2026 Off-Season Thread

[Oldcolt]

Originally Posted by Hoopsdoc

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.

Or doesn't want to be here

[Puck]

https://atozsports.com/nfl/indianapo...nfl-draft-nil/



The Indianapolis Colts and former first-round pick Anthony Richardson are heading towards a divorce this offseason.

Earlier this week, the Colts reportedly granted Richardson’s request to seek a trade out of Indy. The team’s 2023 first-round pick was never able to figure it out in Indianapolis and will now be looking for his second stop in the NFL.


Colts general manager Chris Ballard recently spoke with NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay on his podcast “The McShay Show” on an episode during the NFL Scouting Combine. One of the topics discussed wasn’t directly about Richardson, but if you listen closely, Ballard’s words apply to the young quarterback perfectly.


Chris Ballard didn’t mean to, but he basically revealed a reason Anthony Richardson wasn’t successful with the Colts
McShay asked Ballard about the most important position in sports, quarterback, and how hard it is to evaluate. Ballard went into detail about his thoughts on playing the position in today’s NFL. He shared advice to college QBs in the NIL era and, without meaning to, also revealed a major reason Richardson wasn’t able to succeed with the Colts.

“One of the real positives I think of NIL, I truly believe that if I were a quarterback, it’s not about being a first-round pick, it’s about having a career. The more snaps you can get in college, the better off you are going to be. Every kid, I don’t care if you are the first pick in the draft, if you have eligibility left, stay and be as prepared as you can, because once you enter the league, the clock starts. And if you have a 1 next to your name, it starts, and it’s ticking twice as fast as any other player in the draft’s clock. So, having those guys with play history and being ready, I think this NIL is going to be very beneficial for both quarterbacks in general, but for us, because now, if they’ll do it, they will have longer careers.

The more play experience you have, the more you’ve seen, the better chance you have for success when you get into our league. No one has cornered the market on exactly what works and what doesn’t work. It takes a little bit of luck, it takes a little bit of a kid who’s failed and struggled, it’s a good thing because they are going to struggle at our level. It’s rare when a quarterback comes in and lights it up right away. They g0tta fail, they gotta go through some hard stuff, they gotta stand on the edge of the abyss and not jump and handle it.” – Colts GM Chris Ballard

Oh man, there’s a lot to unpack there. I think it was a very insightful breakdown of the state of the quarterback position in today’s NFL, in this new era of college football where NIL (Name Image and Likeness) runs the sport. What makes it even more interesting is that Ballard wasn’t speaking about Richardson here. Still, his words apply perfectly to the team’s 2023 first-round pick and explain why he didn’t succeed in Indianapolis.

Richardson had only played in 24 college games before being drafted fourth overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. And he had only one full-time season as the starter at Florida, his final year, when he started 12 games. His inexperience made people view him as a ball of clay that was ready to be molded into the next star quarterback in this league. Instead, his inexperience was evident from the moment he made the jump, and it was clear to everyone that he was not ready for the pro level.

So yes, Richardson would have benefited from returning to college to get more reps as a starter before taking the jump, but the Colts deserve some of the blame here. They elected to use a premium pick on him, knowing how inexperienced he was. And when you apply him directly to Ballard’s words above, it becomes clear that if the team could do it all over again, they would definitely do things differently.

It’s too late to help Richardson work out with the Colts, but I hope that if Ballard is still around as the team’s GM the next time they take a shot on a first-round QB, he takes his own advice when it comes to targeting a quarterback that is truly ready to play at the NFL level. Even if they choose to take one this year, on day two or preferably day three, some very experienced quarterbacks will be better prepared to make the jump to the NFL.

[Oldcolt]

If I am AR, a kid who was dirt poor, how do I look past 30 million dollars that the NFL is offering me. If he had gone back to college and had the same injury he had his first year here it would have cost him tens of millions of dollars. To ask him to stay in college when there is a team willing to choose you at 4th and pay you money that will set you and your family up for generations is nuts. We all work to provide for our future and our families future. If no team was willing to pick him until the third day, maybe he would have stayed in. He absolutely made the correct decision for himself and his family. He had no power to say where he would get chosen, it was totally on the Colts for choosing him and not doing what it took to develop the man.

[Puck]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

If I am AR, a kid who was dirt poor, how do I look past 30 million dollars that the NFL is offering me. If he had gone back to college and had the same injury he had his first year here it would have cost him tens of millions of dollars. To ask him to stay in college when there is a team willing to choose you at 4th and pay you money that will set you and your family up for generations is nuts. We all work to provide for our future and our families future. If no team was willing to pick him until the third day, maybe he would have stayed in. He absolutely made the correct decision for himself and his family. He had no power to say where he would get chosen, it was totally on the Colts for choosing him and not doing what it took to develop the man.

Agree. Colts really handled him wrong. I wish he could have stayed healthy last season to see what he had "learned" behind DJ. Especially now if we do sign DJ AR's worth could have been a lot higher. Another reason I am not too excited about getting rid of him just yet

[Puck]

Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
·
1h
Commanders have informed former Pro-Bowl CB Marshon Lattimore that they intend to release him before the new league year begins, a move that will save the team $18.5 million in salary cap space, per sources.

[Puck]

Evan Sidery
@esidery
·
1h
Nick Cross is unlikely to re-sign with the Colts as they prioritize retaining Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce in free agency.

Cross, who doesn’t turn 25 until September, has blossomed into a high-caliber strong safety averaging 133 tackles over the past two seasons.

[apballin]

Originally Posted by Puck

Evan Sidery
@esidery
·
1h
Nick Cross is unlikely to re-sign with the Colts as they prioritize retaining Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce in free agency.

Cross, who doesn’t turn 25 until September, has blossomed into a high-caliber strong safety averaging 133 tackles over the past two seasons.

I figured this was gonna happen

[Puck]

Seth Walder

@SethWalder

·
6h

The Colts promoted Ashleigh Prugh from Football Analytics Fellow to Football Data Analyst, per source.