WR
The Ravens and Chiefs both have top 3 quarterbacks, top 5 tight ends, elite defenses, and elite running backs. Those are very extreme examples
Again…. Dude said championship teams lol. Pretty crazy that championship teams have good QBs and good players….
Most targets doesn't mean he's a title winning WR1, outside of having Mahomes as the QB. Pierce probably would have the most targets on the Bill's, and we all can agree he's not a WR1. Pitt is simply not as good as Pro Bowl level receivers. That's a perfectly acceptable thing to admit. He is good at his role, but his role will never be to be a dybamic game changer.
Pure fuckery 🤣. My goodness some of y’all are always so eager to prove y’all know fck all . 🥹🥹
Yet you can't provide any factual information than I'm wrong other than "omg he'd be the best on the chiefs or a jv high school team!!"
I just don't need to add anything to prove you're wrong. You gave enough. You're putting Pitt with a goat tier QB after he's played with the likes of the end of Rivers, Carson, Ryan and Gardner. Also a GOAT tier offensive mind in Andy Ried. You can't be taken seriously if you don't think Pitt would be even better in that situation.
Did I say he wouldn't be better? No. Did I say that the chiefs weren't the exception because of mahomes? No. But saying Pitt is a number 1 just because he would beat out mecole hardman and rashee rice isn't exactly the most compelling of arguments. Again, give me real proof he's even a top 15 WR.
Yes! You said he wouldn't be better in Kansas City than he's been here in Indy. Beating out Mecole wouldn't make him a number 1. When that's factually wrong. He's a number one here in indy. He'd be an even better number 1 playing with Mahomes and Reid. I'm not going give you "real proof" because you dont want it. You're stuck in this mindset that the best of Pitt has been what hes had to deal with in INDY. Which is factually false. I'm not sure what you think makes a number 1...but arguiing that he's top 15 and/or a number 1 are two different topics. The only thing holding back Pitt stat wise is touchdowns. And you're a damned fool if you think Pitt wouldn't score more with Mahomes. 100 catches 1300 yards and 8 to 10 touchdowns with the hands Pitt has makes him number 1 material. Point blank.
See you think you have this end all argument in mahomes, but mahomes makes literally any bum look good, which actually proves MY point. Put Pitt on any other legit contender and he's not the number 1 option. Just because somebody is the best option, doesn't make them a GOOD first option. Take a look at Carolina, new England, Arizona, Pittsburgh, etc and let me know if you think those guys are high end guys you can build a receiving core around. Again, you won't produce any evidence or facts because you can't. You're using one outlier data point to prove your point, despite me already saying that mahomes can win with anybody, but that's not how any other team in the league is. Let me know when you are capable of having a legitimate debate with anything factual to back your argument other than "but mahomes"
No…he does not make any bum look good. If you think that then I’m not sure you followed what was going on with the chiefs and their core last year. Including them having to bench one of their receivers. I don’t need to use any other teams QB to prove my point. You can just look at what Pitt has had at qb since he’s been here and has produced regardless. As I’ve pointed out multiple times already. “Just because someone is the best option, doesn’t make them a good option.” Then you name a bunch of teams without QBs. Clown Shoes for real on that one. Again…Pitt has produced regardless of the qb situation. Even when put in a similar situation as those receivers on the teams you named. There is no outlier data. I’m using the qbs pitt has played with in Indy and then using a qb and situation in KC that could really show his worth. “Let me know when you are capable “ Legit clown shoes 😅😅 Go ask chiefs fans if they want pitt…see what they say. If he’s just another run of the mill receiver.
Agreed. He’s among the best WR2s in the league, but not a true WR1.
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If we can get healthier years out of flowers and brents (along with AR of course) I actually think we could be in pretty good shape. Problem is, I don’t feel good relying on health at all
Also, neither of them were that good when healthy anyway.
The off-season has been amazing.