Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts trade Rock Ya-Sin for Yannick Ngakoue + Baker Mayfield to Indy?

Episode Date: March 17, 2022

On today's episode, Evan and Stampede Blue's Stephen Reed react to an action-packed day of Indianapolis Colts news.First up, the Colts traded Rock Ya-Sin to the Las Vegas Raiders for pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue. How does Ngakoue fit in Indy? If all goes well, the Colts solved their pass rush issues moving forward pairing Ngakoue with DeForest Buckner and Kwity Paye.Closing out the show, it's time to update Indy's QB search. All of a sudden, Baker Mayfield is a realistic option for the Colts. Would he fit as their answer at QB1? Also, what comes next? The Deshaun Watson domino will help decide how Indy will maneuver moving forward. It's down to five names in Indy: Mayfield, Matt Ryan, Jimmy Garoppolo, Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everyone and welcome to the latest episode of Locked On Colts. I am your host Evan Sidery. Today I'm joined by Steven Reed of Stampede Blue. As we're here to react to the league year officially starting in the NFL for the 2022-23 season. The Colts so far have been quiet up until today. They made a very splashy blockbuster trade.

They didn't send any picks out though. They sent a player out in this deal. The Indianapolis Colts traded away starting cornerback Rocky Asin. He really took a leap last year to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for pass rusher Yannick Ngakwe. The Raiders signed Chandler Jones. They no longer need to pay Ngakwe his salary. So they did a straight one-for-one swap. Yassin to Vegas, where he'll be a starting cornerback.

And you send Yannick Ngakwe, who will play the Leo position in Gus Bradley's defense, was with Gus Bradley last year in Las Vegas. So I have to imagine Gus Bradley was pushing for this trade behind the scenes as well. So, Stephen, we'll react to that, and we'll talk about the QB dominoes. There's a lot of buzz now all of a sudden about Baker Mayfield, so we'll talk about that and some other options closing up the show here, Stephen.

But how are you doing tonight? The Colts finally make a splashy move here as we open up the league here. Yeah, officially, hey, I'm doing great. Officially, the Carson Wentz trade is on the books now, which is awesome because there's always that little bit of concern that they might go ahead and back out of that because the league year hasn't started yet. And then, obviously, the Yannick and Gawkway trade. Yannick for Rock straight up.

It's definitely interesting. We're going to talk about that a little bit later. But overall, you know, it's kind of what we expected from Chris Ballard. Not what we hoped for, but what you kind of expected. It is what it is. So we'll see tomorrow. I think everything's going to really start picking up once Deshaun Watson makes his decision. And then you're going to see a lot

of quarterback dominoes fall into place. And I think you're going to see a lot of other things fall into place because teams that are waiting for Deshaun Watson aren't going to be able to use up that cap money to spend elsewhere. And so I think once Deshaun Watson makes his decision, hopefully it's in the next couple of days. Once that happens, I think you're going to see a flurry of activity. Yeah. The Colts benefited from one of the dominoes in the pass rush market falling today. Chandler Jones joining Max Crosby in Las Vegas.

Now the Colts get Yannick Ngakwe in exchange for Riyak Kassin. When I first saw the deal happen, it was just a few minutes after the Chandler Jones trade was announced. So this is already in the works for, I'd imagine, at least a day or so, Stephen. What was your instant reaction to that? Because I was shocked when I saw the Colts acquired Yannick Ngakwe because I think he's an absolutely perfect fit in this Gus Bradley defense. He showed it last year in the Leo position.

Quiddie Paye will be playing Max Crosby's spot on the opposite side of the defensive line. He threw it to Forrest Buckner in the middle there. Dio, Dangbo, and Tyquan Lewis rotating him with Grover Stewart inside as well, alongside Buckner and Steven. It feels like now in Gawkway's presence, a guy who leads the NFL. He's in the top six in sacks since he's joined the NFL in 2016. He has an elite amount of QB hurries. He had 23 quarterback hurries last year. He had 33 two years prior in 2018. This is an elite pass rusher,

Steven, who just now is turning 27 years old in two weeks, entering the prime of his career. This feels like a home run hit for the Colts. We'll hit on the other side of it, getting rid of Rakia's sin, but as of right now, how do you feel like Chris Ballard really going all in on the pass rush here I think is a necessity with how the cold schedule stack up this year playing all these elite quarterbacks you need to go all in and you got in Gagwe without getting up a draft pick as well do you think is a win? Yeah absolutely that's that's one of the big things for me is Chris Ballard is able to address the edge position with somebody who is an elite edge player. You don't see these guys come available very often. Yannick had 10 sacks last year playing opposite Max Crosby, like you said, but they had nothing in the middle. So teams were able to double team

Yannick or Max throughout the year. And so with the Colts,ts one you're playing on a incredibly fast turf there at Lucas Oil Stadium for at least half your games so the speed rusher is going to really going to do well there second you're playing next to DeForest Buckner first team all performer first team all pro defensive tackle so So one way or another, offensive lines aren't going to be able to double Yannick and Gawkway regardless. And if they start to, then that means Quidipe gets single, you know, single blocker. So this is probably going to be one of the more overall talented defensive

lines that Yannick has played on. And so, plus he plays in a stadium on a field that is built for speed. And like you mentioned, he has experience in Gus Bradley's system, which is going to be huge because it's going to limit the time for him to transition. And assuming that he's starting to kind of go into that veteran role, and it sounded like Max Crosby in his goodbye tweet, you know, thanking him for everything he's done kind of thing. Sounds like Yannick kind of was stepping more up as a leader there. So hopefully that translates over and he's able to come in

and make some plays here with the Colts and in this locker or on the field with the Colts because he's got the ability. He's got that step. He's got that speed. He's a guy that I wanted the Jaguars to trade to the Colts back in the day. Obviously, they ended up moving him around, but it's just I really wanted Yannick Ngakwe back when he was a free agent. Like you said, he's 26 right now and turns 27 in a couple weeks he's still a young pass rusher coming into his prime so i'm really excited for the move and given that they only had to give up uh rocky scene who mind you had a great year last year but they didn't have

to include any draft picks which i thought was also huge and when you think about this trade as a whole they don't because they didn't sign an unrestricted free agent they significantly upgraded their edge position and it won't count against them for compensatory picks um so they didn't lose the mark lowinsky compensatory pick because of this because of signing yannick and gawkway um because they obviously didn't sign him they traded for him So that's another thing to take into consideration because, as we've said before, Chris Ballard likes the picks. Depending on how the quarterback situation stacks up this year,

he's going to want as many as he can get, as high as he can get, in order to potentially trade up for a quarterback in 2023. I think another interesting angle from this for Ngakwe, I think we could scratch off Ed Drescher now as one of the Colts' biggest needs, definitely going out and getting Ngakwe, who has one year left on his deal. I have to imagine the Colts didn't trade away Rakdisen just to have a one-year rental of Yannick Ngakwe. He's one of my favorites now, honestly, Stephen, to see us get a contract extension hammered out here before training camp starts, which is when Chris Goddard usually does it around July or so. Would you bank the Colts probably try to work on an extension soon with Ngakwe?

Because if you're trading away a starting corner in this league, and Rakia said he was really starting to figure it out too, Steven, probably one of the best Colts defensive players week to week last year. You have to imagine there's going to be something in the works here soon with Yannick Ngakwe, his agent in the Colts. Yeah, you got to think that something's happening there, especially if the trade's been starting to hash out over the last 24 hours. You know, there hasn't been much time to talk to the agent, but I think that they're probably going to get something hammered out because you don't want to make it. There's a couple things

here. You don't want to make a trade for a guy that's going to be a one-year rental. Now the difference is trading him straight up for a player who also was on the last year of his deal. Cause we have to remember that rock is only like a year, um, younger than, than Yannick and rock only had a year left on his deal as well. So it shows that Chris Ballard felt comfortable that Rock was probably not going to be resigned after this season. So he made the trade for Yannick and at the very least,

even if Yannick doesn't sign a new contract, Chris Ballard can easily franchise tagging next year. Cause I am not Colts haven't franchised anybody in a little bit. Or I don't remember them doing it. Maybe Andy Gaston might have been, I don't know, Pat McAfee was. Pat McAfee, yeah. I was going to say, was it Pat? And so I don't see Yannick getting away for at least two years,

whether it's through, you know, the franchise tag or an extension. I think that the extension makes more sense. But I feel like they are going to work something out to get him signed long-term for at least probably three to four years. It's not going to be a six-year contract like what Von Miller got with the Bills, but I think it's going to be a three- to four-year contract with some good signing bonus money and an easy out for the Colts after two to three years. What I think is crazy to me so far today, I feel like I've had one of the stronger reactions in a positive way to the Sengakwe news too,

because I think Colts fans should be jumping for joy with this trade but based off what I've seen today on social media it's kind of more so ho-hum you know I can Ngakwe like he's going to help the defensive line a lot but I don't think Stephen Colts fans realize what this trade does to the pass rush that now they have DeForest Buckner can get you 10 to 12 sacks they can get Quiddie Paye in year two who's figuring out the second half of the season he could be an 8 to 10 sack guy next year you know I can Ngakwe could be a 10 to 12 sacks. They can get Quiddie Paye in year two, who's figuring out in the second half of the season, he could be an 8 to 10 sack guy next year. Yonkin Gakwe could be a 10 to 12 sack guy next year, never facing a double team on the opposite side of Buckner and Paye on pass rush downs. Dayo Odengbo, Steven, maybe takes a leap forward.

Tyquan Lewis is now re-signing a one-year deal as a rotational guy as well. I mean, this is easily the Colts' best pass rush since 2011, Steven. I mean, maybe even since the Freeney and Mathis days. Yonk Ngakwe is kind of like that Thanos meme, Stephen, where he's the last Jewel to complete this, where obviously the Colts still need to sign some more depth guys there, but they have a legitimately scary pass rush quartet now on pass rush downs if Dio turns out to be who we think he could be.

We have Ngakwe and then Buckner and then Dio and Quidipe. If those rookies from last year hit on top of now Ngakwe joining on board, DeForest Buckner is going to be absolutely terrifying defense moving forward here. And this really does feel like a huge move that I think Colts tend to kind of underrate him right now. I'm with you on it. I love this trade. I think that Yannick was a great grab for the Colts, especially again,

edge rushers are hard to come by, especially proven edge rushers and to get them for a corner. And what people don't understand, or maybe they don't appreciate the nuance of it is when you have a strong pass rush, it makes the rest of the defensive players makes their jobs easier. Because what it does is it speeds up the quarterback. It causes, as Sam Darnold is famously quoted, it causes them to see ghosts sometimes because you just want to like get rid of the ball really quick because you know these pass rushes you can get to you. And if you've got a quarterback that's a little bit jumpy,

that throws a little bit early on those routes, it gives the defensive backs an opportunity to make a play. Also, it means that you actually get some pressure on a quarterback. And that was ultimately the Achilles heel for the Colts the past two seasons, really. It's why they weren't able to do anything in Buffalo in the playoffs in 2020. And it's why in 2021, they failed down the stretch. They just simply couldn't get to the quarterback. And Yannick changes that.

And, you know, I loved Rock. I thought Rock made a huge jump this past year. But if you're telling me I had to make a choice between an above average to, you know, just below elite corner or an elite or above average to just below elite edge rusher, I'm going to go with edge rusher every single time because the edge rushers affect the quarterback. The quarterback is the most important position in football. So the three most important position in football, quarterback, and then left tackle, the guy who protects the quarterback, and then left tackle the guy who protects quarterback

in defensive end the guy who hits the quarterback those are your like three primary main positions you have to fill the fact that chris ballard was able to fill this and only give up a corner that it sounds like he wasn't probably going to resign next year uh is a huge coup for the colts and i think colts should be really excited about yannick. He's a great player. He's very fast. He's fun to watch. And he's going to do well here in Indianapolis. I just have a great feeling about this trade.

Steven, I know me and you, it was an all-time episode last year around this time when the Colts drafted Quidipe. We were hyping him up all season long. They took our guy that we really wanted all year long on the podcast. But we've already been buying up all the Quidipe stock on the market while we can still. But now with Yannick Ngakwe on board,

taking even less pressure off of Quidipe entering year two, where like I mentioned earlier in the show, he really was starting to figure it out in the last six weeks of the season, was getting consistent pressure, had almost I think half a sack a game. I think he had a sack in four of the last six games for the Colts. So he really started to figure it out after a really rough first half of his rookie season, Steven. It feels like to me now with bringing Yannick Ngakwe on board, he could be a perfect mentor

for Quidipe as well. But in the immediate short term as well, Steven, I think we're in for a huge breakout for Quidipe. And I don't think Colts fans realize if Quidipe hits the ground running here and now with Ngakwe taking pressure off him, this could be a guy that gives you eight to ten sacks or even more than that next season. Quidipe can be a terror on him. I mean, anybody that's seen the training videos that he's been putting out

on Instagram and YouTube or Instagram and Twitter. His steps and his quickness is wild for a man his size and for somebody that strong. If anybody wants to hear us, just totally fanboy out. Go listen to the podcast back from April 28th, whenever that was, from last year last year, because Quiddy Pay is a, was a perfect fit for Matt Irafusa's system. I'm actually more excited for him and Gus Bradley's system because the cover three is going to be a better system, I think for him. And he's a, I mean, quite honestly, he's a talent that can translate to any system. So I'm really excited for Quiddie Paye.

And especially now that you've got a quality pass rusher opposite him. So no longer can teams just sit there and have a running back in and check Quiddie because that's what they were doing at the end of the year last year. Cause Quiddie started like, Quiddie started picking up steam at the end of last year and was, you know, pretty much getting to quarterbacks pretty consistently on a game-by-game basis. And teams started to figure that out, so they started to put the tight end over there, put the running back over there.

Now with Quitty and Yannick on the other side, along with DeForest Buckner and then potentially Dayo Adango there in the middle. It's going to be difficult for opposing offenses to game plan a way to double team all of those guys. Like you're going to, you're going to probably end up single singling Dio and then one of either Quitty or or yannick you can't you can't double team yannick deforest or quitty or and quitty all three at the same time because otherwise you're you're taking a bunch of guys out of routes so you can't you can't keep a running back and a tight end and to be able to chip and go ahead and pass block so it's plays so much into the Colts' favor,

especially with Gus Bradley in his more aggressive style of defense. I think the Colts are going to really benefit from this, and especially the trade, to bring in a pass rusher and only have to give up a corner. I think that that's just a great trade by Chris Fowler, and I think it's a really smart move. This is the time of year that I pretty much get out of all my New Year's resolutions, but not this year.

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who I thought was going to be a long-term piece of this team. Obviously, now we know he might not have been, but it makes me believe now, Stephen, we've seen them trade their best zone corner in Rakia Sin. Xavier Rhodes is going to walk in free agency. I've heard nothing about Xavier Rhodes coming back, so they're probably moving on there as well. You bring back Isaiah Rodgers is still on your roster as well.

He's probably your best man corner. They signed Brandon Faison from the Raiders. He was more of a man corner as well. This is a very good corner class, Stephen, in the draft. I imagine they probably signed a veteran free agent. But it makes me wonder, too, with really addressing this pass rush and going all in with Deonagan Gawkway. And also Chris Bauer mentioned this, I think it was at the end of the season,

too, Stephen, if I'm not mistaken, that he really liked when they started running man a lot more. Do you think that we're kind of seeing the Colts kind of commit more and more without telling us there might be more of a man defense moving forward compared to his own defense under Gus Bradley? Not really. I think it's going to be a cover three. So, like, you're going to see man concepts in a cover three,

but I think you're gonna see um a little bit more aggressiveness so you're gonna see uh wide receivers that like to jam at the line of scrimmage um and so you're gonna keep with the longer armed longer limbed wider uh corners you're gonna see them be aggressive i think more at the line of scrimmage than what you did in matt eberfluss's system where like they were immediately dropped off like 10 yards in coverage and we all got frustrated because they're like hey they're running seven yard slants and you are starting 10 yards away like that's really frustrating because you're seeing Trevor Lawrence just pick you apart because you're not being aggressive. And then you've got Gus Bradley's defense. It's

a little bit more aggressive. The cover three itself is a more aggressive style of defense in terms of at the line of scrimmage. So I think you're going to see some changes in concepts. I don't think you're going to see more man though i think you're still going to see just a more aggressive zone um and so that's that's what i think you also what you need in terms of a man corner versus a zone corner uh what you're looking for in those types of players is different so zone corners are typically a little bit slower they have longer arms but they're really solid tackling um and so main corners are generally lighter have smoother hips and have better it's mainly that the hand eye like they have better ability to get in and punch the ball out um when the ball is coming in you see the receiver start to put up his hands

then you immediately see the corner as soon as the receiver's just put up his hands then you immediately see the corner as soon as the receivers just put up his hand the corner sticks the hand in there like that's the cue uh as a corner as you see the the receiver start to move the hands out for a ball catch you just put your hand in between them if you can um and and so you you've got those guys man corners feel more comfortable playing with their backs to the quarterback or feel comfortable playing with their backs but nobody feels more comfortable or less like nobody feels comfortable with their back to quarterback they just feel more comfortable than what you do in zone zones are always face up you're always looking at the quarterback so i i think you're going to see a more aggressive zone concept um that looks a lot like man there at the line of scrimmage.

But, and I think that's what Chris Ballard really likes. And one of my colleagues over at St. Pete blue, Chris Shepard had written an article about the Colts potentially shifting to a cover three. And this was back like two years ago with Matt Eberflug still or like, Hey, look, they're starting to bring in corners that look more like cover three corners. They might be starting to transition to this. So if you ever get a chance, go to Stampede Blue, look up Chris Shepard.

He does good work there. And then you can find out, look at that article and see what he did there. It's a really good explanation of it. Another point here, just as far as the Colts move forward with their defense, obviously acquiring Yonkin Gakwe and a trade that sent out Rakia Sen, no picks involved on the Colts move forward with their defense, obviously acquiring Yannick Ngakwe and a trade that sent out Rocky Hussain. No picks involved on the Colts' side. For those wondering, Yannick Ngakwe, it might be more of a two-down player than a three-down player, Stephen,

because he's never been a guy that is known for his run defense throughout his career at Jacksonville. And from those I'm reading about in Las Vegas, he was not a good run defender last year. This feels like a good place playing that Leo position in Gus Bradley's defense, Steven, where on obvious rundowns, we'll probably see guys like Tyquan Lewis kick inside or kick outside on first and second down, allowing Ngakwe to conserve himself for third down.

As far as that thing goes, I kind of like it where you're going to be having a fresh Yonak Ngakwe who doesn't have to play all three downs in Indianapolis, because they have the depth. They're probably going to add more depth in free agency in the draft here, because Chris Bauer loves having at least eight or nine guys. So Ngakwe's always going to be fresh in this situation, so that's an intriguing thought. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that was part of the reason to bring back Tyquan Lewis, to be honest.

You know, other than to give him another shot he played well um before the injury but he's a really good first and second down defender that also gives you some ability as a pass rush yannick is a pass rusher and and i think that's exactly how the coach will use him yeah absolutely so looking at this trade again yannick and gawkway to the indianapolis colts now we've talked about earlier in the show, probably a contract extension suit to come for Yannick Ngakwe because you don't trade away who I thought was a long-term corner that was really ascending last year, Steven and Rakia Sin.

But now like I talked about earlier in the show as well, this is a very strong cornerback class in the draft. I imagine they probably add a veteran. They're probably in the market for Casey Hayward. I don't know for sure, but you have to imagine that Gus Bradley tie. He could fill that Xavier Rhodes role as far as a veteran corner next year. They added Brandon Faison, but it's one of my new favorite thoughts, Stephen, is them replacing Rocky Asin with a new guy, just restarting that clock on a rookie contract at 42. This is a very strong cornerback class. One guy I love that partly fits Chris Ballard and Gus Bradley's DNA

is Tariq Wolin from UTSA, University of Texas, San Antonio. He ran a 4-2, 6-40, 6-4, former wide receiver, freak athlete. That seems like a Chris Ballard pick to me all the way at 42, Stephen. What's your thoughts on that strategy where it feels like to me that we might be considering cornerback now as one of the Colts' top needs, and this might be the perfect year for it with how loaded it is. Yeah, I think that they'll look at the draft for sure. I don't know if they'll take one at 42 because there's some other positions that I think

are potentially better values. And quite honestly, I'm not sure, based on how the Deshaun Watson situation figures out and where the quarterback dominoes fall whether they even keep 42 because I'm pretty certain that the Colts are are going to look to potentially trade up in this draft because you can get up to get a quarterback and and that'll require 42 but if they stay put at 42 I see the Colts either taking a wide receiver or, you know, a left tackle there if they don't address it because Matt Pryor is not a long-term left tackle. He's a backup swing tackle. A very good one at that, but I just don't think that he's the one

that they want to have at left tackle. So, yeah, they could dress this, the cornerback position. I think you're probably going to look at the third round for that because Chris Ballard tends to have good – he gets good value out of the positions. And I just think that wide receiver is probably a more pressing need and one that they're more likely to use at 42 if they keep that pick. So I would actually say wide receiver or left tackle there, depending on what

they do in free agency and then look at you know corner it with one of those two third round picks so but again I think you're right though in terms of them looking to add one in the draft because that's going to be the pretty consistent thing and zone corners are a lot easier to find than really good man corners yeah for sure and that's the basic thing it's an easy defense to learn for a secondary so let's say you insert someone from third round or if you draft like a tariq wall in a 42 it would be a very quick adjustment period for them and this in this defense corners don't really get paid i imagine i mean rocky said if he does well in Vegas next year, he might earn himself a hefty contract.

And I just don't know if the Colts really need to pay a lockdown corner in their zone defense, like you mentioned. A lot of cover threes, Steven. But let's go ahead and dive over to quarterbacks and the rest of the free agent market for the Colts. They've re-signed a lot of guys. Obviously, made the splash move today, Steven. Trading Rocky has sent for Yannick and Gakwe to improve their pass rush.

But let's hit on the quarterback rumors, and I haven't held this on the show just yet because there was no news yesterday, but overnight last night we heard a lot of smoke around Baker Mayfield. He put out a tweet pretty much saying goodbye to Cleveland before anything's even happened, Stephen, so that kind of threw me for a loop there just based off of how I read that. And now we're hearing smoke of even if the Browns don't acquire Deshaun Watson, they might move off of Baker Mayfield.

They want, quote-unquote, an adult in the room, according to Chris Mortensen. Jimmy Garoppolo might now be in play for the Browns. What's your opinion of that whole Baker Mayfield situation? And what's your opinion of Colts, him fitting with the Colts? Because I did a poll yesterday once the Mayfield news came out, and about 50% of Colts fans, about 4,000 votes, so 2,000 votes, 4,000, Stephen, said they'd rather have Baker Mayfield over any other option this year.

So it's a heavy consensus for Colts fans that they want Baker Mayfield here. What's your thoughts on that? Because to me it seems like it'd be Carson with 2.0 all over again. Yeah, I'm not super sold on Baker. Baker's got – if you're looking at upside, and this is something that we talked about the other day, and we were discussing quarterbacks. If you're looking at ceiling, Baker's ceiling is higher than any other quarterback you can get higher than

Derek Hart's in terms of how good he can be. Now the problem with Baker is he's consistently been closer to the, to his floor, which is probably right around the same level as Carson Wentz. What gets me about Baker is it sounds like Cleveland really wants a first-round pick for him. I don't think they'll get that because, one, the report from Chris Mortensen saying that the Cleveland Browns, regardless of what happens with the Deshaun Watson situation, that they were likely to move on from Baker Mayfield because they want an adult in the room. And that's what Mort said is what he heard from somebody within the Cleveland Browns is they want an adult.

Baker Mayfield is notoriously sensitive when it comes to people criticizing him. He gets really frustrated. He's not, doesn't like criticism. The one good thing about Baker is when he's been given an opportunity and the offense is tailored towards him, then he does tend to do well. So it's, and Frank Reich himself is really good at tailoring an offense towards the best of the quarterback, which is one of the reasons why, you know, I think Frank Reich's a great head coach and, you know, potentially even a better offensive coordinator is that he's really good at

tailoring an offense to fit the players that he has. I would be okay with Baker if you're looking at the same trade as Jimmy Garoppolo. If you're looking at a day three pick or a pick swap or something like that for Cleveland to get off of Baker's contract and get out from under it, then I would make that trade. If you're looking at a day one or day two pick, so a pick in then rounds one to three, then I do not make that trade. I don't think that that is worth it given that Baker Mayfield has a contract that is $18.5 million and it's a one-year deal that's left. So you have to make that decision on Baker, make a trade for some pretty decent compensation to get him if you're looking at a day one or two pick, and then have a year to try him out, and then make the decision on whether you just wasted a draft pick or not in terms of keeping him on the team. Or you make a franchise decision to go ahead and give them a big contract or you have to

franchise tag. So I have a hard time thinking that the Colts are willing to give up a lot for Baker Mayfield. But if it's a day three pick or, you know, a pick swap, something like that, then I'm okay with it. You know, I'll take a drop down in a round or something like that, then I'm okay with it. You know, I'll take the, I'll take a drop down in a round or something like that to go ahead and get off or go ahead and give Baker Mayfield a try. But if we're looking at compensation being equal or you're looking at Baker Mayfield costing a day one or day two pick, so rounds one to three versus a Jimmy Garoppolo that could be a potentially day three pick, I'd rather go and get Jimmy Garoppolo for the day three pick swap and then use those picks that I would have used on Baker to trade up for a quarterback in this draft.

Or, frankly, just sign Marcus Mariota for $8 to $12 million and then keep all your draft picks. So the trouble right now for the Browns is there's a lot of teams that are kind of set at quarterback. There's only like four or five and there's enough quarterbacks still waiting in the market that are adequate and are about the same level. So the market for Baker Mayfield has kind of shrunken and it didn't help the way that Cleveland Brown phrased it, that they were moving on. And it

sounds like they've already told Baker that they're moving on based on Mayfield's posts on Twitter or Instagram, whatever it was. It just sounds like they're ready to move on and they kind of shot themselves in the foot with the trade value. So, you know, I think you've got San Francisco and now Cleveland that are kind of kicking themselves for not going after trying to get the trade done before Carson Wentz's trade went down because that's when it seems like the value is at highest. Let me ask you this about Baker because according to Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network, Stephen, last night he reported that if Baker Mayfield is traded, which it sounds like he might even request a trade at this point, his preferred destination was the Indianapolis Colts if that

were to occur. What do you make of that? Like a quarterback seeking out the Colts situation and I don't blame Baker because this is probably the team, compared to anyone else in the market, I mean, maybe except New Orleans, where it seems like Deshaun Watson is the favorite to go to the Saints at this point based off reports that we're hearing. If we take the Saints off of that list, do you feel like just based off of upside alone with Baker Mayfield, he wants to come to the Colts, he's young,

he's only 26, going to be 27 years old next season. He has a huge arm. Obviously, he had a good year last year in 2020. If we know all these guys are just bridge options, it feels like to me Baker Mayfield's probably the highest upside of maybe if it does work out, he is your long-term answer there. Do you make anything as far as Mayfield seeking out the Colts here, if that would change their mind at all, being like he actually wants to come here and try to fix the Colts but really it's the same thing as Carson Wentz where he wanted to come to Indy last year maybe that shrunk the market maybe you see the same thing here at Baker Mayfield it might um I mean any smart quarterback is going to

want to come to Indy to be honest because you're playing in front of an offensive line you you kind of assume that Chris Ballard is going to fix that left tackle position but you're playing in front of an offensive line you you kind of assume that Chris Ballard is going to fix that left tackle position but you're playing in front of Quentin Nelson, Brian Kelly, Chris Reed if he gets re-signed and Braden Smith so you've got three out of your five offensive linemen or you know Danny Pinter potentially a right guard so you're playing four out of five offensive linemen the ones that are right up in your face those ones are taken care of so you don't have to worry about those guys. You're playing in an enclosed environment in the Lucas Oil Stadium. And then the handful of games you play outside of Lucas Oil Stadium, the majority of those

are warm weather or also domes. So Baker Mayfield is really smart to want to come to the Colts. They're a really solidly run franchise. They've got talent on both sides of the ball. They're ready to win. And every quarterback that has come from another system and played under Frank Reich has played better under Frank Reich and with the Colts. So I think it's really smart for Baker to say that his preferred destination is the

Colts. And Tony Pauline over at Pro Football Network is very plugged in. He's a great insider source. So I would believe that that's what happened. But, you know, the Colts make a lot of sense. They're ready to win. Baker may fail on this roster. If you get peak Baker, like good Baker out, out of him,

then the Colts are probably right up there in terms of they're definitely going to win the division in that, that situation. And you know, if they can get into the playoffs, you know, it's a one round, you know, knockout tournament, who knows week to week uh you never know who'll show up like nobody ever thought 49ers would go into green bay and beat the backers you know just any given sunday there in the playoffs so i think baker you know definitely gives a colton opportunity to to win the afc south quite honestly i think that would make them the favorites to win the afc south, regardless of whether we got good Baker or bad Baker.

I think that they would be an interesting option. And I think that the Colts make the most sense for Baker because he's trying to rehabilitate his career with a franchise that needs a quarterback with a general manager that you also have Jonathan Taylor, you have Naeem Hines. Baker's good at checking down. he's a good quarterback. But at the same time, I think that when I look at trades just in general for players, I look at the compensation because any player can be valuable to a team. What matters is the compensation and what you give up for that player so I like the Baker with the Colts for a day three pick I don't like Baker with the Colts for a day one pick and if Cleveland is you know just absolutely dead set on getting a round one pick for him then I don't like that trade and I don't want Baker on the team at that point because I want

to keep all the round one picks but if again like I said earlier they do a day three pick I think Baker would be a great option for the Colts because it's a low risk high reward option looking at the QB board now Steven because these options now are starting to crystallize more and more for the Colts each day and I have to imagine by this weekend we know the Colts quarterback is going to be and they're worse waiting on Deshaun Watson Domino because all these names I have an extra now Steven on the Colts quarterback is going to be in. We're just waiting on Deshaun Watson, Domino, because all these names I have an X through now, Stephen, on the Colts list. That's Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Derek Carr, Kurt Cousins, Deshaun Watson, Teddy Bridgewater, Tyra Taylor, Mitch Trubisky. And then there's four question marks. I have Jimmy Garoppolo, Baker Mayfield, Matt Ryan, Jameis Winston, and Marcus Mariota. It feels like one of those five guys is going to be the Indianapolis Colts

starting quarterback, Stephen. Do you feel the same read where it's kind of down to just based on options alone, Jimmy G, Baker, Matt Ryan, Jameis Winston, and Marcus Mariota? And when Deshaun Watson finally announces what team that will be, that will shorten that list even more. Yeah, that's a list. I mean, quite honestly, that's the exact list unless you know jimmy from the colts can talk and your luck out of retirement um now talk about going all chips in

there you go um yeah that's that's those five names it's it's matt ryan if you know deshaun watson ends up getting traded to atlanta it's matt ryan um. If Deshaun Watson ends up getting traded to Cleveland, then Baker Mayfield is on his way out. It sounds like Baker's on his way out regardless. Then you've got, like you said, Jameis Winston. If New Orleans makes a play for Deshaun Watson and gets him, then Jameis Winston's open and available. Marcus Mariota that that one is completely unrestricted for agents so who knows uh where he's gonna go um and so yeah it's I mean it's those are your your main options right there is it's Mariota and and Winston and then yeah Matt Ryan Ryan and Baker Mayfield. And who am I forgetting off that list?

Yeah, so the names are Garoppolo, Baker, Ryan. Oh, Jimmy G. Yeah, my bad. Yeah, and Jimmy G. Like, that's my fault. So, yeah, I mean, those are the names. Like, once Deshaun, gets kicked out or gets traded, then you're going to know who who's available. And the teams that you're looking at is, you know, Cleveland, you know, Mitch Biscuit signed with Pittsburgh.

So they're taking care of, so you've got what Cleveland, Seattle, Carolina, Carolina. care of so you've got what cleveland seattle carolina carolina um i'm like running through the list right now so cleveland seattle carolina new orleans tampa bay is now i got tom brady back so they're not looking for anything they're out washington has wentz now so atlanta there's i mean depending on where wentz, there's going to be one extra quarterback than the teams that really need quarterbacks. There's not many seats left. Yeah, depending on where Watson goes. Sorry, I think I said Wentz. But depending on where Watson goes,

you've got five quarterbacks and you've got really four teams after they make the decision on Watson. So it's the Colts are going to get somebody, you know, and any of those guys that we've listed, any of those five guys are going to be more consistent than Carson Wentz. They might not be better than Carson Wentz in terms of talent, but they're going to be more consistent. And quite honestly, that's all this offense needs is a consistent quarterback that isn't going, that's going to take the easy play and not going to go and try to take the

highlight play. So, and that's been Carson Wentz's entire career is he wants that highlight. He wants that top 10 play. You know, Carson Wentz's entire career is he wants that highlight. He wants that top ten play. Carson Wentz didn't take the layups. Like Chris Bowers says, you've got to make the layups. That's just what he didn't want to do. Any of these five guys that we're talking about with Mariota, Winston, Ryan,

Baker, or Jimmy G, all those guys will take the layups. They'll make the layups. And that's all you need for Frank Reich's offense. And so I think any of them is going to give the Colts a better opportunity to win, especially the AFC South. You get the same read that I do, Stephen. Like we were just mentioning that once that Watson domino falls, that it feels like to me at least that we'll know who the Colts quarterback is going to be

probably within 24 hours after Deshaun Watson decides who it's going to be. Because what's, what's Watson decides, let's say scenario A is he goes to the Saints. Well, Jameis Winston's on the board. Do we want Jameis? Yes. No. Let's say no. Okay. Let's go to Mariota. He probably is on standby. He's like plan B or C. We have a contract waiting on him with what happens with Watson, Jimmy G. We're the only 10 minute in on Jimmy Garoppolo. So we're stuck in the 49ers dry on their value and making them wait.

So we'll see how that goes. Matt Ryan and Baker Mayfield are dependent on Deshaun Watson. It kind of feels like to me once Deshaun decides and that leaks out, that could be tonight, later on tonight, could be tomorrow, could be any time this week. But whenever that happens, Stephen, I think Dallard, Ursae, and Rekker are going to really hit that button and say, let's go get it done. Do you think it will be done pretty soon after,

after we know about Watson. I think it'll be done within 12 hours. Like, I honestly, I think it'd be done that fast. Like maybe even like, maybe even four hours after Watson gets, gets dealt.

Because when you think about it, Watson being dealt to, let's, let's use Cleveland as the example right now. So Cleveland right now is like – they've got $16 million in cap space. So if they move – if they trade Baker or if they trade for Watson, Watson's cap is going to be – what's Watson's cap hit? Watson's cap hit right now is –

35 or something. 35 million, but if he's traded, it's 24 million. So they'll have 24 million go on Cleveland's cap. They don't have the room for that. And as of right now forward teams cannot be over the cap period like they just they can't be so cleveland in order to get make that trade work with the the houston texans are going to have to move some players um most likely they're going to have to move Baker and they can't

they can't cut him because if they cut Baker his entire cap is his entire salary is put on the cap so there are certain teams that are going to have to make a move before they can get Deshaun Watson in the building and so they're going to go ahead and try to try to make that move prior so like similar like if atlanta is is the team that so i'm gonna just basically narrow it down to like i'm gonna narrow it down to three teams because i don't think carolina is a viable option for

deshaun watson just because they don't have much. They have a number six pick, but then they don't have anything else in this draft. And then they have to do a couple more picks. They have to do three round one picks and then two future round two picks. I just don't see – that's going to be a really tough sell. So I'm going to work with Atlanta, Cleveland, who we just talked about, and New Orleans. Atlanta has $17 million in cap space matt ryan if you cut him right out it is 55 million dollars in dead cap and then if they trade them it's well they can't atlanta can't do it either

like in terms of the matt ryan situation because it's the same thing. They have 55 million in dead money and his cap number right now is 36 million. They're going to have an extra dead cap of 18 million added on if they cut or trade Matt Ryan. So like Atlanta is kind of out. Like they can't do anything either for it. New Orleans allegedly put together a strong package. Right now they currently have just under a million dollars in cap space.

So I don't know how New Orleans makes this happen. They've got to include a couple contracts going in there. So Cleveland kind of makes the most sense. Plus they just traded for Amari Cooper. So you give Deshaun Watson a clear number one wide receiver. You've got David Njoku there as their franchise tag tight end. And they've got a pretty good offensive line outside of their center position, J.C. Tretter, they just cut.

So Cleveland is probably the most likely situation for Deshaun Watson based on their salary cap situation. You know, maybe, maybe they, maybe new Orleans can do some magic and make it work. But in order to make that trade happen, they've got to get rid of Baker or they've got to get rid of some other players that drop that number down. So the,

the rumor was Denzel Ward was also included in that trade. Cause I think it was Denzel Ward was also included in that trade. Because I think it was Denzel Ward, Kareem Hunt, three first round picks and two second round picks for Deshaun Watson. And that was the rumored trade that the Browns were offering, which is a massive package for Deshaun Watson. But you can't keep Baker and Deshaun on the same team. So Cleveland has to make a move. And at that point,

their entire value for Baker Mayfield is gone because everybody knows you've got to move him. You can't keep him. So regardless of what happens in this situation, the Colts are going to be in a pretty good spot to get one of Baker, maybe Matt Ryan if somehow they can figure out how to renegotiate his contract and they don't get destroyed with the cap hits. Jameis, Jimmy G, or Marcus Mariota. They're going to get one of those guys, and any of them, like I mentioned before,

are going to be an upgrade in terms of consistency over Carson Wentz. Yeah, that's a valid point. And last point I had for you, Steve, before we close things out, appreciate the time as always. It looks like nothing has broken by the time we're ending this podcast. So we'll obviously find who the QB could be here in the next couple of days for the Colts once Deshaun Watson decides his future destination. But those five names went over there, Stephen.

How would you rank those? Because for me personally, I would go probably Baker one, just based off upside. If all these guys are just bridge quarterbacks, we know they're not the future. At least Baker Mayfield will bring just some intrigue to me so I would probably go Baker Mayfield one Jimmy Garoppolo two Marcus Mariota three Matt Ryan four and then probably Jameis Winston five how would you rank your preference sheet right now for the Colts between these five guys because it feels very likely that one of these five guys will be under center

for the Colts next season. Yeah, I kind of have no idea how I would rank them. Off the top of my head, if you're just looking at upside alone, because, again, for me, like I mentioned earlier, compensation is the thing that matters to me more than anything else. All compensation being equal and, say say we're getting them all for a day three pick or so i'm under that impression it's either day three pick or sign out outright as a free agent um i would say baker is probably one um because he offers the highest upside

now he also has a pretty low floor but frank reich's been pretty good at kind of coaching out the floors um they're coaching those floors to be higher and closer to the ceiling. My number two is probably Jimmy G just because he's consistent and he's a winner. My number three is probably going to be Marcus Mariota because I think that he would be a really good fit in the system. My number four is going to be Jameis Winston, and my number five is going to be Matt Ryan. That's a very fair – we're very close there.

I think all we did was flop Jameis and Ryan there at the end, but I think we agree there on our top three. But these dominoes are starting to fall, Stephen. Obviously, the Colts made a huge splash today, making the trade for Yannick Ngakwe, sending out Rakia Sen. No other picks or compensation involved with the Sen. Just a straight one-for-one player swap.

The Colts add an elite edge rusher to go alongside DeForest Bucker and Quidipe. So that's awesome news for the Colts here. But that's going to be it for Locked on Colts. Appreciate you ever listening. And as always, the podcast, make sure you rate, review, and subscribe. Follow us on Twitter as well, over on Locked on Colts. And make sure you follow listening. And as always, the podcast, make sure you rate, review, and subscribe. Follow us on Twitter as well over on Locked on Colts and make sure you follow

Steven on Twitter as well at Nice Read Steve. Steven, appreciate you having me on. Thanks, Evan. Have a good one.