Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Is it now Matthew Stafford, trade up in draft, or bust for Colts' 2021 QB?

Episode Date: January 27, 2021

On today's episode, Stampede Blue's Stephen Reed joins Evan to go over the Colts' rumors surrounding Matthew Stafford. How much would Stafford elevate Indy? Is the likely high price worth it? We dive in-depth on how Stafford fits within Indy's system.Closing out the show, we discuss how there's really only two realistic options for the Colts at QB1 this offseason. Is it now down to Matthew Stafford, trading up in the 2021 Draft, or bust for Indy?All of this, plus so much more, in a jam-packed podcast covering the QB rumors! 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 the latest episode of Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's audience is your host, Evan Satter, joined by Stephen Reed of Stampede Blue. To get Stephen's thoughts on if the Colts are going to be able to land Matthew Stafford and then close up the show talking about maybe what the Colts are going to do to the quarterback again this offseason. So Stephen, how are you doing today? I'm doing well today, Evan. How are you?

I'm doing well. Like I mentioned, we're going to talk and get Stephen's thoughts here on the Matthew Stafford News. Breaking news over Saturday, this past weekend, that the Lions and Matthew Stafford officially are parting ways for 12 years in Detroit. A lot of teams, a lot of people are connecting the Colts as the top favorite. The betting odds also are bet online. AG, our betting partners here at Locked On Podcast Network, have the Colts as the betting favorites, as does FanDuel as well, by pretty heavy margins. And then we hear the report from Jeremy Fowler yesterday, Stephen, that it sounds like Matthew Stafford has his eyes on the Colts compared to all their destinations.

The Colts have the draft capital. The Colts also have the cap space to absorb Stafford if they want to after Phillip Rivers retired. What's your overall thoughts on this, Stephen? We kind of hit on it a little bit last week when you were on the show, but this is really starting to gain some steam now yeah i think that the the cult stream for stafford makes a lot of sense for both parties um really all three parties if you include the lions in there um as well stafford brings a steady presence a tough quarterback that can he's got a huge arm, goodness gracious.

And he's a really smart, smart player. He's tough as nails. You heard about a lot of the injuries that he played through with, at out in Detroit. And if you listen to good morning football, Nate Burleson said that, you know, you, you hear about the injuries, but he played through even more than that, that fans never heard about. And so he's one of those leaders that I think could really take this team to the next level. And with the offensive line that the Colts have and the playmakers they have on both offense and defense, it's something that, you know, yeah, he had Calvin Johnson, you know, he had Kenny Galladay, he had, you know, Golden Tate for a little bit. But and but you know all those players were at separate times

and they've never really had an offensive line and so and they've never really had a running back and so to put him here in indianapolis really gives him a lot of the weapons that he's never had all at the same time when he was in detroit and so i i think it makes perfect sense for the colts it's very clear that the colts should be the odds-on betting favorite to land them because they are in a win-now mode. Not necessarily a win-now mode, but they are in an opportunity where if they make the trade for Matthew Stafford, they immediately become a Super Bowl contender in the AFC.

And if they want to trade up for a quarterback, you're probably looking at having to get above Detroit at seven. So you're looking to trade into the sixth pick with the Philadelphia Eagles there. And that's going to be a lot of draft capital. So I think they'd probably be more likely to give up that, just give up that whatever it's going to cost to get Matthew Stafford to, to get him to Indianapolis because you get a proven veteran that you know can play. It would be an absolute perfect fit

for Frank Reich's offense. Let's talk about that fit for a second because it just seems like from all indications that Stafford being an upgrade with Phillip Rivers as far as the arm strength goes, the arm talent, I think it's fair to say I even heard on a podcast earlier today, I think I was listening to the Cover 2 podcast with Jim Ilo and Joel Erickson, and I think it's a very fair assessment, Stephen, that I think Matt Stafford would be the best arm talent the Colts have had in a very long time, possibly ever. I think he has a better arm than Andrew Luck did as far as just pure intangibles go.

I mean, the possibilities, I think, are endless. If the Colts were to get Stafford on board, he's more mobile than Rivers too. I think we'll finally see. I think the Colts kind of hampered this past year with Rivers' lack of mobility where they really couldn't do much play action passes at all. But now with Jonathan Taylor establishing the NFL, you have Michael Coleman Jr. as a deep threat, Paris Campbell in the middle, T.Y. Houghton or someone else

they want to get in for A&C. Like everything's in place for the Colts to really open things back up how it used to be in 2018 when Andrew walked. Yeah, I think Matthew Stafford probably has the biggest arm that the Colts would ever have. I'd still think that Andrew Luck is a better pure passer than Matthew Stafford, but in terms of just having a cannon of an arm, Matt Stafford's it. He's the guy. But yeah, having him with all the weapons, all the talent that the Colts have, having a legitimate running game and a legitimate offensive line would be huge for Matt Saffer. Just to give him the time and the patience to be able to make the throws that he needs to make.

When you give this guy a clean pocket, he can make every throw. And he's a guy that if you keep him up, you make sure he doesn't get hit. He can lead you in the fourth quarter. He's led multiple fourth quarter comebacks for the Lions. That was kind of his deal is whenever they were actually in a game in the fourth quarter, he didn't lose it for them, which I know is the big stumbling block with Phillip Rivers is, you know, that was coming in. I had friends that are Chargers fans that were like, well, enjoy like winning for three quarters. And then when you really need him to come through, Phillip Rivers is going to throw an interception. And then of course that happens the first week of the season. And you're like, well, shoot, this isn't what I, what I hoped for. You know, obviously Phillip Rivers got it turned around, but Matt Stafford is a guy that really can lift everybody on that offense in ways that Phillip Rivers just physically couldn't last year. And like you said, Frank Reich's offense, it can excel with a quarterback that is somewhat mobile. So they can do those rollouts. They can do that play action with a boot.

And so you're able to really open up the offense and really make the defense widen. And if you can get the defense to widen those gaps, widen those zones, you've got a lot of really smart receivers that are going to be able to get in there and always pick the right hole. So Matt Stafford, I think he could put up career numbers in his

first season in Indianapolis, because also think about this. If he comes now, they probably are going to be able to have an off season in place where they're going to be able to, they've got the protocols in place for COVID. Hopefully we're going to have vaccinations in there. So it's not going to be as big of an issue going into the summer. And having a full offseason with a guy as smart and as talented as Matt Stafford, it's going to give the Colts a great opportunity to really – they will – if they get Matt Stafford, I don't think it's – I'm too far to say that. I think they'll take over the AFC South

and compete with the Kansas City Chiefs for that one seed. And the Buffalo Bills, those are your three teams to beat, I think, in the AFC next year if the Colts are able to get Matt Stafford. Let's talk about the ecosystem in place, too, from Stafford's point of view. Maybe why Jeremy Fowler reported it. He's very plugged in, by the way, if people know who Jeremy Fowler is at ESPN. He was the one that was first on Phillip versus of the Colts back in early January last year, really the first dot connecting that we saw. And then from there, we heard all the smoke around it.

So I really trust Jeremy Fowler's reporting on this. If Stafford's camp wants the Colts, I imagine the Colts are going to want to bludge on that as well. They seem very interested. A very interesting timeline, too, from the Fowler press conference, Stephen, to where they were going to maybe say a month or so with Phillip Rivers to have him think. But then less than a week later, Rivers retires all of a sudden. There's no press conference for Rivers.

Then you see as well just Dodds interviewing with the Lions. And then a week later, like I mentioned, Rivers retires. Then Stafford a few days later, he asks out. So maybe the Dodds are starting to align here. With Jeremy Fowler's reporting that the Colts can really be his preferred destination. And if you guys listen to the episode yesterday, Matt Derry of Lockdown Lions, from what he's heard, they will do Matt Stafford right.

As far as ownership goes, the Firestone Fort family will try to do what's right by Stafford. If he wants to go somewhere, they're going to try to do that. But also, I think why it makes so much sense from Stafford's point of view, Stephen, you have the running game. You have the offensive line. You have the receivers. You have the GM and head coach that are going to be very sustainable. They're not going to go anywhere anytime soon.

You have the defense as well that Stafford's really never had in Detroit either outside of one or two years. It just seems like everything that he's been missing in Detroit, Stephen, he's going to have in Indy if he does come here. Yeah, and I listened to the podcast from yesterday because I was interested to find out what he said and what De he said about it um and i i think he's right the realistically i don't i don't know what the compensation is

going to be uh for for matt sever of course we can all speculate but if the ford family the ford firestone family want to do him right and want to get him to a place where he has an opportunity to really compete and win championships then indianapolis is the most logical spot um you know they've got the cap space like you mentioned the other teams that would be competing for him you've got washington football team i mean let's be real that was kind of fluky this year that they were able to win that division as a 7-9 team. I'm sure Matt Stafford would elevate them, but I have a hard time thinking that that division is going to be down again

when you had just the chaos with the Eagles throughout the entire season and Carson Wentz, Jalen Hurts' issue. You've got Dak Prescott going down for the full year, you've got Saquon Barkley going out for the full year. Like that whole division was just injury-riddled, so they couldn't really do anything. So I have a hard time having him go to Washington. The other team that you hear pretty consistently is San Francisco, and they just don't have the cap space.

And add in San Francisco's in the same division as the Rams, who are a playoff team, the Seahawks, who are a playoff team, the Arizona Cardinals, who are up and coming. That wouldn't be appealing to me if I were Matt Stafford, other than the weather. And so the Colts, I think, make the most sense for him. And the other thing is those other teams, they all draft pretty high, with the exception of the Washington football team in the draft.

So I have a hard time thinking that they're going to be willing to unload a first-round pick for them when you're picking in the top 15. And so there's a couple issues there, I think, in terms of the other teams that are coming for him. But I think if he's looking at this from more of a holistic perspective and looking at the continuity that you're going to get in Indianapolis, like you mentioned, the roster that they're going to get in Indianapolis, and just being able to play indoors like you did in Detroit, like you're going to have better talent. You're going to have an opportunity that the Colts almost won the division

with Phillip Rivers as quarterback. You put in Matt Stafford, that is a significant upgrade. And don't get me wrong, I really liked how Phillip Rivers played last year, but Matt Stafford is just on another level than what Phillip Rivers is. And it's really kind of that simple. And so I think that the, the Firestone Ford family, if they are really going to do Matt Stafford, right. It might not be as,

as expensive to get him as, as one would initially think. Because if they're really going to do right by him, and I think they should, of course, as a Colts fan, I'm a little bit biased in this. But unless a team just absolutely blows them away with two first round picks, which I don't think is going to happen for Matt Stafford, and not at age 33, then I think that they're going to take probably something a little bit less than that. And the Colts will be there to pounce. And it just makes so much sense for the Colts to be in this, this race and to be looking to acquire Matt Stafford because he is such an

immense talent and they don't, they don't come, they don't become available very often, even at his advanced age at 33, which is ironic that advanced age is 33. But even at his age, he's still got probably four or five good years left in him. And so I think it's a great opportunity for the Colts, and it's a great opportunity for Matthew Stafford to really compete and get an opportunity to finally win a playoff game. Are you ready for the Super Bowl, college sports, NBA, basketball,

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Let's talk about those teams too, Stephen, like you mentioned there. We've heard Washington. We've heard Denver a little bit. We've heard a lot of buzz around the 49ers, Patriots as well, according to Michael Lombardi and Jake Wazer. These top three teams are probably the Colts, the 49ers, and the Patriots. I feel like, honestly, I mean, you look at New England right now, you have really a lack of talent over there. I know they had a lot of opt-outs this past year due to COVID-19,

but even still, you have no weapons on the outside for Stafford. You have really a whole new offense there. I just think New England, it's kind of a lateral move, maybe a slightly better improving team. They have a lot of cast space, too, so maybe they go the mercenary route and sign a lot of guys to one-tier deals to in new england that really maximize stafford but to me steven it kind of feels like to me unless denver gets really desperate they have drew lock there but they have really some good playmakers from jerry judy kj hamler corton sutton they have

the defense as well it really feels like to me if stafford wants to win next year like matt dairy mentioned yesterday on the podcast he wants to be in suitable contention next year it kind of does feel like a two-team race at least to me if it's the 49ers or the colts and like you mentioned i have to wonder if the 49ers are going to want to get the top 15 pick number 12 overall when you could have a trey lancer zach will slip to like six or seven they could trade for that guy instead of training for matthew stafford and you also jimmy grappler in a contract who has a lot of really his contract is very movable it's not a lot of dead money on that so they could probably cut him if they were to get Matthew Stafford but to me if it's like a two-team race deal I mean what do you think about that

yeah everything we keep hearing it's it's San Francisco and the Colts are the main ones and every once in a while you'll hear New England Washington Denver tossed in there there is something I think it was Schefter the other day, that had said that there were going to be like 18 teams looking to make a move at quarterback. That might be true. Now, I look at it, and you have to look at the salary cap situation and then where all these teams are drafting. So like I mentioned before, San Francisco has right now $12.7 million in cap space next year.

They can't take on his salary without having to cut Garoppolo, without having to make some other moves, which in the NFL, of course, you can do that. It's something that teams are able to work around, massage around all the time. It's kind of a similar situation with Denver. They've got $18.5 million. They have to figure out what they want to do with Von Miller next year. So they've got some decisions to make as well.

The teams that I think probably make the most sense is San Francisco and the Colts, based at least on cap space for the Colts, especially in the talent around them. And we've gone through that now for the first you know part of the podcast pretty pretty extensively um i would say in terms of talent though san francisco makes the most sense if he's looking to win now because you know san francisco had a ton of injuries on their defense and they weren't able to play to the same level that they did when they made the super bowl two years ago or last year um and so and he he's got – they've got weapons on offense, and Kyle Shanahan's just a fantastic offensive coach. And so he would put him – put Matthew Stafford in a great opportunity,

a great position to win. But, yeah, the other teams I don't – I don't see, like, Washington being a good fit. Yeah, they've got Terry McLaurin. They've got Terry McLaurin, you know, they've got, you know, Tony Gibson, they've got some decent players there over at Washington, but not anything to really write home about. Same thing with Denver. They had Cortland Sutton, who is a great,

great wide receiver and KJ Hamler and Jerry Judy over there. So they've got a pretty solid wide receiver group. And they've got some decent running backs that I just don't, for whatever reason, I just don't get the feeling that Denver is going to be going all in on it because they still kind of don't know what they've got with Drew Locke. And so, yeah, I feel like San Francisco and the Colts are the two teams that make the most sense. And if Detroit's looking to get a first round pick, I would say that the Colts are probably more likely to give that up than San Francisco. And literally when you were talking about the San Francisco pick, I was on the website

looking up where they pick because I'm like, I think they're top 15. I want to say they're top 12. And sure enough, they're top 15 I want to say they're they're top top 12 um and sure enough they're 12th overall and like you said if I'm San Francisco and I know that you know a guy all I have to do is trade up six spots and it's going to be costing me like a first and a second round pick so then I can get a guy that's 12 years younger than Matt Stafford that I can really build around and build my offense around. I'd probably rather do that if I were them than give up that number 12 pick for Matthew Stafford and having him for four years and then being done. Because those top 15 picks, you have to, you feel like they're going to be a cornerstone of your franchise for a decade. And that's where

you've got to look at it. one of the things that I thought was interesting um and with the different different people talking different trades is you know that the Colts I think are the most likely one because pick 21 you don't know what you're going to get there for the Colts. And if you're lucky, maybe a Trey Lance falls down to like 14 in Minnesota or 13 to the LA Chargers. And you're able to just go ahead and take him. But realistically, he's probably not falling past the San Francisco 49ers. And now, you know, Detroit is in the market for a quarterback. Your top four quarterbacks are probably going in your top seven, top eight picks because Carolina, I could see moving on from Teddy Bridgewater as well. They're not trading for Matthew Stafford.

I think they would take somebody in the draft. So like you said, I feel like San Francisco and the Colts are the ones that make a lot of sense here for Matthew Stafford for the short term in terms of compensation and the talent around him where it really does give him the opportunity to win now and get to the playoffs and if the the Firestone Ford family are going to try to put him in the best position to succeed then those two franchises make the most sense. Totally agree with you there and with the Lions as well let's say if they were to get the 21st pick from the Colts they could be a team like if the Jets want to trade back or if someone

like Miami wants to trade back they get three first round picks in the same draft. Let's say if they have the hots for like a Justin Fields or a Zach Wilson, they can move up from seven to three pretty easily just by trading those two picks and getting the quarterback they won. Not to worry about waiting until seven and hope that guy falls to them. It seems like Detroit really can be in a great spot in that situation. And let me ask you this moving on from that point. If the Colts were to get in a bidding war, so to say, or if they were to make an offer, because I even mentioned this as well, like it seems to me Chris Bauer won't want to get in a bidding war.

He'll make his offer. If it's not good enough, he's going to move on. I think that's just how Chris Bauer, we know at this point, that's how he operates. They're not going to act in desperation for Matthew Stafford. They'll mount it for an option if it doesn't work out. But I feel like to me, this is almost the Carson Palmer trade from about seven eight years ago where

it feels like the sweet spot here Steven it's like the 21st overall pick your first round pick this year and then maybe a pick in 2022 like your second or third round pick I feel like that makes the most sense to me but what about you yeah that's actually the exact scenario that I put out on on the Twitter machine um the couple days ago or within the past 48 hours as my kind of projection for the offseason is I thought that the Colts would trade for Matthew Stafford and this was after it became known to everybody that there was going to be a parting of ways between the Lions and Matthew Stafford. But I thought the Colts were looking to probably trade 21 and a 2022 round three pick for Matthew Stafford.

And I think I threw out another one where it was like 21 and 54 in the 2022 round three for Matthew Stafford and 41. You know, just trying to play around with different things in my head to see how it works mathematically. But quite honestly, and I was looking at different options and different perspectives on it. And PFF, I don't always like them for their analytics and things like that because I feel like they don't – I have some issues with their process.

Now, they did throw out some hypothetical trades for Matt Stafford, and this was back in the middle of the season or near the end of the season. And they kind of likened it more towards the Alex Smith trade, which was between the chiefs and the Washington football team. And that, you know, Alex Smith got traded for Kendall Fuller in a third-round pick. Now, they say that, and then they made a hypothetical trade of the first and future third to the Lions, along with Dwayne Haskins to the Lions for Matthew Stafford. So I think that my best guess is you're probably going to see a trade

with maybe a first, future third, and a player in there, maybe a defensive player, because goodness gracious, I think make nine out of 11 of their defensive players are going to be gone next year for the lions that they just weren't good on defense. And so I would look at that and say that, you know, maybe the, the Colts ship, you know, maybe do a sign and trade with, with Milly cooker over there. I don't know. You, you trade off somebody because funny, funny enough earlier today,

I listened to a bit of podcast from pride of Detroit, just to kind of see what their perspective on it. And one of them put out the option of the Colts trading their first round pick 21 overall and a player. And the player that they mentioned was Quentin Nelson. And the other two guys on the podcast just told him, stop it. That's crazy talk. They're not trading Quentin Nelson.

That's absolutely ridiculous. But the fact that somebody had the audacity to bring that up, I just thought that was funny. Because realistically, Chris Ballard might be open to trading a player here. But I do feel like he's got a limit. And he's not going to get in a bidding war. He's going to give him his offer and say, here it is. No, Chris Ballard might be able to make this work with 54. So the round two pick, and then a 2022 round two pick. So, and then maybe a player tossed in as well. You know, Chris Ballard is one of the better GMs when it comes, I don't think he's ever lost a trade in terms of the trade value chart.

He's always ended up on the positive side of it. And remember the Detroit Lions are working with a rookie GM, a rookie coach, a rookie front office, guys that have never been in the building. The only guy that they just brought in was John Dorsey, who is going to have a close personal relationship with Chris Ballard as it were. And so, I mean, shoot, we all remember the, the draft, the draft series that the Colts did with the next pick. And on draft day, you see Chris Ballard pick up the phone and it's John Dorsey with the Cleveland Browns trying to give him a hard time when he gets on the clock.

Like, they have that kind of relationship. And I think that that's going to help the Colts in terms of facilitating a trade because you've got John Dorsey now in with the Detroit Lions front office. I think that they're going to do right by Matthew Stafford. And I don't think it's going to cost as much as people. Some people are saying that's going to cost two first round picks. And I, I just don't see Chris Ballard giving up two first round picks for a 33 year old quarterback, no matter how good he is. Even at is. I don't even see him giving that up for Aaron Rodgers. I could see him doing it for Deshaun Watson because Deshaun Watson's 25. And so you're going to have multiple years of elite quarterback play there.

But for Matt Stafford, I think that Chris Fowler is going to have his limit. It's going to probably be a first and a future third, or it's going to be a second and a future second. Maybe you toss in a player in there, and I think that's probably the max that Chris Ballard is going to go, and if the numbers are close between the Colts offer and another team, I think the Lions are going to do right by Matt Stafford and trade him to the Colts. Let me ask you this, just about the player scenario, because I don't see that happening, honestly. I know there's going to be a desperate team out there.

I think Washington just wreaks a desperation in this scenario where they could offer two first-round picks, but their window's opening now with all these young guys under rookie contracts. Ron Rivera wants a veteran leader there. I could definitely see Washington being a desperate team here. Same goes for Denver. But what do you think about maybe trading their second-round pick this year or first-round pick this year and then getting a guy like, let's say,

like a Kari Willis or Bobby Okereke? Would you do that? Personally, I wouldn't do that, but it was brought up on a podcast. I think Kevin Bode brought up on his podcast today, like maybe trade your first-round pick an Okereke or something like that. Would you do that? No, I wouldn't. Not for Bobby Okereke. And

the reason why I say that is because Bobby Okereke has now supplanted Anthony Walker there at that middle linebacker spot. And the linebacker in the 4-3 Tampa 2 style defense is incredibly important. And Bobby Okereke and Darius Leonard are probably I I'm pretty confident saying this they are the fastest linebackers in the NFL and they play so well together and so well off each other that I don't think you disrupt that that chemistry without the knowledge I just don't think you do that Kari Willis I mean maybe I could see them making that trade, but Chris Ballard's really high on Kari Willis. That's why when I mentioned trading players, I was like, well, maybe you trade somebody like a Taekwon Lewis, a guy who's just kind of coming to own, had a really good year last year.

You know, the defensive end position is questionable. Maybe, you know, I don't think Chris Ballard's going to give up on Ben Banigou just yet. But maybe you have a guy in there that you want to make a look. Like, Tyquan Lewis actually makes a lot of sense to me as a guy that they would trade. You know, if they're able to re-sign Abedin Mohamed, which rumors are that they're really interested in re-signing him. And so that's kind of the player that I would look for. You might be able to trade like, I'm trying to think of another guy that make

Frocky Steen maybe. Might be a guy that, you know, he's obviously worn out a lot of fans here in Indianapolis, which I think is unwarranted because overall he's actually been a pretty decent corner. The fact is he's had really, really inopportune times to get busted for penalties and that really stinks for him. But I could see that possibly being another guy. I really do think that if they were going to trade somebody though, it's going to be a defensive player rather than anybody on the offense because honestly, I'm not sure who on the offense they would even consider trading. Mark Lewinsky, maybe, right guard. But other than that, you don't have a left tackle right now, which is also why I think that the Colts aren't going to

give up more than a first and a third, because I think that this class is very deep at the tackle position specifically a left tackle position and they're going to be able to get somebody like a Dylan Radun's or a Liam Eichenberg possibly in the second round they might have to trade up for him or you're sitting there if they're able to somehow swing a deal and for Matt Stafford and not give up pick 21, then I think that they could realistically see, um, gosh, Dara Shaw, uh,

Rashawn Slater, you know, there, there's a couple of different guys that I could see them taking there at 21. That would solidify the offensive line for the next decade. Um, but yeah,

if, if a player is involved in a trade between the Colts and the Lions, I've got to think that it's going to be on the defensive side of the ball just because they're going to want to get some more defensive players in there. And I think that a Tyquan Lewis makes a lot of sense, or a Rock Yassin more so than really anybody else on the defensive side of the ball. Colts fans, if you want to save money on your next car purchase, rockauto.com is the place to go.

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It really feels like to me if the Colts don't get Stafford, from all indications I've been talking about throughout today's show, Stafford's camp sounds like they want Indy, they prefer Indy. So it seems like if the Colts won, they're probably going to get them. It just depends on the price, of course. If a team gets desperate outside of the Colts, they probably won't get them in that scenario. But I feel really confident this is going to happen.

I felt the same way about Phillip Rivers last year when those rumors first started in January. We got closer and closer, and those just kept getting hotter and hotter. I feel like this could really happen here soon, but let me ask you this. When you see the Colts and the scenario they're in right now, they don't have a quarterback on their roster outside of Jacob Eason, who they already said may not even be their backup next year, primary backup.

He might be in third string again, or he's not even going to be in the starting job competition in 2021. It kind of feels like to me, Stephen, it's either Matthew Stafford, they're in on Stafford, and they get him, or if they don't get Stafford, this feels like to me, if they don't get Stafford, it just feels like to me, to me honestly they're gonna go and make that bull move in the draft like they're gonna trip into the top five top six top six and get their guy what do you think about that I mean if you talk to me like two days ago I probably would have been like no that's a lot of capital to give up for Chris Ballard to jump that high in the draft.

But, like, realistically, teams have jumped from 20 – to answer your question, I think that's probably what makes the most sense is that if they're not able to get Matthew Stafford somehow, which I still kind of lean heavily that they are, but if they're not able to get Matthew Stafford, I think that they do of lean heavily that they are. But if they're not a Billy McAfee Stafford, I think that they do go ahead and move up in the draft and get the guy that they want. The teams that I think make the most sense, I mentioned before Philadelphia, to me makes just perfect sense for a couple reasons is one, they just hired Nick Sirianni

there. And the Eagles and Colts have had a really good working relationship over the years. And so I think that that makes probably the most sense at number six overall. That means you're probably looking at a Trey Lance or a Justin Fields there, maybe a Zach Wilson, everything. I keep seeing Zach Wilson potentially going to the Jets. Quite honestly, if I'm the Jets, I trade out with Detroit and try to get a King's ransom there and get a couple first-round picks from Detroit. So then I'd have four first-round picks this year. And so that's kind of where I'd be thinking if I were the Jets.

But if I'm the Colts, I'm looking to the Jets, but moving up from 21 to two is really, really cost prohibitive. That would cost probably three first round picks at least, and multiple second round picks. Moving up to six is a little bit more palatable. If you look at recent draft day trades to move up from, I think, 24 to 10 and like 27 to 12, which I believe were the Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson trades. One was just a first and a future first, I believe. And the other one was like a first, a future first and a third, something right around there. And so, and then those picks were further back in the draft. I think it was like 24 and 27. I might be wrong on that. But regardless, you're moving from 21 to six.

You're probably giving up a first and a future first at least, and then probably a third and maybe a future second or a third and a future third. And so I think Chris Ballard would, if he is sure about the guy that he's going to go get, and that's going to be the tough part about this draft season is you're not able to get those in-person interviews. You're not able to have Brian Decker really kind of talk to these guys and find out who they are as people, who they are as leaders. Then for that psychological evaluation, that's going to be the difficult part. But if Chris Ballard is sure that this is going to be the guy guy then i absolutely see him just going and jumping up and making that move

um now if they're asking for like i think chris ballard's like cutoff point is like three first round picks you know unless it's for deshaun watson i don't think that anybody else he he's willing to make that move for um but again, I think if it's not Matthew Stafford for a reasonable price and the Colts end up losing out on that, I think that he probably looks to trade up in the draft. And that makes the most sense to me. Last one. I just saw this while you were talking to our students because we haven't had on this just yet on the podcast. And I want to make sure we got to it before we ended this one. We saw how good Phillip Rivers was in the Colts system with Frank Reich as his head coach play caller.

How much does Matthew Stafford elevate this team compared to Phillip Rivers? We saw how good he was in 2020 for them before he retired. Matthew Stafford still I think is in the prime of his career. He's never had a good situation, good system around him in his whole career in Detroit for 12 years. This team was 11-5 last year at Phillip Rivers. Do you think Stafford takes that to like a 12-13 win team, perennial 12-13 win team for the next three to four years?

Or what's your thoughts on that? Absolutely, I do. I absolutely think that he takes them to a 13-win team for at least the next couple years because he's got similar accuracy to Phillip Rivers. He's got a bigger arm, so they can actually stretch the field vertically with Michael Pittman Jr. and Paris Campbell and T.Y. Hilton if he's resigned or if they sign another big wide receiver. And he's got the mobility, so they can really utilize a play-action pass

and make it really – like, the problem with Phil Rivers in the play action passes, he would do the, the handoff and the defensive ends. We're going to the same spot regardless. And so if you're able to do the play action pass and able to roll out Matthew Stafford, get him a little bit on the move, it's going to open up your offense even more. And it's going to force teams to pay attention to the quarterback, which means on those times where you do actually hand it off to Jonathan Taylor,

he's going to have one less guy, two less guys that are paying attention to him. And so Matthew Stafford really does open up this offense in ways that Phillip Rivers just physically couldn't. And from a mental standpoint, Matthew Stafford is a really bright guy. He's a hard worker, and he leads by example. And he's not going to rah-rah, trash talk, anything like that. He's just going to put his head down and go to work. And I think that that's a perfect personality here for this Colts team.

Steven, I always appreciate having you on, man. You guys go follow Steven on Twitter if you're not already at NiceReadSteven. Go read and listen to his work, as always, over on Stampede Blue, the Colts SB Nation website. Steve, I appreciate the time. I imagine we'll have you back on here very soon. These staff rumors are red hot, and this Colts office is going to be really crazy, I imagine.

Yep. Thanks, Evan.