https://x.com/nerlens_/status/2027161489778344199?s=20

Noah Compton
@nerlens_
2026 Indianapolis #Colts Report Card

The new ownership trio of Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Kalen Jackson, and Casey Foyt and GM Chris Ballard both receive an ‘A.’

Lucas Oil Stadium’s field gets the lowest grade with a ‘D.’

https://x.com/mchappell51/status/202...935605318?s=20

Mike Chappell
@mchappell51
·
5h
Colts' grades:

Treatment of Families: B
Home Game Field: D
Food/Dining Area: B
Nutritionist/Dietician: A-
Locker Room: C+
Training Room: B
Training Staff: B+
Weight Room: B
Strength Coaches: A
Position Coaches: B
Offensive Coordinator: B
Defensive Coordinator: B+
Special Teams Coordinator: B+
Team Travel: B-
Head Coach: A-
General Manager: A
Team Ownership: A

https://x.com/spotrac/status/2027084342174834838?s=20

Spotrac
@spotrac
·
9h
Trading QB Anthony Richardson

New Team Acquires
2026: $5.38M (gtd)
2027: $23.5M (proj. option)

#Colts Dead Cap
2026: $5.4M

Richardson's 2027 option must be decided on by May 1st.

https://x.com/SharpFootball/status/2...899786862?s=20

Warren Sharp
@SharpFootball
·
5h
NFL players ranking their own stadium field:

Baltimore Ravens: A
Denver Broncos: A
Philadelphia Eagles: A
Kansas City Chiefs: A-
Las Vegas Raiders: A-
Miami Dolphins: A-
San Francisco 49ers: A-
Jacksonville Jaguars: B+
Washington Commanders: B+
Arizona Cardinals: B
Minnesota Vikings: B
Cleveland Browns: B-
Detroit Lions: B-
Chicago Bears: C
Dallas Cowboys: C
Los Angeles Chargers: C
Los Angeles Rams: C
New Orleans Saints: C
Green Bay Packers: C+
Houston Texans: C+
Indianapolis Colts: D
New England Patriots: D
Cincinnati Bengals: D-
Buffalo Bills: F
Carolina Panthers: F
Seattle Seahawks: F
New York Giants: F-
New York Jets: F-
Pittsburgh Steelers: F-
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: F-
Tennessee Titans: F-

I'm presuming that the 2027 option must be decided by May 1st 2027.

Tua? Here, and Miami pays his contract? Do you have a link?

You’re probably right, but the dude is made of glass. If he gained enough experience at the position, he would probably turn into a good, if not great, quarterback.

But he just cannot stay healthy long enough to do that.

To be successful he needs to be a Lamar Jackson type dual threat guy. He needs to be a threat running the ball. But he can’t do that without getting hurt.

I agree with Puck on trading Richardson. It was malpractice to draft him if you were not willing to have patience to work with him. I think he will turn into a very good if not great QB. I think the way he personally has handled this has been exemplary. Dude hasn't said shit, not one negative word out of his mouth. When he played I was impressed with his mental makeup. By that I mean he played his best in the 4th quarter, he didn't shrink mentally because the game was on the line. I also thought he had incredible pocket presence and movement that cannot be taught. He knew nothing about playing the position and yet still made plays. I love the thought that we must get rid of him because he is injury prone and are replacing him with Daniel Jones, a guy with a much longer history of being always injured coming off a devastating injury.

Someday, I'd like to know the whole AR story. Who was the one who wanted him drafted at #4 and who decided he should start right away. I have no evidence but my theory is that it was Irsay who made this call.

I do know that the majority of posters on this board were wanting him thrown into the fire right away.

If we trade him, it will not just be because he's injury prone. If nothing else, this team gives the full leash to players regarding injuries.

It will be because he's completed barely 50% of his passes. Even if Steichen schemes up Pittman wide open on a 7 yard out, we have to hold our breath because the ball is going to land anywhere from 3ft short to 10ft above Pitt's head.

It will be because he stayed up all night playing video games and eating Skittles instead of hammering the playbook. And then he taps out on a 3rd down and his teammates bench him every bit as much as the coaches did.

Then we can get to the injuries, which are a big deal. Part of his selling point is his athleticism, but how comfortable can you be calling plays with that in the back of your mind?

He seemed to be (working on) fixing some of those issues, but he still missed an elementary blitz read and almost died in the preseason. He was still missing elementary (NFL) throws. And the Colts went back to the vet QB method and finally hit, so they have a better option.

There are a lot of us who think neither AR OR Jones are the long term answer.

Personally, I think it will take completely bottoming out, like a 2-15 or 1-16 season before we have a real chance at solving the quarterback question. And I just hope that doesn’t happen next season.

They are trading him because they failed to develop him. They took the rawest QB prospect ever and gave him no mentorship, no accountability, and no leadership. Everyone in the world knew he wasn’t ready to be an NFL QB. They could have let him sit and learn behind someone. Or if they were going to start him immediately they could have given him true mentor - someone who knew their sole reason for a roster spot was to help teach him how to be a QB. In typical Ballard fashion, they did neither and Cleveland Browned their #4 pick. AR deserves criticism, but they are trading him because they fucked up so bad. No one should be surprised AR hasn’t developed with how they “developed” him.

Just google it. Number of sources.

I heard it first from my coworker who is a diehard Miami fan. Lots of different angles some which include Richardson.

It's like swapping glass for glass. lol

So many QB questions heading into March. Par for the course the last 10 years.

Ah, ok. They just gave him no mentorship and no leadership.

Man, can you imagine how much better his completion percentage would be and how many fewer games he would've tapped out of if they would have given him some mentorship and leadership?

I have no idea if AR would or will turn out to be a great QB or not. My bitch it that I was sold, and like an idiot bought, a load of crap when they drafted the man. To me the question isn't really whose fault ARs failure here was, it is did the Colts do what a quality organization should have done when they pick such a raw young man. Did they have a plan and did it fail? Who exactly was there to mentor him and show hime the ropes? Nobody on this site or in the NFL commentator verse has layed out what that plan was much less why it failed, at least not that I have seen. The whole episode just felt rudderless to me.

I believe the shoulder injury derailed everything. Pre Shoulder injury there were flashes that I seen potential and I was excited. Post shoulder surgery he looked like he didn’t belong in the NFL

So you think handing him the starting job from the get go and bringing in a veteran QB in year 2 who had no intention whatsoever in helping AR out were the right moves?

Hindsight's 20/20, but IMO it's pretty obvious AR should have sat either a good portion of if not all of his rookie year, and keeping Matt Ryan around to try to ingrain what it takes work ethic wise to be a successful NFL QB into AR would have been worth its weight in gold.

https://x.com/AndrewMooreNFL/status/...578496276?s=20

Andrew Moore
@AndrewMooreNFL
·
Feb 27
With the cap number set at $301.2M, the Colts will have roughly $33.4M in cap space heading into the 2026 offseason (before the expected Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce extensions).

Top 5 cap hits for 2026 currently (per Over The Cap):

1. Michael Pittman Jr: $29M
2. DeForest Buckner: $26.6M
3. Quenton Nelson: $24.2M
4. Charvarius Ward: $20.2M
5. Bernhard Raimann: $17.5M

Colts will have to make some moves to open up more space if they want to accomplish everything they plan to do.

What are the changes Pittman/Indy restructure? He's not even close to being worth 29m. Restructure/extend and get that down to under 15m.

The base salary is 22,000,000 and the rest is bonus. I'm not an expert, but if you make the 22,000,000 a bonus and extend him for 3 more years beyond 2026, you can divide the entire 29,000,000 by 4. Add to that, a salary that's back loaded and you might get it down to a cap hit of 12 to 15 million. At least I think you could do something like that.

It is being reported (by Tony Pauline) that the Colts may have to use to franchise tag on Danie Jones as he apparently wants more money than the Colts thought he would. Means they won't have it for Pierce if true. Franchise tag for QBs will be from 44 to 47 million. All of it is guaranteed.

If that is the case, I would have no issues with keeping Pittman.

Franchise tag for QBs will be 43.9 million.

Once the cap is set in stone, the franchise and transition tag values can be calculated.

Below are the other stadiums with the same turf used at LOS - 3 of the 4 AFC South teams have it.

I wonder if Tennessee's poor grade was because they switched from grass to this turf a few years ago.

Houston Texans: C+
Dallas Cowboys: C
Los Angeles Chargers: C
Los Angeles Rams: C
Tennessee Titans: F-

That was purely speculation. It's being said that prior to his injury, Ballard was planning to use the tag on Jones. I applaud that strategy. Now, I would think a lower contract that is full of incentives should be what is fair to both sides. If Jones plays and is kick ass good, he gets a boat load. If he shits the bed, he does not.

Maybe, but you're right, it's hindsight. Basically any hypothetical you throw out will look better and we don't have the luxury of seeing the outcome. Some people think Aaron Rodgers or Patrick Mahomes wouldn't be what they are if they didn't sit. I don't particularly agree, but that's also a separate topic.

Steichen’s track record with QBs belies the claim that AR failed due to a lack of mentorship. Between Herbert, Hurts, Minshew, Jones... Seems AR is the outlier, not Steichen's mentorship.

I think there's a huge tendency for people to act like these players are simply chess pieces controlled by their masters. Jalen Hurts had plenty of issues and concerns, but he was also showing up to the building for 12-15 hour days.

All that said, I don't hate on AR like it may sound. I think the injuries definitely derailed progress and he has worked to fix things. But damage was already done and I don't begrudge them if they try to salvage something in a trade.

I'm amused by the debate on AR. If you were building the ideal QB, you'd probably say: tall, strong, fast and an arm like a cannon. These all fit AR. When you describe what you want between the ears, you would probably want him to be decisive, quick learner, confident, able to read defensive set ups and able to improvise. Anther important intangible is passing accuracy. These are not qualities associated with AR.

You can say Tom Brady, Aaron Rogers and Patrick Mahomes are examples of why you should not start your QB right away, but let him learn.

Or, you can cite Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck or Matthew Stafford and say QBs need to be thrown into the fire, that's the best way to learn.

I say there is no 1 formula for how a QB should be handled. AR has all the physical tools you would want in your QB, but lacks the between the ears skills. Can these skills be developed? I don't have any idea, but I do know that he has to work his ass off if they can. I'm not sure he will ever do that.

Can anyone give me a link from a reputable (or not) reporter that talks about AR having a poor work ethic? Brett Kollman among others raved about how hard of a worker AR was. Not only is it to early to give up on someone this talented that you have so much invested in I have zero faith in the evaluators on this team when it comes to QBs.

I just want to go on record here to say that whatever team ends up paying Daniel Jones what he and the rest of the league appears to believe is his fair wage which is at least $35m+ per season....

....that they will be disappointed.

I may be wrong in this statement but I don't believe I will be.

DJ may end up becoming a franchise QB who can lead his team to the promised land...but no one can say for sure at this point and I believe paying that much for his potential to do so is a HUGE risk that will not pan out for the team paying him.

I hope that I am wrong and that this post can be thrown back into my face if the Colts pay him this contract....but I don't think I will be.

Just too much money tied up into too high of a risk.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...ades-offseason

If it were me, I'd tag Pierce and just let the chips fall where they may with Jones. Any team that wants to offer him the world is gonna regret it. IMO. Offer him a good deal with incentives but please don't tag him and please don't give him a huge guaranteed contract.

I cannot count the ways that Ballard could possibly fuck this up!

If you were Ballard, how would you handle this?

I think the transition tag makes sense for Jones. He’d get a chance to find out if any teams will give him a top level contract and, if they do, the Colts would be able to match.

I’d MUCH rather they sign Pierce long term and put the transition tag on Jones.

Franchise tag Jones while still working on a more affordable long term contract. Sign Pierce to a similar contract as MPJ's current deal.

I know this will get me a lot of hate, but I wonder if it is best to tag Pierce, and try to work out a contract with Jones that is reasonable. If that fails, let AR and Leonard fight it out for the spot and let Jones walk.

Let the flames that will come my way begin.

No I’m absolutely on board with this

This is a perfect scenario. I don't want AR on this team however. He doesn't have it, and never will have it. A wasted pick

Someone on here said that about Sam Darnold.

Pierce is MUCH MUCH more valuable long term than Jones. Get Pierce locked up long term if it’s at all possible. No need to piss him off by tagging him unless he’s just being completely unreasonable on the money.