Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 3/20/19: Zak Keefer on the Colts' offseason plans

Episode Date: March 20, 2019

On today's episode of Locked On Colts, Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star joins to discuss all of the latest happening for the Colts.Today, Clayton Geathers was re-signed on a 1-year deal while Jay Ajayi and Aaron Lynch were also visiting the team facility. Also, Keefer gave his thoughts on the Devin Funchess signing right out of the gates of free agency.How does Keefer compare Chris Ballard's team building strategy to Ryan Grigson's? Hint: It's way better and more sustainable for winning long-term.Finally, what are the expectations inside the building this season? Stay tuned for all of this, plus much more in this jam-packed show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's Osmry host, Evan Sidery. I'm joined by a special guest today, Zach Kiefer, the Indianapolis Star, the Colts beat writer. Zach, how are you doing today? I'm good. How are you? Doing great. Doing great. I'm glad you can come on this busy day today because we're going to first go off on the most recent news today, and that's Clayton Gathers, the strong, safe for the Indianapolis Colts.

You're re-signing a one-year deal today. I don't think terms have come out just yet, Zach, but what's your thoughts on that signing? I think this is what the Colts wanted all along. I think this is what Clayton Gathers wanted all along, and it's never that easy because there's a lot of things at play. If you would have asked me a couple years ago what it would take to keep Clayton Gathers in Indy, I think it would have taken a lot more.

But the injuries that have piled up and consistently really plagued his career in Indy over four years, that knocked his value down a little bit. But I think when he's on the field, he's a really valuable player. He's one of the top five most valuable players on the defense. Find a couple of playmakers in Kenny Moore and Darius Leonard and Jabal Sheard. But Clayton Gathers is a versatile safety. He can come up in the box. And there's a lot more to it than that.

I mean, he's a great locker room guy. He's a guy that Frank Reich asked to talk to the team before one of their big games in December last year. He's an example type of guy that the younger guys have followed. And believe me, that kind of stuff matters. I saw it happen this year with this team's transformation. Guys like Clayton Gathers are why this team went from 1-5 to the playoffs. It's a great signing.

We'll see what kind of deal we're talking about. I don't want to speculate just yet. Clayton met with some other teams this week that I know. I talked to him the second week of January. They sort of parted ways for the offseason. I know that he wanted to come back here. So better believe that the Colts and the way this team is trending played a role in that decision.

I saw a tweet earlier today from you, Zach, that really puts into emphasis what really is going on here in Indianapolis right now with Chris Bauer. He's re-signed six of his own guys so far this offseason, including Gathers with Ben and Terry, Mark Lewinsky and Marcus Hunt, Pierre Desir and Chester Rogers. Just what is that like? You're around the locker room all the time.

It seems like if you buy into the culture, you buy into the system there in Indianapolis, you're going to be rewarded for it. Yeah, it's huge, especially for the players. You better believe these guys are noticing this. I mean, you saw Kenny Moore tweet it out earlier today. And you notice every time you talk to one of these guys after they sign a deal, they mention the locker room.

Adam Vinatieri could walk away right now with no questions to be answered. He's got everything a player could ever want. He's signed 11 contracts in this league. He's got more money than we can count. He wants to come back and see if the Leafs team can contend next year. Pierre Desir had some more money on the table in a couple of their plays, and he wanted to stay here. Chris Ballard is building something special. The players are buying into that. And when you've got guys next year that are up like Eric Ebron and Jack Doyle and Anthony Costanzo and Kenny Moore, you better believe, one, they're seeing that the

other guys are being rewarded, and this is how the Colts are building this. They're not signing a lot of guys from other teams. They addressed one move at the receiver spot in Devin Funches, but that's a one-year deal, and that's just basically them betting on Frank Wright being able to reach this kid. He's 24, got a lot

of talent. I think he can end well in Carolina, but beyond that move, the majority of moves are made with a clear purpose in mind let's build this from the ground up let's keep our own and let's stay away from the big risky expensive deals that have cost us in the past what's really what's really interesting as well is that you think more about just the different tenures with Ryan Grigson and Chris Ballard. Ryan Grixen immediately dipped his toes into free agency, spent a lot of money that way, and it really kind of hampered the team in the long run.

Do you agree with Ballard's way of doing things? I've seen a lot of Colts fans on Twitter and other areas that complain about the lack of spending, but like you're putting it, Zach, I think this is the more correct route of doing it, building through the draft and self-managing the elite talent around it. Yeah, I mean, I don't work in the full CR department, but I do believe what he's doing is the best move for this team. Look, there were years and years that Bill Bowling went through free agency and didn't spend a dime, and no one criticized him for it. He's a Hall of Famer. Chris Bowler's nowhere near that just yet, but he's off to a good start.

And when you can draft guys like Darius Leonard and find guys off the waiver wire like Kenny Moore, and it's not just Darius Leonard and Quentin Nelson at the top of the draft. That's like Anthony Walker, the fifth-round pick the year before. Darius Leonard got all the public linebackers this year, but Anthony Walker was pretty dang good. So when you can find value like that in second, third, fourth-round guys, you can add to the depth of your team in a very efficient way.

And by that I mean it's inexpensive to have those rookies playing. Now it's risky and you've got to coach them up well, and the coach has both of the great coaching staff. But that's the way to do it. And then you reward guys like that. They want homegrown talent. Guys like Quincy Wilson in terms of around this year. They want those guys to grow up in the system and become faces of this team.

And when you go out, this is the one thing everyone forgets about free agency. Everyone wants their team to make moves so they can sit better and march, knowing that their team got better. But most guys got to go play, and they got to perform, and they've got huge expectations because the cash for agency is absurd. I talked to some people in the league and the money just being thrown around this year for let's call an average maybe above average players is just absurd. It's just crazy. It gets bigger and bigger every year. It's just you've got to remember this one thing. There are players on

the street for a reason. I don't mean on the street, on the street, but there are players available for a reason. I mean, one team decided they could live without that. And there's always extenuating circumstances. It's not like Antonio Brown becomes available every day, but there's a reason these guys are available. There's a reason other guys are not available. A guy like Darius Leonard is never going to get the free agent market because the post won't let him. That happens with guys like Marcus Lawrence and Dallas.

Of course they weren't going to let them out the door. So you've got to remember that these guys are hitting the market for a reason. One team decided they could move on without them. And Chris Fowler said this, I want to say, a year ago. He said, look, C players get B money, B players get A money. I think even this year, C players are getting A money. And maybe Devin Funches got a little bit more money than a lot of people thought. But beyond that, they haven't done anything besides take care of their own.

Speaking of Devin Funches, I'm glad you brought that up, Zach, because this could be our next topic here. He signed a one-year, $10 million deal with incentives that could get it up to that $10 million threshold. But what was your overall thoughts on that deal? And it was the one outside sign that really made so far this free agency period, 6'4", 230-pound big-body receiver. Maybe it's just me because I'm just thinking of the past eras here,

but is he what Andre Johnson should have been in the original sign about four or five years ago? Well, we've got a long way to go to answer that question. Andre Johnson had a heck of a pedigree coming into that. For sure. Doesn't have of a pedigree coming into Indianapolis. For sure. He doesn't have quite that pedigree. And we'll see.

I mean, I think one thing you have to remember is the Colts could not enter training camp at receiver the way they are currently. We saw a ton of great stuff from Deion Taylor last year. I mean, the kid made a great play every single day. And they thought, they thought internally, he might be good enough to be the number twoay last year. I mean, the kid made a great play every single day. And they thought, they thought internally he might be good enough to be the number two receiver last year. He tore his ACL in the first three-season game, so we didn't get the speed out of him. So this year, you really don't know until you bet.

You know the talent's there, but his ACL's take a long time. That's more critical about that. Chester Rogers is back. He wants to be back. That's a good depth guy. But you just had to address the receiver in one way or another and i said all along they're going to sign one or three and they're going to draft 102 i expect that to be the case they signed punches um the idea of being that frank reich

and mcsyrion and the tenancy two and one three can reach him in a way that they reached eric hebron last year and i know he's a tight end but let's call it what it is I mean he's a receiver basically um and they saw the talent there he sits four they like his route running they believe in his character they studied all this before this time and um and it's just a cool setting on himself if it doesn't work out it doesn't work out but the one thing Cristal has done in free agency when he has been through in the past two three three years is he hasn't hand-strawled himself with wrong deals. He's never signed a deal for a guy longer than three years. If this one doesn't work out, yeah, you eat the $10 million, you see what happens in 2019, and then you move on because it's not going to hurt you in 2020 and 2021. So it's a move you've got to make at that position.

And I know the receiving class this year is not that impressive. But this is a GM that he knows as coach. And we're going to see what Frank Wright can do with Devin Funches. I'm glad you brought up Deion Kane as well because there was definitely some hype about him in the preseason and also in training camp. What do you think are the expectations for Deion Kane next year? Obviously, Devin Funch they brought in, but it just seems like from the end-of-the-season press conference

that I heard online and also through other outlets, it seems like there is a high expectation for Deion Kane to contribute next year. Yeah, I'm going to pump a break just because the ACL just takes a while. I'm thinking about his receiver. I think the catch-up he was making in camp and all this was for acrobatic sideline speed, everything that a receiver, and he catches even making camp and all this, and let's look at acrobatic sideline speed, everything that a receiver does well. I don't want to put so much expectation on this rookie who flashed for three weeks

and then had this really serious injury. We'll see. I think he's got all the talent in the world. It wasn't just a flash in the pan. It wasn't just one day. It was like five or six days in a row where he just did something spectacular um but it's just we're gonna see um it's gonna have to be a daily thing we're gonna have to watch that name uh just coming back from that huge mental thing you saw malik hooker this year wouldn't really himself until october

november um these athletes these top-end athletes, it takes them a while to get back that explosion, that confidence that they had before the injury. That's why I think you need to add a guy like Devin Summers and you need to add a little bit more depth of receiver. Not that you're not banking on De'Aaron King making an impact in 2019, it's just hard to say when that's gonna come.

You need to be covered otherwise. Another interesting note about the coldfear.amp in the last few days is the incoming bits are happening today with Jay Ajayi and Aaron Lynch. Lynch was with the Bears last year, Ajayi with the Eagles. Both feel kind of positions of need here. Jay Ajayi could be a good depth running back piece. Aaron Lynch could be a good solid back piece in the pass rush. What do you think about those two guys that the second wave creates here, maybe even third wave free.

And say, it seems like Chris Bowers kind of doing did last year, Danico Autry and Eric Ebron trying to get these guys on a really good bargain deals. Yeah. I mean, someone inside the building told me last week, they're playing the long game,

but just with a day one signing since then, they've only signed their own guys. They're not going to overreact. They're not going to jump and spend a lot of money they weren't prepared to spend. They put labels and they put price tags on these guys and they do not budge when that price tag gets

too high. They're not made in columns. Sign with the Redskins for a billion dollars. We'll see if he's worth it. The Colts are a little bit different than most teams. They don't sign a lot of guys that they bring in on visits that day. Usually they let the process play out. I think they're going to check out a giant arena. I would assume they are.

Obviously, Frank Reich has a background with him. They could get better at the running back spot. I don't mean they could get better at the starting running back spot. I think a lot of people forget how good Michael Mack is. They could add some depth there. It never hurts to have another playmaker in the offense. I think Frank Reich will tell you that. They always need pass rush help. They always need pass rush help.

They always need pass rush help. They need an upgrade there as well. They need depth. Chris Ballard is never going to be happy with his offensive and defensive lines until he's got nine guys who can start on both sides. He just wants that depth that can just come in and not miss a beat. So we'll see, but just be mindful. This team is going to be patient.

They're going to probably have a lot of visits where guys don't end up signing. They're not going to splash in terms of money. They're going to look for those value deals. They've got the nice roster right now in terms of core players. What they're trying to do now is add complementary pieces. They're going to try to do that without spending too much money. What's really interesting, I saw a note today about the Colts that said only one of their 22 stars view include Devin Funks replacing Adonko and the Ryan Grant type. Almost all their stars on both sides of the ball are back next year.

How big is that for this team? Because they're obviously one of the younger teams last year, but keeping all those guys back and adding another year of development on top, that seems like a huge goal there. Yeah, it's really rare when you can do that in this league, but I think the Colts really, really like that. They have a good game going. They see that. I think a lot of the NFL see that. For the first time in forever, the quarterback has no questions to answer. This season, he'll have a complete, healthy offseason program with this team and this offense. That's huge.

It starts with any Luck, and then you look across the roster, they've got every defensive starter back, I want to say. And on offense, they've got just about everyone back. Jack Doerr will be a little bit late in the off-season program, but I wouldn't worry about him. That cohesion really matters. You're going to start to see this team

just continue where they left off in 2018. They left off in a really good spot. No, they're not as good as the Kansas City Chiefs or the New England Patriots, and I'm not going to say they are until they start beating those teams. But they've got what they need to start knocking on the door. I think it happened a little bit faster than people thought, but 2018 was a pretty miraculous season.

Why wouldn't you want to see the same guys on that part of that moving forward. Another point here that's really interesting to bring up here, just the free NC point of view, and that's like you're saying, they're playing the long game here, which is a smart way of doing it, and there's still some good names out there. Obviously, I think it's a smart approach. You agree it's a smart approach as well. How do you think the draft's going to go for them?

Because last year we saw their draft single-handedly change their franchise with the Clinton Nelson, Jordan Smith, Darius Leonard. What's your expectation for this year? I know fans are setting it to the moon now. You drafted two All-Pros for the first time since the 60s with Gale Sarris and Dick Buckus. But it seems like Chris Ballard threw a bang on the draft once again this year. Yeah, he loves the draft, man.

This guy lives for the draft. We asked him about it at the combine. You know, there's a lot of capital there. There's nine kids. Maybe you move back. Maybe you move up. Like, man, I like those picks. He's not going to give up those picks.

Even if it's a sixth-rounder, he's a seventh-rounder, whatever. Look at what he did last year. He had 11 picks. Let's say Kane is healthy. I mean, that's how good that class is. If you have Kane as your number two receiver, you've already got, you know, Bill Higwop and Nelson and Leonard.

There's a lot more than that, too. I mean, let's not forget about Braden Smith nearly just saving them at my tackle. So I don't want to pinpoint position either. I know they've got needs. You know, I guarantee you he drafts alignment of both sorts offensive and defensive You can always get better at linebacker. You can always have more depth at linebacker They need help in the secondary. I think they just a corner because you never have too many

But I think they definitely have to draft a safety even though Matthias Farley and Clayton Gattles are back and Roy Swiffer is obviously back as well, you need a receiver or two. But this is not a draft of a glaring need. I think it's just you add the best player you can find, especially at the front of the draft. You've got first and you've got two second-round picks. Just keep stacking starters.

That's the best way to build. That's what this team wasn't used to. I mean, in 2013 and 2014 and 2015, you just missed too many times early in the first and second rounds. Those guys aren't up for second contracts. I think Clayton Gathers is the first offensive player this team has given a second contract to since, like, Sealy Mawala, who was drafted at the tail end of the Bill Pullian era. He wasn't even an NFL player anyway.

So that's what you need to do. You need to start drafting starters every year. You're going to lose a couple guys in a history agency every once in a while. You're going to resign the very best players. But that's how you build a team that's good enough to contend four years

in a row, five years in a row, and have an era in which they can contend versus more two years. For sure. I agree that's the best way to definitely build stability. And I'd be remiss not to ask you this question, Zach, about Jacoby Bursette. It seems like the team loves Jacoby. Chris Bauer loves Jacoby. But there's teams around the league that still need some quarterbacks.

Mine comes to mind. New York comes to mind. The Giants. Do you see any way that they let go of Jacoby Brissett before the draft? I know there were no calls to Cristiano's office before the combine. I would imagine that has changed to this point. I know he's not going to give them away. I think he did call in 2019.

I know it's maybe not the smartest move on paper for the team. Obviously, if you let him go next year, you don't get any of that. You let him go three years later. But I think there's a value to what Chris Bell is saying. He said this. Look, if you think he's wrong, that's fine. He doesn't care. But I think there's a value to Jacoby being a locker room.

He makes Andrew better. He's a great teammate. He's the guy who got the text message started that got the players-only meeting to happen in October when they were 1-5. There were some other guys that talked during the meeting, but look, there's a lot of factors that played into the fact that they won, but neither of their last 10 had a playoff. That meeting was started by Jacoby Brissett. Not a lot of backup quarterbacks have the gumption to get that going.

Jacoby's a different backup quarterback. He's a great locker room guy, and I think that matters. I think they want to keep that in place for another year, even if they do take the hit the following year and have to go sign another backup quarterback and let them go for nothing. I think there is a value in keeping him. I'm not saying a trade couldn't happen

because there's so many reasons why it would, but I'd be surprised if he's not a Colt next year. I agree with you. I think that's probably what will happen, and I think it's a smart way to go about it too in case of a worst-case scenario happening. But before I let you go, Zach, I have a couple expectation questions for you to wrap things up.

With the September Miraculous season last year, from a fan perspective, that was probably the most fun I've had in the Peyton Manning era, to be honest, in a season. What was it from your point of view as the media, just seeing one in five and come back and win nine of the last 10 games, 10 of the last 11, if you include the playoffs, just an incredible run that came out of nowhere.

Yeah, it was incredible. I've never covered a season quite like it. The only one that compares, and I didn't cover it every day, was the 2012 where the checkers got about six and the Crusadians came in. But no, it was a special season. You don't really realize that when you're inside it because you're just doing the day-to-day. You're just kind of covering the games. But early on and getting the field to strike right, they were one inside, but they weren't that far off. I remember talking to them in the Patriots locker room, and the team played pretty well that night, considering they had like 25 guys injured. Frank just doesn't bend.

He just doesn't change his demeanor. He doesn't break his beliefs. He's just very, very convicted in what he believes, and it's real. A lot of coaches do that, and it's fake, and you can tell. He's not like that, and I think that was the main thing that got this thing turned around. I know Chris Ballard sent a long text message to the staff after they lost that Jets game, and they were pretty embarrassed.

He said, look, we believe we're doing this the right way. We believe this will turn. We just got to keep our nose to the ground. We just keep working. He's working. If it's a turn, they got some guys healthy. Andrew really turned it on in October and September. Harlan Mack got healthy. The line played great.

And then you saw them become a really good professional. I think the game in Houston in the playoffs was really what the team wanted to be telling them the year to come. I mean, they just beat the crap out of them. They beat them in the trenches like I haven't seen a coach team do in a long time. And that was really the most telling moment for me. Frank Reich's running off the field today, and the horse shoe is back. I'm like, dang, he's right.

I mean, they're back. They're not there yet. They've got a ways to go. But it's going to be a fun season coming up, and it's going to be a fun run with this quarterback and this coach and this place. Because they built this team completely differently than the way they built it in the previous regime. It's gonna be a fun run with this quarterback and this coach and this place. Cuz they built this team completely differently than the way they built it in the previous regime.

And it's really built to stay, and it's really built to win ugly. And I think that's gonna be fun to watch if they can keep this up with guys like Quentin Nelson and Brady Smith and guys like Darius Leonard on the other side. It's gonna be a fun, fun run for the team in a couple years. Zach, you were on the team every day the past few years, and I just wanted to hear your thoughts from a person who's inside the building almost every day during the season, and if you're in the offseason, too. What's the energy like in the building compared to what it was

in the Grixen era and now what it is in the Reich and Bauer? Because just from the outside looking in, it seems like the energy is more vibrant there, and it feels like just listening to other former players talk about it it's just completely different than what it used to be yeah it's there's more camaraderie i definitely see that there's definitely younger guys who have walked into this and really changed things there was definitely good guys in the group there i love talking with paul jackson and mike adams those were just good guys. You can win with those kind of guys. It got bad in 2017.

What did you lose? Six to seven in a row. It's just tough without your star quarterback healthy. It's hard to find hope in a lot of guys' faces and worries during that season. They played hard and I get it. They took a lot of games close. It really

changed this year. One guy who's been really honest about that is Edwin Carey. I mean, look, he's been around a ton of coaches. He's played for Dungy, he's played for Belichick, he's played for Frank Wright, he's played for Chuck Pagano, he's played for Jim Caldwell. But he's really honest. Like from the start last year in Asia, he was getting after it. And you can tell the building was changing. And guys like Quentin Nelson changed the building. Chris Powell has been really honest about this. Players set the tone. Coaches can only do so much.

Players believe for themselves, and that stuff matters. And guys like Quentin Nelson, maybe offensive line more accountable. Guys like Darius Leonard, maybe defense more accountable. Guys like Kenny Moore. Don't underestimate a guy like Kenny Moore as well. And obviously you get 12 back and everything changes. Everything all of a sudden becomes possible

and you can win any game you stood up for. So it was a crazy turn of events this season. It was a lot of fun to cover and there's a lot of confidence moving ahead. Final question before I let you go, Zach. Appreciate the time, as always. Your overall expectations for this season, I know fans are setting a high mark here with that

at the end of the season. I think playoffs is a realistic goal. What do you think, if you were in the organization, what do you think is a correct barometer for the next season? Hard to say. They're on the upswing. I definitely think they're one of the teams on the rise in the league, but they're nowhere near beating Kansas City and New England as of right now. I don't know how you can say they are. They've got a get that monkey out the back before you can pick a Super Bowl.

I'm not saying it's out of the question, but I think there's two teams in the AFC everybody's chasing. I think everybody knows who they are. And I think the Colts still have a ways to go. They still have some pieces they need to add. Maybe you have another great draft this year. Maybe you don't. But you need to keep building because building is the way you're going to have a run or you can do it three or four years in a row. You can try to get to the AFC championship and then try to run it.

So we'll see. But they were beaten pretty badly in Kansas City. Let's not forget that. Yeah, for sure. Hopefully they can maybe get some of those holes filled that we saw were kind of exposed in Kansas City. But Zach, I appreciate the time and hopefully maybe get you back on around for any kind of a run around that time.

Yep.