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Ballard, remember, is open to the idea of keeping that rookie on the sideline as long as it takes. They won’t rush him. Asked about his potential to start Week 1 come September, Minshew sounded like the veteran he is. He pumped the brakes.
“Assuming is always a dangerous game,” he said. “Like I said, I’ve come here to work hard and help the team in any way I can. So whatever that role is, I’m going to do it to the best of my ability.”
Until April, he’s QB1.
The other addition came at a position that has dogged the Colts for the better part of four seasons: kicker. After Adam Vinatieri’s decline in 2019, then Rodrigo Blankenship’s inconsistencies in 2020 and 2021, most figured Indy would lure Chase McLaughlin (who went 30-for-36 last season after taking over for Blankenship) back to town.
But in Matt Gay, the Colts saw an opportunity teams rarely get: the chance to add one of the best players in the league at his position via free agency. That’s because those types of players almost never hit the open market. When Gay did, Ballard pounced. It wasn’t cheap (four years, $22.5 million, the most ever for a kicker in free agency), but the move will help this team sleep easier at night. Gay went 74-for-80 in almost three years with the Rams, including an excellent 12-for-15 from 50 yards or more.
“Obviously, the contract is the contract,” Gay said. “You want to take care of your family and do that. I would be lying if I didn’t say that wasn’t a factor in the decision.”
The angst this franchise has felt at kicker since Vinatieri’s decline — think of all those crucial misses, starting with the playoff loss to Buffalo after the 2020 season and last year’s season opener in Houston — will ease with Gay’s arrival. With so many questions fluttering around the Colts, solving the kicking issue for the foreseeable future is a win.
It was also noteworthy that three veterans remain on the roster after significant contract bonuses were paid over the weekend: cornerback Kenny Moore, who’s been open about his frustrations with the defensive staff last season, received a $500,000 roster bonus Sunday, while center Ryan Kelly and Buckner, a defensive lineman, each received a $1 million bonus. Releasing Moore or Kelly wouldn’t have come as a shock; both underperformed in 2022 and cutting either of them would have saved $8 million against the cap. Buckner, on the other hand, was terrific in 2022, and moving him would pretty much signal a total rebuild.
The Colts, who have $20.3 million in salary-cap space at the moment, don’t seem ready to do that, not yet at least, though it’s obvious that the thinking inside West 56th Street has shifted. Last season humbled the team’s decision-makers. Good, because it should have.
The Colts know where they’re at. They know they have a long way to go before they can contend for a division title and make a deep playoff run. The moves so far in free agency speak to that.
Ballard has mentioned this more than once since the season ended: It took a lot of pain to get here. Some brutally hard truths came with 4-12-1, and it’s time the Colts let those lessons sink in — instead of convincing themselves they were one or two plays away, or it was one player’s fault, or with a few key adds in the offseason, all would be fixed.
There are plenty of reasons the Colts bottomed out in 2022, and it’s going to take a good amount of time for them to right the wrongs of the past few seasons. This is not a hole they can climb out of in a year.
Finally, it seems, the Colts have figured that out.
Zak Keefer covers the Indianapolis Colts for The Athletic. He previously spent seven years at The Indianapolis Star, writing about everything from Andrew Luck's shoulder to Pat McAfee's poker skills, from a deaf football team to a blind boxing champ to a former New York City mobster. He is an adjunct professor of journalism at Indiana University. Follow Zak on Twitter @zkeefer
“Assuming is always a dangerous game,” he said. “Like I said, I’ve come here to work hard and help the team in any way I can. So whatever that role is, I’m going to do it to the best of my ability.”
Until April, he’s QB1.
The other addition came at a position that has dogged the Colts for the better part of four seasons: kicker. After Adam Vinatieri’s decline in 2019, then Rodrigo Blankenship’s inconsistencies in 2020 and 2021, most figured Indy would lure Chase McLaughlin (who went 30-for-36 last season after taking over for Blankenship) back to town.
But in Matt Gay, the Colts saw an opportunity teams rarely get: the chance to add one of the best players in the league at his position via free agency. That’s because those types of players almost never hit the open market. When Gay did, Ballard pounced. It wasn’t cheap (four years, $22.5 million, the most ever for a kicker in free agency), but the move will help this team sleep easier at night. Gay went 74-for-80 in almost three years with the Rams, including an excellent 12-for-15 from 50 yards or more.
“Obviously, the contract is the contract,” Gay said. “You want to take care of your family and do that. I would be lying if I didn’t say that wasn’t a factor in the decision.”
The angst this franchise has felt at kicker since Vinatieri’s decline — think of all those crucial misses, starting with the playoff loss to Buffalo after the 2020 season and last year’s season opener in Houston — will ease with Gay’s arrival. With so many questions fluttering around the Colts, solving the kicking issue for the foreseeable future is a win.
It was also noteworthy that three veterans remain on the roster after significant contract bonuses were paid over the weekend: cornerback Kenny Moore, who’s been open about his frustrations with the defensive staff last season, received a $500,000 roster bonus Sunday, while center Ryan Kelly and Buckner, a defensive lineman, each received a $1 million bonus. Releasing Moore or Kelly wouldn’t have come as a shock; both underperformed in 2022 and cutting either of them would have saved $8 million against the cap. Buckner, on the other hand, was terrific in 2022, and moving him would pretty much signal a total rebuild.
The Colts, who have $20.3 million in salary-cap space at the moment, don’t seem ready to do that, not yet at least, though it’s obvious that the thinking inside West 56th Street has shifted. Last season humbled the team’s decision-makers. Good, because it should have.
The Colts know where they’re at. They know they have a long way to go before they can contend for a division title and make a deep playoff run. The moves so far in free agency speak to that.
Ballard has mentioned this more than once since the season ended: It took a lot of pain to get here. Some brutally hard truths came with 4-12-1, and it’s time the Colts let those lessons sink in — instead of convincing themselves they were one or two plays away, or it was one player’s fault, or with a few key adds in the offseason, all would be fixed.
There are plenty of reasons the Colts bottomed out in 2022, and it’s going to take a good amount of time for them to right the wrongs of the past few seasons. This is not a hole they can climb out of in a year.
Finally, it seems, the Colts have figured that out.
Zak Keefer covers the Indianapolis Colts for The Athletic. He previously spent seven years at The Indianapolis Star, writing about everything from Andrew Luck's shoulder to Pat McAfee's poker skills, from a deaf football team to a blind boxing champ to a former New York City mobster. He is an adjunct professor of journalism at Indiana University. Follow Zak on Twitter @zkeefer
8. Detroit Lions (9-8)
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