Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Chris Ballard Hints at Draft Intentions in Final Presser
Episode Date: April 19, 2024The Indianapolis Colts have some needs that people aren't considering because they won't be glaring until next year's free agency. Why linebacker, tight end, and interior offensive line should be addr...essed next week. The Indy Draft Guide is here! For $8.99 with code DRAFTMAS, you get access to 225+ in-depth scouting reports, features, and much more. Click the link to order today: https://draftguide.gumroad.com/l/indy24 Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOColts?sid=YouTube📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL Follow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOnFN! Today's episode is brought to you by Monopoly GO! I admit it, I have a competitive side, which is a big fan of MONOPOLY GO! The mobile hit twist on classic MONOPOLY. So join your friends and download MONOPOLY GO! now free on The App Store or Google Play. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Monopoly GO!Get in the game and join your friends. Download MONOPOLY GO! now free on The App Store or Google Pay. The mobile hit twist on classic MONOPOLY. Yahoo FinanceFor comprehensive financial news and analysis, visit the brand behind every great investor, YahooFinance.com.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARENTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – win or lose! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Chris Ballard has spoken for the final time before next week's 2024 NFL Draft,
and we are reading the tea leaves.
Let's get to it.
You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast.
Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.
All right, all right, all right.
Thanks for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day.
This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts.
Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.
And today's show is brought to you by Monopoly Go.
I admit it, I have a competitive side, which is a big fan of Monopoly Go.
The mobile hit twist on classic Monopoly.
So just join your friends and download Monopoly Go now, free on the App Store or Google Play.
What's up, friends and family?
This is Jake Arthur and Zach Hicks of HorseshoeHuddle.com.
And today we are digesting Chris Ballard's pre-draft press conference and giving it back to you how we see it.
You know, GMs obviously cannot tell you the truth or tell you straightly what they're going to do in the draft.
But Chris, I feel like, is always as transparent as he can be. And if you look back at his, his pre-draft press conferences over the last few
years, there's, there's little bits of accuracy in there and things you can kind of take away.
So that's what we're going to do today. We're going to break this into three kind of main,
main points. One is that we think there's a good chance that they're going to trade back.
We also do think that if they are going to trade up,
it's not something they're just going to deliberately go into the draft thinking about.
It's going to be if someone is starting to slide that they really, really covet and isn't too far
ahead. They're just a little bit out of reach and they think trading up a little bit could get them
there. And then finally, now this was something that he was
probably most coy about today, but the caps or the cap space generated from DeForest Buckner's
contract extension, what that means, because he said, you know, it gives them flexibility.
Sure. But why? They kind of did something a little out of character for themselves.
So, Zach, I'm just going to throw out a couple main points here before we, you know, a couple main little nuggets here before we dive in to the trading back part.
Just some little tiny pieces that I noticed.
And if you want to chime in on these or add in your own, let's do it.
So football character versus off field character. So in this one,
we're kind of starting to see now where they're willing to play ball a little bit more with these
guys. And even as well as Drew Ogletree coming off the commissioner's exemplar, he's back with
the team. It feels like nothing ever happened, right? So there's a couple guys in this draft
that do have some questions of off-field stuff.
And if it's something in terms of them
just being young and dumb, that's one thing.
But if it's something that's going to cause
any sort of problem in the locker room
or their work ethic is a question, not happening.
So let's just throw that out there now.
I don't think defensive back
is an enormous priority. Uh, every opportunity given Chris Ballard seems to defend who they have.
And that kind of goes against a lot of what we've talked about all off season. Uh, Chris really
loves the wide receiver and offensive line depth throughout the draft. So that means if it's not
done early, which offensive line doesn't need to be done early, but it doesn't mean they won't do it maybe even multiple times throughout later in the draft.
Drafting for future needs is kind of a tug of war. They talked about a little bit between
the personnel staff and the coaching staff. Coaches obviously want guys who can contribute now
and then the scouting department, you know know they're more willing to take guys who might need to develop a little longer um the draft is loaded on offense
particularly early in the draft and then finally the colts have about 19 to 21 first round grades
on uh on players which obviously that's when we start to get into the discussion of trading back. And Zach, I saw you quote tweet one of my tweets from when I was reporting during there.
So go ahead and tell us what you think.
Yeah, that was funny.
All the mentions of trading back and then specifically saying 19 to 21 first round grades.
I thought all those things were really interesting because it felt like kind of a nod to the GMs of those teams, especially in that 19 to 21 range where it's like, hey, we're open for business.
Come on up.
Come on up.
Hey, Steelers at 20.
You want an offensive tackle?
We want to trade back.
I mentioned it 12 times or whatever in my press conference.
Come on up, baby.
Come on.
Give me a third round pick.
Let's play ball.
And I can get a player that
i like there in the 20s but yeah i was i mean obviously all the stuff you mentioned there i
don't want to just gloss over it we can we can talk about that in depth as well too but going
to the trade back thing it was really funny i you you texted me right after the press conference and
you were like hey it seems like the colts are definitely gonna trade back and i was like okay
maybe he was being coy with some things and kind of hinting at it.
But then I read the transcript and it was like three or four times where he was like,
I can already see the articles when we trade back.
Obviously, we want to gain more picks.
Obviously, we want to move back.
And I'm like, oh, he legit just said multiple times, hey, I want to trade back.
So yeah, I mean, look, I said it the other day on the show.
I'm always team trade back early or
you know whenever because i like to have more shots of the board and chris ballard actually
said that exactly in this press conference he said trading back uh in this business gives you
more shots of the board which gives you a better chance of finding those those gems and those hits
and it also covers up for your misses when you miss early in the draft on guys so
i'm team trade back i like the idea in this draft to trade back unless someone falls to 15 that they feel
like it's a legit blue chip player.
And I think it's good business.
So again, I know our comment section and those articles like Ballard has mentioned are going
to be just ripping it apart and stuff.
But, you know, he was not mincing his words when talking about trading back, which I thought
was really interesting.
Yeah. He was not mincing his words when talking about trading back, which I thought was really interesting. Yeah, and in terms of specifics, what they might trade back for,
again, we talked about offense in this one.
Chris thinks it's pretty loaded up front.
There was an interesting quote, and I've got the whole thing here,
but to just basically boil it down, they were recently,
the scouting department is kind of moving forward with more chats
with the coaching staff about getting final thoughts and how you can use this player
and this player.
Chris mentioned,
you know,
there was a little bit of a discussion.
He wouldn't say offense or defense,
but they were talking about two players and specifically everybody's got
flaws,
but what can you do with the abilities of these two players?
And it was good to see the coaching staff have plans for everybody.
And I've,
I've seen already several people mentioned,
you know,
Brian Thomas jr.
And Xavier worthy that,
that might be a pretty decent discussion that they're having and very
possible one.
Now I think most places,
at least online,
Thomas is rated higher.
You know,
he's obviously bigger. He has similar athleticism. But for the
Colts, I can imagine Worthy might be in that same tier. What do you think? Do you think that might
be a legit discussion? Could they be those two players that he was talking about?
Potentially. Let me read the quote because you have it right here. Let me just read the little
part of the quote that we're really focusing on here he said uh and i quote we're meeting with our coaches today and
tomorrow and we just had a long discussion about a couple guys i'm not going to tell you what side
of the ball but what's the vision for the player like it's easy for scouts and us to have a vision
but the coaches have to have the same vision uh end quote right there that's what ballard said
in his press conference now obviously he could be talking about defensive players. He could be talking about a Cooper Dajin, you know, safety or corner,
a Dallas Turner where, you know, you could do some off-ball stuff with him as well.
But I think we all kind of know he's talking offense there.
He's almost certainly talking offense.
And while I do think a guy like Brock Bowers kind of fits into that as well,
I think this mainly looks at wide receiver, you know,
and when you're looking at two guys who are very flawed prospects, Brian Thomas Jr. and Xavier
Worthy, very, very flawed guys. They're not guys who are going to be complete receivers from day
one, but they each have that elite trait. And that's kind of where this whole tangent even
started in this conversation with Bowers. He was talking about guys having their strengths and
weaknesses. And he says,
again,
and I quote here,
this is what he does really well.
Let's put him in a role to do that specific thing really,
really well.
And I wrote about Brian Thomas jr.
Today in an article where I was saying,
look,
Brian Thomas jr.
Might only do one thing really well,
but that one thing he does really well is so insanely valuable to an
offense that it might push him up the board of a
team like the Colts because he is honestly has the potential to be one of the best vertical threats
in the entire league you look at Xavier Worthy Xavier Worthy's ability to stop and start his
his next level speed uh just his fluidity throughout everything he does and just the level
of athlete he is is so insanely rare that again, it's kind of the
scouting like, okay, we're getting this insanely rare athlete who has legit gravity, no matter
what we're doing with him. I think we can work with that. Like what role would you have him in
to work? So I think when I'm looking at that quote, I'm thinking who are the two, the two or
three players, whatever it is that they're talking about. those are the first two guys to come to mind because they are so niche driven from day one. They need a specific role from day one and they're going to
help your team from day one, but it's not going to be in like this all around role. It's going to be
in that one little niche setting and then you can grow it from there and hopefully get them to be,
you know, the players that you want to be. They're both going to be 21 for the rookie season. So
they're still really young players. But I did think that quote was really interesting because
it's kind of how I view it like when I'm looking at these two players in particular I'm thinking
from day one I'm getting one elite trait how does that stack up against someone like a Jalen Polk
for instance or Ricky Pearsall where I'm getting a really solid player across the board but I don't
have an elite trait with those guys maybe Pears all's hands are pretty elite but you know what i
mean like i'm not getting that elite treat but these two guys i am getting something that i
can't find in anybody else with the deep threat ability and just the overall athleticism and
if i trust my coaching staff to use that correctly i can have an advantage over the competition so
i did love that conversation piece there from ballard where you know you're talking about my coaching staff to use that correctly, I can have an advantage over the competition. So I did
love that conversation piece there from Ballard where, you know, you're talking about seeing what
a guy can do versus what they can't do. And if they can do something that nobody else can do,
or only very few people can do, that has a lot of value in the draft. Yeah. And I think that's huge
because even talking to Shane on Monday, he's a lot more involved in the process. Now the staff
is all together because I think I asked him this question on Monday, you's a lot more involved in the process. Now the staff is all together.
Cause I think I asked him this question on Monday, you know,
this time last year they were installing the offense.
They were doing this and that they were doing coaching things.
Cause they had to get ready to get the guys in the building and establish
themselves. But now that's all, all that's done.
Like they are focusing or trying to focus partly on the draft
and letting the personnel department know what types of players they want,
what they can do with them, so that they are a lot more involved.
And those are the discussions they're having now.
And I'm glad you mentioned DeGene because I was kind of thinking
Terry and Arnold, Cooper, DeGene.
Players with similar multi-skilled backgrounds.
But if you're looking one offense, one defense,
that's kind of what I would say.
But we're going to go ahead in a minute and talk about the possibility of
trading up and what we think that might take for them to trade up,
which is the opposite of what we just said.
Today's show is made possible with the help of sponsors like Yahoo Finance.
Wouldn't it be great if you could see all of your investment and retirement accounts in one place? With Yahoo Finance, you can consolidate
your views from multiple accounts into one hub and access the expert analysis you need to tend
to your entire portfolio with confidence. Let's just get straight to the point. You want to grow
your portfolio to deal with the rising costs of inflation, to pay off your debt or your mortgage,
pretty much anything standing in the way of you and financial freedom, right? Well, with Yahoo Finance, you can
get access to the news, data, and tools that you need in order to help reach that financial freedom.
When it comes to your financial future, you think you've done it all. You've saved, you've
researched, you've invested all that you can, but now you need to take those investments to the next level by using what every financial great uses, and that's Yahoo Finance.
For more than 25 years, Yahoo Finance has been the brand behind every great investor.
Whether you're a seasoned investor or you're looking for that extra guidance, Yahoo Finance
gives you all the tools and data that you need in one place.
For comprehensive financial news and analysis, visit the brand behind every great
investor, yahoofinance.com, the number one financial destination, yahoofinance.com.
That's yahoofinance.com. All right, so let's talk about the less likely scenario, Zach,
and that is moving up. Chris used what I thought was an interesting phrase when, when talking about this,
he said, if a player is in striking distance, and to me, that means kind of like, I'm going to use
Jonathan Taylor in 2020, as an example, the Colts were on the clock at like 44, 46, and he was there
at 41. So not a great deal ahead of him, just like five spots, three, five spots.
And that's striking distance.
They said they could do it.
They could afford the draft capital, go up and do it.
I think that's what we'll see in this instance if they are to trade up.
If there's a player I've got here, I think I named five guys who I think might be like
horseshoe guys in this draft.
Marvin Harrison Jr., Roma Dunze, Brock Bowers, Dallas Turner, Quinion Mitchell.
Now, some of those guys aren't top 10 locks.
They may be fine for the Colts to get at 15, but it's players who I could see the Colts being in love with that they start to sweat.
If it's getting closer and they have the opportunity
to go ahead and secure them. So striking distance, those guys are there at 10, 11, 12. They're just
a few picks away and all it's going to cost the Colts is like a third round pick. I think that
is the scenario. And just kind of looking at a couple other nuggets throughout Chris's presser,
he talked a lot about protecting Anthony, but also adding playmakers for
him. And a couple of those guys, Harrison and Doonesay Bowers, that really fits the bill.
Athletic freaks, which you can't just always get throughout the draft. That was mostly talking
about the longevity of players. And obviously you want players that can do really good things for
you, but if they can do that and play in the league for a dozen years, then that's all the better.
So I think if the Colts have some of these guys circled and it starts getting closer, I think it's possible they might make a move.
It's definitely the more uncharacteristic of the two for them.
Yeah, I think there's a lot of factors that come into play here.
And there's just a lot of factors I don't think that lead to the colts potentially trading up in this draft uh one being the the striking distance
comment there i mean i think that officially throws out the whole colts are trading up to
four or five jim ursa is going to come in kick way down and scream we have to trade up to number
four or something like that's not going to happen and if we look at chris ballard's draft history with the colts he's only made two trade-ups in the first two rounds in his entire gm history with
this team and the most picks he's moved up is three picks three picks is the most he's moved
up 44 to 41 for jonathan taylor and i want to say it was 67 to 64 for taekwon lewis in 2018
so he has not moved up very far and it's kind of like what you're saying where it's that striking and I want to say it was 67 to 64 for Taequann Lewis in 2018.
So he has not moved up very far.
And it's kind of like what you're saying,
where it's that striking distance where it's like,
hey, we really like this player.
We only really have to give up like an extra fourth rounder to get him.
And we can jump the one team that could stop him from getting to us.
That's the only situation. And that player has to be somebody who checks every athletic box,
who checks every single box, who checks every
single character box they have, checks every, you know, all these things that they look for
in the pre-draft process. Because again, when you are drafting a player in the NFL draft,
you're giving up a valuable asset. I mean, the picks, like if you're using a first round pick
on a player, you're essentially saying we are valuing you the same as we would,
you know,
like 15 in the strategy,
the same,
they would have to force Buckner trade,
you know,
cause the force Buckner was traded for the 13th overall pick that the Colts
had,
like they're valuing you at that level on a cheap contract for the next
four to five years.
So it's,
it's immensely valuable to take a player with that first round pick,
but to also give up more selections as well and,
and sacrificing those other cheap contracts to get this player.
They're saying that we have to be fully committed to that.
And even when you look at the players in this draft,
like I think they would take Bowers at 15.
I think they would take Marvin Harrison jr.
At 15.
But are you going to trade up for a player who maybe didn't work out the
whole priest, the whole priest pre-draft process for a player who maybe didn't work out the whole priest the whole
priest pre-draft process for a guy who maybe didn't do the interviews with you or something
or didn't do interviews well even i'm not saying that any of these guys fall to that
like it has to be a guy who who checks every single box from competitiveness to uh again the
the medicals have to check off the athleticism has to to check off. For me, it's only Roma Dunzey and Dallas Turner that really check that box in terms of trading up.
And again, I'm not saying these other guys don't check every box.
I'm just saying that those guys we have seen throughout this process have done every single little thing that the Colts value in the pre-draft process.
That's a Mitchell too, but you could get him at 15 maybe.
Yeah, that one is more so Chris Ballard's relationship with cornerback position. I don't know if he's someone who believes in trading up for that position where I could see a difference maker on's something where I just, I don't believe it's in his bones much.
And I think if we're talking about going up much at all,
it would be to like pick 13 at the earliest,
you know,
like maybe one pick up to pick 14,
just a secure player where he's giving up like a fifth round pick to do it.
Outside of that,
I think he's going to let the board come to him.
He's going to evaluate his options at 15.
And then he's going to look around and say, okay, what are other people offering me?
Can I get the guy at one at 20 or 21 or whatever it's going to be?
But I just don't see the trade up happening.
And I feel like a lot of what he said today kind of further back that up.
Yeah.
And honestly, I think if you're looking to trade up and like you mentioned, it's, it's
happened in the first couple of rounds sparingly, it probably would be more likely in the second round this year.
I think going up again from 46, you see someone at 41, two, three,
they're like, there,
there are a few guys who could fall a little bit,
but probably not drastically. But again,
he talked about this being a loaded offensive draft,
which is going to push some talented defensive players down a little bit.
So you could absolutely see that.
It doesn't mean it has to be first round.
You know, it could be some guy in the second round who has some first round consideration from a lot of people online or even teams that we're just not even really mentioning.
But, I mean, it doesn't mean they won't get aggressive.
And we've seen it throughout the draft.
You know, Kari Willis was fourth round, I think.
I think there was a third nick cross third round so like they're willing to do it within the first few rounds it just doesn't happen a ton so yeah yeah no and my big thing to
add with that too is i feel like because we get we all get so involved in draft season we all watch
all the film we listen to the mel kyers and Dane Bruglers of the world
and really get involved with, you know,
how we personally rate these guys on film.
But at the end of the day, where a player gets taken
doesn't mean that they're automatically going to be that level of impact.
You know, taking a guy at number nine, for instance,
doesn't guarantee them to be better than, you know,
the 15th overall guy taken. I mean, the best rookie in football last year was taking and
taking in round five. And I know that's a major outlier, but that was the best overall rookie
in the entire league. I mean, him and CJ Stroud, who was taken second, but the other one was taken
in round five and that's Puka Nakua. The best wide receiver in the league was taken in the 20s by the
Vikings after they traded Stefan Diggs away. I mean, Justin Jefferson was taken in the 20s by the Vikings after they traded Stephon Diggs away I mean Justin Jefferson was taken in the mid-20s you know like these receivers
or whoever you're taking it doesn't mean that they're automatically going to be superstars
when they're taking the top 10 like yes it's a better lottery chance of them panning out if you
are picking that high but it doesn't always guarantee it I mean we've seen a lot of players
miss and bust from
wherever they're taken so just because the colts aren't trading up for instance in the draft doesn't
mean that they're not trying to add a difference maker difference makers can come at any different
part of the draft it's maybe more likely that one in the top 10 will pan out but again it doesn't it
more likely might be a 15 chance of working compared to a 13%
chance of work, you know?
So again, it's not the end of the world.
They don't trade up.
It doesn't mean they're not adding a difference maker because difference makers are found
everywhere in the NFL draft.
But coming up, we're going to continue this conversation.
We're going to move a little bit past the draft and talk about the cap space that the
coach created with DeForest Buckner and how Chris Ballard was active on Twitter the second
that he made that move.
But first we've all been there either as a,
either as a player or a fan it's halftime and the scoreboard is not looking
good.
You're feeling low,
not sure you or your team go pull out a win.
And that's when you dig deep,
lift your head up and say to yourself,
time to get back in the game,
pull off some bank heist and take as much as my friend's money as I possibly can. Personally, I don't know if that's ever been me. My wife,
most competitive person that's ever existed. And one of her favorite games in the entire world is
Monopoly Go. It lets you compete with your friends or your husband in this situation to get the most
riches and the biggest empire. it's the monopoly that you love
but on your phone anytime with tons of new twists including your leaderboards to compare your
progress to your buddies there's so much to do play on countless dynamic monopoly boards make
your friends aka me again if we're talking from my wife's perspective bankrupt by smashing their
landmarks with a wrecking ball charge Charge other players, rent for iconic properties. You can even work with your friends to crack open community chests
and in tournaments to get extra rewards and climb the leaderboard.
So get back out there, put on your game face,
and download Monopoly Go, now free on the App Store or Google Play.
All right, Jake, we're talking post-draft now.
The Indianapolis Colts are looking at quite a bit of cap space,
and that was made because of the way they structured the DeForest Buckner extension.
We all went crazy the second it happened.
Like, oh my gosh, a big move is coming.
They're going to trade for Brandon Ayuk and sign Justin Simmons
and somehow scoop up Pat Mahomes from the Chiefs.
They're going to just do all this stuff because cap space equals everything but i mean to take to go away from the sarcasm here they
do have 28 million in cap space now and it's in a late point in free agency where even in factoring
in what they're going to do in the draft they're going to have plenty of space afterwards i mean
unless they're moving up to picks one two two, and three, they can still use
plenty of cap space after the draft year. And I think for me, I have, I have a theory about why
they're doing this, but you were at the press conference today. What did Chris Ballard say
when in regards to that cap space they created? No, he, he just joked that it was to see Twitter
go nuts. And then, you know, after the joking had subsided,
it was basically, what, does it just give you flexibility?
And he said, yes.
So sure, and it can roll into next year
because they've got a lot of guys to re-sign next year
like they did this year.
But for me, I think it's mostly to give them the flexibility
to free up to make moves and free agency after the draft
by maybe filling some spots that they just didn't get to during the draft. You know,
you could go in planning to hopefully get a corner or something like that. But if you don't,
now you have the flexibility to get a decent player out on the market. Same with safety.
I mean, you know, Julian Blackman has really come into his own as a strong safety.
If you want to keep him there, there's a few free safeties on the open market that you might have to pay a little penny for.
But now you have that financial freedom to do so.
Yeah, I mean, look, you guys know me throughout the whole free agency process.
I was saying, look, this is how the Colts are.
We just know that Chris Ballard does not attack free agency like some other GMs out there.
But I don't know.
There's something different about this move.
And Chris Ballard kind of like, yes, he played it off as a joke originally.
And then it took like a very direct question for him just to kind of be like, yeah, like to him for him to even answer on it.
So he's being really coy about something that he doesn't really need to be coy about.
Like if he really was committed to rolling this into next year,
he would have said, yeah, we're doing that to roll into next year.
We have some other guys that we want to extend, but he didn't.
I mean,
in a press conference where he was very open about wanting to trade back
about wanting to add to the offensive line and adding to wide receiver,
he was very quiet about this, you know,
like it was joking around and then kind of shrugging it off
so i really do think and this is again maybe me reading too much into it you guys can let us know
in the comments section but i think this move was made to bring in veterans at either and you know
however you want to look at it could be a safety and or corner after the draft because they want
to go past pass catcher in the first two picks like one
of the first two picks I don't maybe not not both but I think they want to go past catcher early
I think they want to add more dynamicism to this offense get that dynamic ability at wide receiver
maybe tight end with a certain player we've mentioned a lot and then that way after the draft
they can address like hey we still need a starting free safety. Maybe we still want a veteran at corner so they can go out and get a Justin Simmons at 15 million a year.
And then as well as a Steven Nelson at like four million a year.
Like that's those are doable deals.
I'm not saying that's exactly what the contract is going to be.
And those are the two guys are going after.
But this kind of cap space isn't just created for no reason.
Like you mentioned, they could roll it in the next season.
But you just would have cut Buckner's cap hit for next season.
If you're going to do that, right.
If you didn't plan on using this money now,
you just would have front loaded everything eaten,
eaten as much cap space as you could this year,
because you had it available.
And then you could have been more flexible in the future.
There's no point in making cap space for now just to carry it into
next season. You know, there's no, there's no point in that. So I think this, this indication
for me, and you can, you can add onto this too here, Jake, I think the indication for me is
we've decided we want to go pass catcher. Most likely, most likely, again, I'm not saying
that it's all set in stone. It comes down to how the board falls, but I think they want to go past
catcher with one or two of their first two picks. And to do that, they need the flexibility to get a safety
after the draft. So they needed to make that flexibility with cap space. And now they feel
comfortable enough with where the roster is and where the market's at to where they can go get
their pass catcher in round one or round two if they need to. I agree. I'm pretty sold.
Again, you and I were kind of talking off air before this, just everything I have rewatched
and reread that Chris has said since the season ended to now, I just really think this is about
Anthony and building around him and giving him playmakers and making sure the offense is taken care of because let's
just take like the the texans for example they obviously are full in on cj stroud you can you
could build a nice defense to combat that but like in the nfl i think you need to fight fire with
fire like they they are pretty sold on anthony they're going to surround him with talent. And Chris does not miss an opportunity to compliment the secondary.
They already have,
especially the corners loves Dallas flowers,
loves Jalen Jones.
And maybe they don't want to get some guy in the first round that they
obviously have to commit to for four years,
you know, like maybe they just want to get to for four years, you know,
like maybe they just want to get a Steven Nelson or a Witherspoon or
something for a year and get a,
give a capable starting player for a year to,
to throw into the mix.
So I'm with you.
I'm pretty,
I'm pretty sold that it's a playmaker on offense early and they're
willing to punt drafting a defensive back early because they now
know they can get one. I mean, there are some good names and I think a big reason these guys are
still out there is because maybe even some of these guys have offers already and they're just
waiting to see what happens in the draft to make their decision on where's the best situation for
them to go. Obviously, at free safety, you're looking at Justin Simmons,
Quandre Diggs, Eddie Jackson.
Corner, you got Zavian Howard, Stephen Nelson, Akello Witherspoon,
Jerry Jacobs is a decent one.
Even running back is something they have looked at in free agency.
You got Cam Akers, who's still in his mid-20s.
It seems like he's been in the league forever,
but that's a guy who has starting experience.
You could back up Jonathan Taylor.
I mean,
he's not going to cost much,
but like you have this money available to give to some veterans out on the
market after the draft.
Yeah.
Yeah.
My big takeaway really is I think they're going past catcher early.
I know that's kind of the indication they've given a lot through this
process.
And I've kind of been earmuffs throughout all of it because I kept looking
at corner.
I kept looking at safety,
maybe even defensive end.
But when they made that move is when my,
the light bulb kind of went over my head and I was like,
okay,
that's weird.
That's really weird.
Especially with guys available who are available.
So I do think we're going to see pass catcher pretty early in this draft,
but who knows?
We'll talk about it more next week.
Obviously when we're back here on the show,
before we get out of here though,
I do want to remind you guys that any draft guide is now here for nine 99.
You can get access to an essential piece of reading for Colts fans,
both before and after the draft featuring 225 in-depth scouting reports
features and much more.
Click the link in our show notes to order today.
And if you guys don't already, make sure that you are following
at LockedOnColts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at ZachKicks2 all on Twitter.
Also, subscribe to us on YouTube, wherever you list your podcasts.
We love your guys' rags and views, and we'll see you guys back here
with a special guest next week.