Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Is Carson Wentz Plan B for the Colts at QB?

Episode Date: February 5, 2021

On today's episode, Stampede Blue's Stephen Reed joins Evan to go through the latest on the offseason QB carousel. What's going to happen next after Matthew Stafford? It sounds like it could be Carson Wentz, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Indy was mentioned in the report, so will the Colts kick the tires on Philly's QB?Derek Carr was also brought up earlier this week. Does Carr make any sense in Indy, and will Vegas even trade him? As far as trade options go, it could easily come down to Wentz or Sam Darnold.Quickly, we go over the Andrew Luck storyline. Turns out, Colts owner Jim Irsay put out the fire saying Luck officially won't come back. No surprise, but it's time to close the Luck door.Closing out the show, we go through a quick mock offseason scenario. What could happen at certain positions in free agency for the Colts? 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 everybody, welcome back to your latest episode of Locked on Colt, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's always your host, Evan Sider, joined by Stephen Reed of Stampede Blue. We're back again to really recap the latest quarterback carousel news, as well as talk about maybe some mock offseason scenarios that are in the show, Stephen, but how are you doing today? I'm doing well today, Evan.

How are you? Doing well. We're here just to talk through, like I mentioned, the latest quarterback carousel news, and let's start off first here with Philadelphia, where it sounds like the latest dominant in the quarterback carousel is going to be Carson Wentz, Stephen. According to Ian Rappaport earlier today, he and Mike Garofalo put out a dual report for NFL Network saying that the Eagles are listening to calls on Carson Wentz. They're not exactly closing the door on not shopping, which shouldn't be shocking to some people out there. Wentz, it sounds like from all indications, still has not met his relationship yet with the Eagles.

They hired former Frank Reich disciple Nick Sirianni, the former Colts offensive coordinator, to come in and maybe try to ride the ship there a little bit. But Nick Sirianni was not committed about starting Wentz in his press conference. It sounded like, too, there might be a quarterback competition still in training camp between Hurts and Wentz. And if that's the case, I think Carson Wentz is going to win out there unless he's guaranteed to be the starter next year. So from the report Ian Rappaport mentioned, it was about the Eagles

are getting trade calls around quarterback Carson Wentz. While Philly doesn't plan to deal him, they haven't hung up the phone either. And he mentioned that story about the Colts. They will call on all the available passers this offseason. So if Carson Wentz is available and you want to connect the dots there and say the Colts are at least going to kick the tires and everything there, it sounds like there's going to be at least some dialogue between Eagles and the Colts about Carson Wentz one way or another here. And it's interesting that the Colts were mentioned as the only team in that report because we've

heard the connections with the Colts and Wentz. It sounds like Wentz has been targeting returning to Frank Reich. He loves Frank Reich. He got the best out of him in 2017 when he had that near MVP year before he got hurt at the end of the season. It sounds like to me, Steven, if that relationship isn't mended, this could be something to monitor here with the Eagles and the Colts. Yeah, I think it's something to monitor. My thoughts on it are

generally, if the Colts were really interested and reports were at least you know a couple weeks ago that the Colts weren't interested at all um really and went uh according to a couple people um I'm not sure why that would change so dramatically. I guess maybe with Rivers retiring and then Stafford going to the Rams, that obviously changes the calculus a little bit. But my concern with Wentz is his turnovers and his injuries. You know, the old saying is the best ability is availability. And Wentz missed a lot and missed a lot of games.

He had his best season under Frank Craig. With Frank Craig as the offensive coordinator, obviously when they went to the – he had his best season under Frank Craig. And that's something to take away. Maybe that's a relationship that can be salvaged. But from everything we've heard, the Colts weren't necessarily interested. And here's something for everybody to know is going into this offseason, you're going to hear the Colts link to a lot of guys because the Colts have a lot of cap space. And agents are going to try to leak information out to different sources, trying to get their client's price tag driven up. So I don't know how much credence I'd give to Wentz to the Colts. And

the trouble with Wentz right now is he's kind of, he's a tough thing to handle because he's got a pretty massive contract that, yeah, okay, the Colts, I think it's like the remainder of it is like 25-25, something like that. It's not like Patrick Mahomes to Sean Watson, what will end up being Dak Prescott franchise tag level contract. But it's still pretty significant. And then Wentz my my issue has always been with wentz is is his turnovers is not only does he throw interceptions but he

doesn't have very good ball security when he's in the pocket uh i think he leads the league and and being strip sacked and losing those fumbles uh since he came in and he's missed a lot of games so that tells you you know i think him and like and like Daniel Jones are right up there in terms of, of that. And so I'm not, I'm not totally sold on Carson wins. I think that if he is got, if the Colts do go out and get him, it's not going to be as high of a pick as some people might think because it seems like the relationship in Philadelphia is really souring. And so they're going to be more motivated to move him, which means they might take less.

So I'm not even sure that Wentz would recoup an early day two pick. I think you're looking at like a round three or round four pick for Carson Wentz. And, you know, you might take a flyer on it, see if you can salvage his career. But for me, I'd rather the Colts go in a different direction than try to do a reclamation project with Carson Wentz. Yeah, Wentz definitely had a rough year in Philadelphia this past year, getting benched, moving through his season for Joe and Hurts. He hasn't been the same since his ACL injury in 2017,

the last year of Frank Wright. When Nick Foles, the backup, went on to win the Cedar Bowl in Wentz's place, right to the offensive coordinator, Doug Pearson, the head coach. Both guys are now gone in Philadelphia with Nick Sirianni. The Colts just have now taken over. They're trying to revive Wentz's career, but that relationship is so

sour at this point, Stephen, that Wentz doesn't even want to try with Sirianni, one of Reich's disciples. That really kind of shows you, in my opinion, this might be something that happens pretty quickly, I imagine. They probably have approached Wentz at this point. If it's not a full-on commitment by him on that part, I have to wonder if this is something you get to watch for before the draft because looking at over the cap right now,

Wentz's cap number in 2021 is $34.7 million. The dead money in that country would be around $34 million. They'd save only around $1 million if they were to train pre-June 1. Post-June 1, it goes about $10 million extra, but I can't imagine they'll wait that long to do it. So that really makes you think, like, if it's so insalvageable, maybe the Eagles just want to cut ties there for a year, save the extra million dollars where they can and try to build.

But let's say the Colts are enticed by Carson Wentz. I agree with you, Stephen. I don't think they are from all indications. But let's say the Eagles offer you a sweetener like the Jared Goff deal we just saw where they had to throw in an extra first-round pick to get off Goff's contract. If the Eagles, let's say, offer you Wentz in a second-round pick or even a future second-round pick, I don't know if they'll do a future one

because I think Wentz is more salgible than Jaredared golf in my opinion i think i'd rather take once over golf i know about you steven but i like him better than jared golf would you consider that through the colts let's say it's wentz in a second to come back here that's an interesting trade scenario there um so i i would it would pique my interest just because this draft is, seems to be pretty deep at left tackle. And it also has some pretty good addressers in it. And so I think that's, that's something that the Colts would, would certainly consider, especially if it's something along the lines of the Eagles right now, they already are set up with their quarterback. They've got Jalen Hurts. They feel pretty confident with him. If they do decide to move on from Carson Wentz, and that's the only reason you decide to move on from Carson Wentz,

is if you feel confident in Jalen Hurts. If that's the case, then having a situation, maybe not even where the Eagles throw in a future one or a future two, but maybe even a pick swap this year, doing something where you don't give up the one, you just do a pick swap and the Eagles drop to 21, the Colts move up to six, that would, I mean, shoot, I think that that's probably a little out of the out of their own possibility just because it's such a huge jump it's a 15 spot jump which would equate to basically an extra round one and around three pick um but i think they might be willing to toss in that too um you know it gives the colts an

opportunity to grab grab an offensive tackle grab grab somebody that a wide receiver that maybe slips a little bit. Or it gives the Colts the opportunity to move up for a player that maybe slides, like a Jalen Waddell or a Jamar Chase, somebody like that. Yeah, that's something to watch out for, of course, and when. And I don't know if this was earlier, Steve, and I reposted it on the Locked on Colts Twitter account, but Kimogo Ture reposted a post on Instagram

from one of the Colts fan accounts and it was about Carson Wentz. Maybe the Colts have interest there. And he said, quote, we getting him. I don't care what anybody says. So Kimoko Turay chiming in there on his Instagram about Carson Wentz. And just something to watch out for there. All the connections. You have Press Taylor

here and Indy from Philadelphia, who Wentz had a lot of trust with, Frank Gregg, of course. We'll have to monitor this to see what happens if Wentz wants to force his way out. Indy will obviously be tied there due to all the connections here with the coaching staff. But let's talk about Derek Carr, moving on to our next quarterback here in the carousel. I saw a report a couple days ago from the Las Vegas Journal-Review.

It might have been the Los Angeles Times, whoever was covering the Raiders for that report, but very plugged in there. It seems like the Raiders are exploring the possibility of trading Derek Carr, but only if they were able to get a superstar quarterback like Deshaun Watson back in return. That's pretty much what was outlined in that report, that they're not going to get rid of Derek Carr unless they can get Deshaun Watson. So I feel like that's very, very unrealistic on the Raiders part. So probably don't have to spend much time talking about this one, Stephen, but what do you think about Derek Carr and the price tag that was mentioned in the report, which really threw me off,

made me almost fall out of my chair that the Raiders might be looking for two first-round picks for Derek Carr. Yeah, I thought that was ridiculous. When I read, because we had talked a little bit about what we were going to talk about tonight, and so I kind of looked and I was like, well, what's going on with Derek Carr. And I saw the, the price tag for trading of the Colts was the two first round picks.

And I go, well, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. Like, if you look at Derek Carr stats over the course of the year, he's marginally better than Phillip Rivers was this year. And like Derek Carr, Phillip Rivers threw for 4,169 yards.

Derek Carr, 4,103 yards. They had, Phillip Rivers had a 68% completion percentage. Derek Carr had a 67.3. Like Carr threw for three more touchdowns and two less interceptions. But beyond that, like why would you trade two first round picks for ultimately like an equal transition over to a like 40 year old Philip Rivers? And Derek Carr plays in an offense where John Gruden's offense is very quarterback friendly. Like it's it's quick. It gets the ball out. It gets it to the playmakers. And yet he still didn't put up great numbers.

They collapsed when – like he had, I think, three fourth-quarter comebacks and five game-winning drives over the course of the season. But they still went 8-8. They did beat the Chiefs at one point in the season. But, yeah, I'm not, I'm not a huge fan of Derek Carr and I don't know if I ever have been. I also think it would be slightly ironic if the Las Vegas Raiders decided to trade Derek Carr to the Houston Texans, given Derek's brother, David, played there

and was the first ever pick by the Houston Texans. Yeah, that'd be pretty hilarious, honestly. And I think Derek Carr is just a pipe dream. I think on both ends, like I mentioned in that report, that the Raiders aren't going to deal Derek Carr unless they get a superstar quarterback like Deshaun Watson back or in turn. So there's obviously interest in Watson on the Raiders part, but have to imagine that price tag that went for Derek Carr.

They're not going to get back to an order of the trade for Deshaun Watson. So we can scratch them off the list here too. Carson Wentz is a maybe on our end, but let's hit on the other reports here is really quickly. Jameis Winston. I saw from Ian Rappaport yesterday that the Saints want to retain him. So I imagine that'll be a quick deal to be seen free once that happens. So Jameis Winston probably off the board there.

And as well, Rappaport mentioned yesterday, Matt Ryan and Julio Jones won't be traded from the Falcons this off season. Both those guys have huge cap hits if that were to happen. So maybe next off season, that makes more sense for Matt Ryan, but it'll be a year older at that point, age 37 instead of age 36.

What's your thoughts on those two guys? Because honestly, Winston, and like I mentioned a couple of days ago with our trade scenarios, five most realistic trade scenarios as a quarterback, Matt Ryan made him maybe would have made some sense if they were a draft quarterback, but it sounds like the Falcons are keeping Matt Ryan around at least for a year, even if they do draft quarterback in the top five. So those are two realistic options, Steven, that are now off the list. Yeah. The Matt Ryan one, you you find out what the dead cat i think it's 41 million dollars

of a dead cat pit if he's traded um i don't think that his base salary is anywhere near that so and the the rationale to really trade matt ryan just it just doesn't make sense um from a financial standpoint and from an organizational standpoint for the falcons for james winston my question with james winston is going to be how in the world are the new orleans saints going to be able to pay for that because they are i think 102 or 92 million over the cap right now um with drew breeze likely retiring which hasn't been announced yet but drew breeze retires he's going to have some of his signing bonus get accelerated onto this next year's cap because that's just what happens when players retire um and they've got a lot of a lot of roster trimming to do there in new orleans to be able

to even sign jamisis Winston to a similar deal to what he played with this past year. If Jameis Winston knows that he's going to be competing for the starter position, he's going to want more money and that's deservedly so. I'm of the ilk that whatever a player can make in his career good for him, I'm never going to say he's making too much money because their careers are short and they need to get everything they can. I don't think Jameis Winston should probably take a discount

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and it's all the sports news you need every morning under 20 minutes. Subscribe to the Locked On Today podcast or read your podcast. Yeah, I've had to be a lot of restructuring there on their end. Maybe you can maybe transition tag Jameis or maybe franchise tag him. It's going to be a lot of money for a guy like Jameis Winston, but you have to restructure guys like Ramchak, Lattimore, other ones. Maybe you have to trade one of those guys like Markshon Lattimore,

put some buzz around that a little bit. Maybe that's how you get some money free for Jameis Winston and for the Saints who are literally in cap hell right now. They're around $100 million over the cap heading into this. Drew Brees will help him save money once he retires, which all indications are he will sooner rather than later. But taking a sweet time there, that is Drew Brees. But let's talk about now these other reports.

Outside of the Colts for a minute, Stephen, this could really impact the Colts as far as the draft goes. The Matthew Stafford reports, we heard a new one today from Dan Patrick on his show talking about the Denver Broncos, reportedly from what he's heard. They offer the number nine overall pick plus Drew Locke, their quarterback, to get Matthew Stafford, the Panthers we know we covered here on Tuesday or on Monday, that the number eight overall pick was going to be sent back to the Panthers for Matthew Stafford. It got down to the point where they were going to send medicals back to Carolina before the Rams came in at the last minute. So it seems pretty obvious, Stephen, at this point,

that Carolina number eight overall, Denver number nine overall, they're going to both be in the quarterback race, and that means the Colts are going to have to compete with those teams if they want to jump ahead of them in the draft. Yeah, this again, it's what we've talked about earlier on earlier podcasts. It's Philadelphia right there at six is the sweet spot for the Colts. If they want to move up, because you've got now Detroit at seven that could be looking at a quarterback

unless they're, they're set with Jared Goff, which is fine. They've got the GM's got a relationship there. You've got now Carolina at eight. And now you've got 10 for at nine, and now you've got Denver at nine, who was willing to throw in a guy that everybody was like, oh, well, just give Drew Locke a chance, and he'll see what he can do. It still is slightly confusing to me why Detroit would pass up the eighth or the ninth overall pick plus a young quarterback there,

unless if they really like Jared Goff. But, yeah, it just kind of opens up your mind to what could be other teams that are vying for position for those quarterbacks. It makes you wonder what Chris Ballard is going to do, whether he's going to address this in the free agent market, whether he's got something in mind in terms of a trade, we, the Colts are a notoriously tight ship under Chris Ballard. The things don't just get leaked out to the local media basically ever. Um, and so we're not going to know what, what Chris Ballard is going to do until, until they decide that they want to let us know what Chris Ballard is going to do until they decide that they want to let us know what Chris Ballard is going to do.

I tweeted this out yesterday just with the latest news about all these Colts quarterback movements with the Carousel. And I came up with a list in free agency trade in the draft. It kind of covered almost all these names before, Stephen. But going through the list one more time, updated here. Free agents, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andy Dalton, Cam Newton, Jacoby Bursette, Mitchell Trubisky. Trade, you can either do Cian Darnold or Carson Wentz, it sounds like.

Or in the draft, you trade up for a guy like Fields, Wilson, or Lance. It sounds more like Justin Fields or Trey Lance is more obvious. There's a lot of smoke still around Zach Wilson being the top quarterback taking a draft outside of Trevor Lawrence. Dan Patrick also mentioned yesterday that he's heard from a couple of sources that Zach Wilson will be quarterback two in this draft, or it's the Jets or someone else. So either Justin Field or Trey Lance makes the most sense for his trade-ups go.

Off of that list, let's start with free agency for a minute, Stephen. Fitzpatrick, Dalton, Newton, Bursette, Trubisky. That's a really ugly list there. I mean, do you have a favorite off that one? If you had to pick just one? Honestly, if I were going to pick one, let me rephrase it. Out of this list, I've got two that I don't mind, but it's not to be starters. I wouldn't mind bringing Ryan Fitzpatrick because he's shown a willingness to help young quarterbacks and help,

help teach them the game. He's done it now in a couple of different places. Most recently in Miami with Tua Tagovailoa. I think I pronounced that right, which might've been the first time ever. And then Andy Dalton, I don't mind, you know, the red rocket coming in. Again, he's a, he's a smart player. He's always seemed like a team guy uh to to come in i think you you can't i don't like cam newton um because i just don't think

he's got the arm anymore after that shoulder injury i just don't think it's there and i don't i've never really liked mitchell trubisky um as a quarterback i'd rather have jacoby brissett over mitchell trubisky and i don don't want Jacoby Bursette back because I feel like that's – I just don't like – it just seems like they need to go in a different direction at this point. I think Jacoby Bursette would make a fantastic backup somewhere, and he'd be a great backup here with the Colts. But as a whole, I think that they need to kind of,

it really just depends on price tag. If, if any of them are cheap and they're coming in and willing to be a, a backup, you know, I'm all for it. I let Easton, let Easton start and let these guys come in and be the backup and try to

teach him, help him grow. And that's kind of where I would be in terms of the free agent market. The two trade names are Sam Darnall. We've covered extensively on this podcast last couple of weeks. Carson Wentz too, just went over at the top of the show, but kind of running out of options in this one, Steven. I mean,

unless the Jets trade off Darnall on draft night on day two for a third round pick, or even maybe a fourth round pick that they lose their leverage a little bit. You're kind of down to that or Carson Wentz at this point Stephen so also the draft I mean we just went over the Lions could be in the quarterback market even with Jared Goff Panthers and Broncos seem like they're very intent on adding the quarterback in this draft if they don't get a veteran New England's been very quiet over there they could be a team I think that could stump people on draft night MF for a field or a lance or zach wilson 49ers too there's a lot of teams ahead of the colts on in the draft where it sounds like to me steven like there's a real possibility the colts could be like

stuck with an empty hand here if they get past the draft that's a really scary scenario for coltsman out there because from all indications unless they are going to luck into a field or a lance in the draft and just maybe take their lumps their rookie year. They're going to, one way or another, Stephen, unless they maybe get Carson Wentz and he somehow just reforms back in an MVP that we saw under Reich in 2017, it's going to be a rough year quarterback. I think we're going to see a downgrade or maybe a significant downgrade for the Colts in 2021 at quarterback from the way Phil Burrus played in 2020. With this team that's ready to win now,

and their cerebral window just not beginning, that's kind of a scary proposition here if they're not able to put the chips in the middle of the table one way or another yeah for me I think the the best case scenario for the Colts is probably getting like a Sam Darnold for a mid late round pick. I still think Sam Darnold's got talent. There is a reason that he was a number, you know, number three, three overall pick. He's, he's got all the poise that you need. He can make all the throws.

He's got accuracy. He can get out of the pocket. He's just been saddled with the New York Jets and Adam Gase. It's one of those things where in a fresh environment with a fresh coach and somebody that really would work with him and help him get those fundamentals back and help him grow as a quarterback. I think Sam Darnold would actually – he's actually my favorite option out of the trade scenarios

with Carson Wentz and Derek Carr. I feel like trading up in the draft is going to be hyper expensive for the Colts, especially knowing that we all kind of know now that 7, 8, 9 are all kind of looking at quarterbacks. And so if the Colts want to trade up, you're probably looking at the 20, pick 21, a 2022 first round pick for sure. And then you're looking at probably a second round picks, probably 54 and maybe even a future third. Like you're going to be massively overpaying to move up in the draft.

And it's just not really Chris Ballard's MO. Now, teams like Denver, teams like Carolina, even Detroit, they have holes all over the roster. So do they take a quarterback this year? Eh, who knows? After the Matt Stafford stuff, you kind of think they do. But there's no guarantee on that. There's no guarantee on anything in the draft, really,

which is partly why I love it. But yeah, I think the Colts, and I wouldn't be surprised to see if Sam Darnold moved well before the draft. The reason why is because the Jets hold the second overall pick. You know the first one's going to be Trevor Lawrence. So the Jets effectively are on the clock right now, and they get to pick. If they love Zach Wilson, if they love Justin Fields,

if they love Trey Lance, they can go any of those directions and not have to worry about a team jumping them. Because if a team jumps them, then for one of those three guys, then you hit Trevor Lawrence. Like, no, Jacksonville is not going to be stupid and trade away Trevor Lawrence. And so the New York Jets have an opportunity to really go ahead and set their plan in place right now so i i'd like to think that out of these these options the most likely one to me would be trying to get sam darnold for like a third or fourth round pick and just go ahead and move on and able to use pick 21 pick 54 pick 84 if they keep it uh therefore shoring up all the rest of the holes on the roster 21 could be, you might legitimately get a starting left tackle at 21 right out the gate.

And so you can make that transition from Anthony Costanzo to this rookie a lot smoother there if you're able to make a deal for like a Sam Darnold and you're able to go ahead and plug that hole there at the left tackle position at 21 if you don't have to trade that pick away. Yeah, hypothetically, you could go left tackle or edge at 21 and you go the opposite side there at 54, whether it be left tackle or edge, even maybe a tight end like Brevin Jordan, the guy we talked about on the podcast, Stephen. I know Jersay mentioned that they want to get maybe a more vertical tight end on board.

Maybe you can add a playmaker in there, an edge, a left tackle, while getting Sam Darnold on board to really help the infrastructure around him. That can make a lot of sense. I'm just really worried at this point. Maybe I shouldn't be worried because Chris Bowery is one of the best GMs in the NFL, but I feel like a lot of ops are kind of running out for the Colts. I know we haven't even hit free agency yet, but I'm just not intrigued by Andy Dalton, Fitzpatrick.

I'm not intrigued by trying to revive Sam Darlan's career and hoping that he can get you into the playoffs and somehow really revive his career saying goes for Carson Wentz really I'm all team draft at this point put your chips in the middle of the table get into the top six top seven and see what happens from there I just think that at this point if they don't do something like that they're really going to be stuck in a position where a lot of fans really not just not going to be all aboard the plan they might run out like try out andy dalton week one that's not really gonna get a lot of fans excited there i know they're not trying to please the fans so to say but i mean this cold seems ready to win now i want to see make a win now move not only in 2021 before the

future but let's hit really quickly steven ford devon to a mock offseason scenario we heard the weird rumblings the last couple days the fake text messages the screenshots about Andrew Luck possibly coming back to the Colts Jim Ursae spoke with Chris Whitlock of CBS for Indy today and he shut the door immediately on that he said Andrew Luck is more retired than he was a year and a half ago at this point so those dreams are dead Steven Andrew Luck has never come back to the Colts what's just your thoughts on that whole scenario where we even saw these fake text messages on Twitter, get on SportsCenter, get on Colin Coward's show. Like it was a real firestorm for a couple of days here until Ursa shut the

door to that. Yeah, I thought it was fun. We all kind of knew in our heads that it's probably not true. It's like almost a hundred percent false. But it's always fun to hope. And, you know, having the Colts team being built the way they are. It's, it's one of those things where Andrew Luck would obviously put them in the Super Bowl, or at least let them contend right away. And I think Pat McAfee put it best when he said, this person that leaked this either, first off is a terrible friend, because why would you leak somebody else's private

conversation without their advance? Second, is kind of a terrible person because this was all supposed to be private. And now you're just kind of putting it out there in the ether you're trying to if you falsified all this then what are you doing why are you that why are you really that starved for attention um you know and and you know jim ursae said don't andrew luck is more retired now than he was a year and a half ago, which technically is true because it's another year, so he's more retired. I think as Colts fans, you obviously want to hope, but really we should all close the door on that. It's not likely to happen. We've got friends that have seen Andrew Luck recently

within the past couple months and said that he just doesn't seem like he's interested in football right now. So yeah, just go ahead and close the door, guys. If it happens, awesome. Don't expect it. It's probably never going to happen. Close the door and move on. Just trust Chris Ballard to make the right decision for the franchise going forward. Are you ready for the Super Bowl? Tom Brady versus Patrick Mahomes, the Bucs defense versus Chiefs offense, all these prop bets you want to do?

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Thursdays on Locked on NFL, I must listen as Ryan Tracy and Jake Liskow break down teams across the NFL from an analytics and team building perspective. Get the expert analysis on your favorite teams from Ryan and Jake every Thursday. Subscribe to Locked on NFL wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah, we can move on now. Just want to quickly hit on that because Colts Twitter, as you know, Steve was a firestorm the last couple of days and Earthsafe finally came out and addressed that to Chris Whitlick.

And we now officially know that Andrew Luck will not be the Colts correct, which you've all expected ever since he retired in August 2019. But that is now closed. The Andrew Luck chapter is officially closed. But let's stay on this mock offseason scenario. I tweeted this out a couple days ago on the Locked on Colts Twitter account. But with Matthew Stafford off the board in this scenario, I want to get your thoughts on the rest of this list.

I think the Colts are going to sign an edge rusher. I really believe that. They're going to move on from Justin Houston. He had an okay season outside of the sack numbers. He was all right, but the quarterback hits. When he wasn't getting sacked, Stephen, it was really pedestrian. He just wasn't really getting much pressure. He wasn't really getting to the quarterback much at all

outside the first half of the season. I think he had five sacks in the Colts' first five games. Then the rest of the season he had two and a half, which kind of shows you kind of really dipped off there over the last half of the season. What do you think about a guy like Carl Lawson or a guy like Romeo Aquara, one of these younger guys the Colts can bet on here? Because at this point, I think they're going to maybe try to retain

Danico Autry and Al-Qaidi Mohamed over Justin Houston. They're both younger options. They're both more versatile. They can both play inside and out. I just feel like right now with the Colts' cast base, I think it's the right decision to move on from Houston and try to get younger in that position. I mean, what's your thoughts on maybe addressing the Ed's position

with a guy like Carl Lawson, Romuald Cora, or somewhere else? I really like Carl Lawson, and I think he really fits into this defense. He's fast on the penetration. He's got long arms, which has been kind of Chris Ballard's, one of his barometers in terms of bringing in players, is do you have freakishly long arms? And if you do, then you check a box and you get moved over into his blue category, I think. That's what I feel like it would be. But yeah, I think Carl Lawson makes a

whole lot of sense. I do think that they're going to address the edge position. I also think they'll probably look to address the cornerback position. I'm not sure whether it's going to address the edge position. I also think they'll probably look to address the cornerback position. I'm not sure whether it's going to be with an unrestricted free agent or with a free agent that was cut because I know that Chris Ballard really likes, he's told us before, he likes them picks. And any unrestricted free agent he signs to a sizable contract takes away a compensatory pick for him in 2022. So that's the only hesitation I would have in terms of the Colts bringing in an unrestricted free agent. If they do, I think Carl Lawson makes a lot of sense,

Julio Navarro. Both of those guys would be good additions for the Colts team and really for that defense to do an upgrade there. I think Justin Houston did get kind of a tough rap because he was getting double teamed a lot and double teamed and chipped. But it did by the end of the season, it felt like he was not as effective. And so yeah, there's a couple different factors there, but I think Carl Lawson would be a great addition as a defensive end position. Zach Hicks over at Stampede Blue did a piece on him, on Carl Lawson, I believe recently.

So check that out. Plug the website. Absolutely, yeah. Stampede Blue, like Steven works at, that's the place to go. If you guys want to re-up on your latest content be the sb nation but let's move on here to our next position left tackle and the more i've thought about this honestly steven i mean we saw this guy play a couple games last year in spots he started against pittsburgh he allowed no sacks in that game going against Bud Dupree and TJ Watt and also either other guys like Cam Hayward, too, held his own when he was stunted on the outside.

I was more – like a week or two ago, Stephen, I would have thought maybe, okay, the Colts should go spend like $10 million to $15 million on like an Alejandro Villanueva from the Steelers, like an older veteran stopgap option if they don't do the draft. But the more I've thought about it, I really think maybe we should give Will Holden a chance. He still has a one year left on his contract. I think he does make a lot of sense at left tackle

if the Colts don't move Quentin Nelson out there because, I mean, he looked pretty good against Pittsburgh. I mean, if they don't draft a left tackle in the first or second round, if they trade up, for example, for a Trey Lancer or Justin Fields, you lose some draft capital there. Maybe with how good Quentin Nelson is, you have with Braden Smith up for an extension, Steven,

they're going to have probably the highest paid right tackle, the highest paid center and the highest paid left guard in the NFL here in the next year or two. Like, I don't think the Colts want to invest high money and like top money in four of their five offensive linemen. Because at that point you're spending almost 50% of your cash based on the offensive line.

Like you can't really do anything else outside of that. So what do you think about maybe a cheaper option and maybe rolling with Will Holden or maybe kick Quinn Nelson outside for a year? Because I just think logistically, if you're going to pay Braden Smith a big contract this offseason, you're going to pay probably Quinn Nelson a big contract this offseason or the season after that.

Maybe it does make sense if they don't draft one early to give a guy like Will Holden the chance who showed well in Pittsburgh last year. Yeah, I think that the left tackle position is going to be interesting. My guess is they address it in the draft more so than they do in free agency because, like you mentioned,

a lot of the better free agent tackles are older. You know, like Villanueva, like Trent Williams, you know, Cam Robinson I think is available as well. So, like, not any names that are going to blow you away. And you don't see many names that blow you away at the left tackle position come on the open market because it is such a tough position to fill it's one that always almost always gets filled in the draft and those those players almost never leave their team that drafts them because it's so hard to get a quality left tackle i'm not sure how i feel about moving quentin nelson out he's such a

dominant player there at the left guard position um You also look at the cap ramifications of that is if he plays a year at left tackle, that changes the structure for any kind of franchise tag or any kind of positional money. I think Quentin Nelson is going to get paid regardless. And he's definitely going to be the highest paid guard in NFL history. He's going to probably get tackle money anyway. And quite honestly, I wouldn't be shocked to see Chris Ballard spend like 50% of the cap on the offensive and defensive line. Because that's just where he loves football. Where he loves to see his teams win is Is it the line of scrimmage?

I'm not as sold on the free agent left tackle. I think giving Will Holden a shot is worth it just to see what he's got, at least here in the off season. But I really think they're probably going to address the left tackle position during the draft. Wide receiver here, I have down Reese Stein, T.Y. Hilton, because at this point, Stephen, with the quarterback position in flux, I just have a really hard time trying to sell Allen Robinson, who's had his quarterback issues in the past in Chicago, trying to sell a guy like Juju Smith-Schuster, Kenny Galladay, any of these guys, if you don't have your quarterback position answered before

the draft. Free agency obviously comes before the draft, and if the Colts do make a move, if they do make a big money move for a Robinson or a Gallaudet, I think that kind of preludes them to maybe they have their sights on a quarterback in the draft, and that they're going to move up in the draft. They do get one of these big names, but it feels like to me re-signing T.Y. is almost a

lock at this point. Just with the money, it's going to cost a lot less than getting a guy like Robinson or Gallaudet or one of the other options on board. What do you think about TY at this point? I know we've had this discussion before, but from the way the quarterback positions in such flux are now, Steven, I bet they're going to have a really hard time selling one of the big names to come here. Yeah, I'm not sure. Like you said, it depends on where they go with the quarterback position

and when they go there. It'll be hard for them to sell, like you mentioned, hard for them to sell Robinson or Smith-Schuster or Godwin or Galladay on coming to Indianapolis if your quarterback is either Jacob Eason or Jacoby Brissett or somebody like that, and you haven't made a move yet. I really think that we're going to hear about a move that the Colts make within the first day or two of free agency. They're at the quarterback position in terms of a possible trade.

It just feels like that's going to be what's going to happen. And yeah, with regards to TY, it's so tough to see some, one of your favorite players slow down to the amount that the TY slowed down this past season. He had some games where he just blew it up, but for the most part, he was kind of, he wasn't, he wasn't the TY that we all knew. We saw the post he put today on Facebook with, you know, his throwback Thursday to him and Andrew Luck talking about how they always, you know, lit the place on fire. And some of the things that T.Y. said and T.Y.'s done recently makes you kind of think that he doesn't expect to

be back. So I'm not sure about T.Y. The one positive thing I think about re-signing T.Y. is the veteran leadership that he would provide in that locker room because now you've had Anthony Costanzo retire. You've had Phillip Rivers retire. You're going to lose T.Y. Hilton if he doesn't get re-signed. There's a void there in that locker room, on the offensive side specifically. And so having T.Y. back for another year, I think, would be a benefit to the locker room. And that's something that Chris Ballard has always talked about is the culture in the locker room and making sure that that's taken care of. So if T.Y. comes back on a reasonable deal and it's always all about money, then, you know, I'm all for it.

If he wants to get paid like the top 10 receiver, then I'm sorry. That's just not going to happen. Last one here for you, Stephen. Cornerback position. We've had on this before as well in the pod the last couple weeks. But at this point, I really feel like with the cast base they have, why not just re-sign Xavier Rhodes at this point? I really feel like unless you draft one early,

I just feel like Xavier Rhodes is such a good figure. I know you lost Jonathan Gannon. Maybe that preludes a Rhodes leaving via free agency. But he's such a good fit in this cold scheme with Matty Ruflus in this zone system that I think trying to re-sign Rhodes makes a lot of sense. But like we talked about before multiple times, there's going to be a number with Xavier Rhodes. If they go over it, the Colts are going to do it.

But have you thought more about Rhodes and maybe make him more a priority? Or has your thoughts really not changed on Rhodes yet? I've always thought that they should re-sign Rhodes. Now, will they? I don't know. It sure seems like they're going to let him test the market. And good for the Colts letting him do that, because I think that he'll come back to the Colts and say, hey, look, this is what I got.

And then Chris Ballard will be honest and be like, all right, you know, that's more than, more than we can go or here we're going to keep our offer the same. And if, if we can give you more money, great. One thing that plays into the Colts favor this off season is something that I brought up earlier in the podcast that Colts have cap space and a lot of teams aren't going to have a lot of cap space this year. So Colts are going to be able to be in the market for players that are going to have to be cut by teams that don't necessarily want to cut them. And so the Colts are going to be in a unique position to be able to sign guys to one, two-year deals that other teams just aren't going to be able to do. And so I think it's best if the Colts use some of this salary cap

and use that to re-sign Xavier Rhodes. I thought he was perfect in this defense. He's exactly what he was advertised to be coming into this Tampa 2 style defense. And I think that having another year in the system would give him an opportunity to springboard that. Say he signs another one-year deal. He's able to use this, has another good season. He's stacked year on year of good seasons. He can springboard that into possibly a bigger contract down the road with another team when the salary cap comes back up and is more robust

than what it's going to be this next year. Steven, always enjoy having you on, man. You guys go follow him on Twitter if you're not already at NiceReadSteven. Go read and listen to his work over on Stampede Blue. Imagine I'll have you back on again next week, Steven. Appreciate the time. Alright, thanks, Evan.