2026 Off-Season Thread

[Thorgrim]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

To say that those who don't have torches and pitchforks out are happy with the records of the past few years. We are not. However, we do not see it as much of a doom and gloom situation like some do on here and other fan sites.

Fair enough. I didn’t mean to imply that they are happy. I was referring to those who every year refuse to acknowledge that things are going wrong. I don’t think you can paint the fans here with a wide brush. I was referring to a segment of our participants. Should’ve made that clear. In some years past I’d go whistling past the graveyard. I’m sure that’s true of many now. Im just past that. Others genuinely see the glass more full. We all have our own perspectives. I can respect that. I’ll be cheering for them.

[Puck]

Originally Posted by rm1369

Honest question - you don’t see it as doom and gloom because you believe in what they have done and are doing? Or because you just always have a “this is our year” mentality and rarely criticize the team? I’m not saying that as a knock to that style of fandom. I’m just honestly trying to understand the continued Ballard support by some.

This is a great question and I will answer after Race. Since you directed it to him

[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by rm1369

Honest question - you don’t see it as doom and gloom because you believe in what they have done and are doing? Or because you just always have a “this is our year” mentality and rarely criticize the team? I’m not saying that as a knock to that style of fandom. I’m just honestly trying to understand the continued Ballard support by some.

I am a generally positive person. I think the best of most people and situations. However, I knew that Polian turning the reigns over to his son was a bad idea. I figured out Grigson was not a good GM. I knew when it was time for Pagano and Reich to go. I think Caldwell got a raw deal. I had high hopes for Wentz, until he started playing like Will Levis. I had high hopes for Matt Ryan. I was rooting for Jeff Saturday, but it became very obvious that he was brought in to tank the season.

As for Ballard, I like a lot of his draft picks. I even think the AR pick was a good idea, but the execution of his development was where they went wrong. The guy needed reps, but he also needed to learn how to be a pro QB by sitting behind a guy like Rivers, Manning, Luck, Brady.

[sherck]

Originally Posted by rm1369

Honest question - you don’t see it as doom and gloom because you believe in what they have done and are doing? Or because you just always have a “this is our year” mentality and rarely criticize the team? I’m not saying that as a knock to that style of fandom. I’m just honestly trying to understand the continued Ballard support by some.

I know this was not directed at me but I am also a generally positive and upbeat fan of the Colts for now 42 years since they moved to Indy.

This off-season has not been a surprise to me at all. As I said in another thread, after living for decades with superior QB play and have now been searching for it again for 7 year since Luck retired, once they found someone whom they BELIEVE can deliver it again, they pushed all their chips in on him.

As much as I believe he is going to break our hearts, the Colts betting on Daniel Jones was a 100% guarantee once he showed he could execute the offense at a high level. There was zero chance that the Colts were not going to re-sign him after last season.

Along with that, there was zero chance that the Colts were not going to give it their best shot to re-sign Pierce as the new #1 WR because of the friendship and bond DJ and AP share.

And then, based on that, there was a 100% chance that Pittman was going to be traded to clear cap space to allow for those first two moves.

And, then based on having spent the bulk of available free agency money on those two players, I knew that the rest of our signings were going to be veterans whom are more "bit" players and not full time starters. That we were in talks with Hendrickson were gratifying and getting him would have been great but once he signed with BAL, well, then came the tier 2 players.

The only "surprise" of the off-season for me so far is letting Cross walk for $7m a year. They may have someone on the roster whom they think can replace him cheaper but I don't know who that is.

I am hopeful that it will work out for the Colts and while I beieve that it will not and that DJ will disappoint, I knew 100% that this was the path the Colts were going to walk on for the 2026 off-season.

So, why am I optimistic and upbeat on the Colts? Probably because I don't measure my enjoyment of the Colts only on Superbowl wins, playoff appearances or even wins some seasons.

I throughly enjoyed the second half of 2025 almost as much as the first half because we played a couple really close, competitive games as now the underdogs and almost got wins. Seeing young players step up and compete? Not win but compete? Yeah, I love watching that. I was against the Rivers experiment because I wanted to see more of Leonard but I still enjoyed watching Rivers grow as he threw a couple of really nice games while here at 79 years old!

Anyway, my gauge of fun while watching the Colts is not just rooted in wins or losses or playoffs or SB appearances. My fun is rooted in the game of football and win or lose, the Colts are my team.

That said, I am pretty much done with Ballard if the DJ experiment fails. NEXT!