Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS -3/28- Colts Speak On Willingness To Trade Back; Looking At The Past Week's Happenings

Episode Date: March 28, 2017

The #Colts have stated that they would like to trade back in the NFL draft, Ballard is happy with his free agent push -- finds it necessary to acquire enough talent to stay relevant. And Matt looks back at the release of Arthur Jones and what may lie ahead for the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Learn more about our healthy benefits at fepblue.org slash getmore. No, I'm not for sale. You are lockeded On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back to Locked On Colts, ladies and gentlemen. I'm your host, Matt Daly. Thank you guys for joining me here on a Tuesday, March 28th. And we've got a little bit of news to go over today. We haven't done really a, if you want to call it,

a live show in the past few days. Recorded some stuff over the weekend with some great guests, Rick McLaughlin, John Oning. If you guys haven't gone back and checked those out, please do that. Those are really informative, really good stuff from some knowledgeable guys on there. But obviously, Pat McAfee's retirement was one of them that actually has become official. That gave back the Colts about $2.75 million. I think that's what was reported. And then the Colts also actually finally released Arthur Jones. We hadn't talked about that quite yet. It's a little bit of old news, but we haven't talked about it, so we're going to talk about it.

Got the Colts back another 5.1, uh, 5 million. And so that adds a little bit of, a little bit of space there, uh, for the Colts, but there's, you know, the Colts are in pretty good shape cap wise. So, I mean, that's nice to get that money. It wasn't like the Colts were strapped in, in dire straits or anything like that to get it, but they do have it. And that helps Colts going forward. It doesn't look like the Colts are really planning on making many more moves. One of the things that Chris Ballard was talking about recently about this free agency class is that they had done so much outside free agent work, but he stayed away from the big name

bidding wars and the big name contracts and stuff like that for the most part. I mean, even Sheard, who got the most lucrative deal, is roughly like eight and a half, I think, per year. So I mean, none of that is high, high dollar stuff league-wide, at least considerably. And so when you look at the way he structured the contracts, of course, we've talked about that here. A lot of other people have talked about that as well. And it's a fantastic point, and it makes all the sense in the world. Front-loading the contract, getting all the guarantees done in the first year. A lot of any guarantees that are in the second year are on, like, the fifth day of the league year.

So that's something that can obviously be, you know, nipped in the bud, so to speak, before anything actually ever gets started next year, which happens right around combine time as well. So the Colts are in pretty good shape. I mean, he'd done a great job doing these contracts, basically doing it. A lot of the contracts with the depth guys are per active game. And even some of the non-act are none of the non-depth guys. I mean, Simons even has, and Butlers and Aikens, I believe all those guys, their contracts have a little bit of per active game incentive, so to speak to their contract. So, I mean, that's the way that's, I just, I think that everybody agrees that Bauer has done an impressive job, even though he's had to spend money in free agency. It is money, but it's, it's, it's wise spending, even though it is bringing in a ton of free

agency. This is not a situation where anybody's trying to win the off season and free agency. This is him. Like we've talked about bringing bringing in those foundational pieces and hoping to bring in a ton of talent in the draft and starters through the draft for the most part. With the exception of Simon and Sheard, he wants them to be starters as well. Obviously, I think he wants them to fulfill their contracts and be foundational pieces to this defense. But if they don't, then that's why he is hoping to have a phenomenal draft. Also from the owners meetings, Kevin Bowen, the writers for Colts.com was talking about, that Ursae is talking about being interested in trading back, which is obviously something that we've talked about here, but it's something that seems like it just would fit with

what the Colts are wanting to do. You know, you've at least got to trade down once somewhere, and that's not going to be a difficult thing to do. Whether it's in the first round, probably might be a little more difficult, but I would say second or third round, day two stuff, you might even see a couple. I mean, so that's something that we need to expect. So when the Colts get ready to be on the clock, don't get too excited about waiting for a pick. It's going to kill you because it's going to kill me. I think I'm more excited this year about this draft than I have been in years past

just because it's a positive thing going forward. I mean, we've got an intelligent GM who wants to do things the right way. He's already shown that by, you know, some of his offseason signings, bringing in a couple, or bringing in a few of these guys, and also re-signing like guys like Doyle, and a lot of people are happy about the Butler re-signing, and, you know, Turbin for that matter as well, who adds crucial depth to the running back position, and doesn't hamper the Colts pulling in another running back out of the draft. And I think they'll do that. And also,

Ursae talked about that, you know, talking about a late round running back. I mean, a lot of things that we've been talking about on here, I'm sure that a lot of it's been nationalized as well, but it's all stuff that we've discussed on here. And it just makes sense. You know, it's not that I'm the smartest guy or you guys are the smartest people on earth but you know we all see that that's something that needs to happen this is what the intelligent uh order of events uh should lead the colts to do so so the colts have done a few things uh in free agency you know then we see some of the talk from the owners meetings and the adding of a little bit of cap space with Pat McAfee's official retirement and the release of Arthur Jones. It was just something that we assumed was waiting in the winds to begin with.

I had a lot of questions when that happened, if we thought that was going to be an immediate cause for the Colts to go after Hankins. And I said at least to a couple people, that I didn't see the two situations tied. What I meant by that was the Colts had plenty of cap room to begin with. And if they were going to go after Hankins, they would have gone after him regardless. I don't know that they are or aren't. I'm just saying that if the Colts were going to go after Hankins, it certainly wouldn't have been predicated upon them releasing Arthur Jones. If they'd have done that, that would have done happened a long time ago. So that's why I said that.

They're not tied together. It wouldn't surprise me if they tried to make a push for him. Something's real weird with the way he's gone through his free agency. He's had longstanding offers with the Giants. I don't know that they're having actual conversations or not, but he's obviously not biting on that. But we're not hearing about anybody offering him. Something's up with that.

I mean, that's almost like a draft guy or a draft prospect getting the shun in some interviews or some part of the process to where teams are just kind of staying away from him. And that worries me. As much as I've hyped this guy up, I want to know what's going on with him just because it seems like he's one of the best talents at nose tackle in the free agency, and he's a good one, and he's young. So it's not like the guy's old and we're just building up some 30-year-old who's had good seasons in the past.

This is a guy who's young and you would think would be hungry to prove that he's worth every penny that he's asking for and for the lack of uh determination on his part and the lack of interest from other teams is really weird i mean really uh i mean that's a a red flag for sure i think in multiple uh for multiple reasons but you know apparently theants still seem to be interested in him. I don't know that the Colts are or aren't. I would assume that they're not, being that they haven't pulled the trigger or we haven't heard of an offer being given to him at this point.

So I would just go ahead and assume that the Colts are out on Hankins. There is a couple of nose tackles in this draft that the Colts could probably target late, and that is something that I think that they'll probably look to do, especially if they can trade back a couple different times, gather another sixth round pick, another fifth round pick, or maybe even a seventh round pick in the process and use that towards trying to find somebody right there at that uh nose tackle or that uh that one tech or something like that so it we've got a lot to look forward to obviously uh in the coming weeks

and in the month i mean we are right out of month uh from the draft and it's not you know dying down this is exciting stuff so now we get to our franchise here and there's the story kind of popping around about Andrew Luck and his shoulder and that the Colts aren't going to rush him back which obviously they shouldn't um but then there's also kind of like some offset articles that are saying that he's not going to be ready by camp I don't I've not seen that from anybody like any credible source uh if if I've just missed it or something maybe but i know that one doesn't mean the other the the fact that they're going to take their time with andrew

doesn't mean that he's not going to be ready for camp uh the i mean if they don't you know throw him in camp much other than just kind of throwing and stuff like that that's one thing but not uh trying to uh get him as a whole bunch of torque on that shoulder, that's an injury that could legitimately affect his future as a quarterback, especially the caliber of quarterback that we've come to expect in Indianapolis from Andrew Luck and the caliber of quarterback that he's expected to be throughout his career. But, I mean, you don't rush a guy like that back for any reason. He's already been playing under, you know, a ton of pressure, is getting hit as much as he has, putting himself in harm's way

as much as he has. And a guy with a shoulder like that and an arm like that, who's that vital to this organization's future, at least for the next five to eight to 10 years, you know, you don't rush that guy back. Now, does that mean he's not going to be ready for camp? I don't think so. I don't see why that would be the case. Maybe he won't participate much in camp. That doesn't necessarily mean he won't be ready by camp. So I think no matter what, as soon as he's able to complete his physical therapy and move on to throwing the ball, he will be. Like I said, whether he's trying to put as much torque on it as possible to make a bunch of throws, obviously that comes with time, and you don't rush that part of it either.

But I would not fret if you guys are reading this about Andrew Luck and you're worried that he won't be ready for the games or something like that, I wouldn't worry about that. And if the worst case scenario happened and he didn't throw or participate in camp and may not participate in preseason at all, I think we talked about, I'm almost pretty sure we talked about this right when his surgery was announced that he was going to have surgery. That's not anything that we need to worry about. If it took him a couple games, maybe even two or three games to get ready, you know, to really find his rhythm and to get himself acclimated after surgery, so to speak, you know, going into those first few games, he might struggle a little bit.

This isn't something, though, that we need to worry about in the long term. I mean, if we're worried about, if anybody's going into this next season thinking the Colts are going to the Super Bowl, I think we need to take a step back because that's not, in my opinion, a realistic expectation. If you want the Colts to battle for a playoff spot. I think that's realistic. This is going to be a much improved AFC South. I don't think that you can spend that kind of free agent capital on quality defenders the way that the Jacksonville Jaguars have and expect not to get something in return. They were a solid defense last year, especially towards the end of the year. And ultimately, the faith of their team relies on having a competent quarterback,

and they don't have that. So if they were to get that fixed, Jacksonville's a real player in the division, whether we like it or not or want to admit it at this time or not. Tennessee, obviously, they've improved as well. Marcus Mariota is a pretty good quarterback. You have to respect him and respect his abilities. And then, you know, you can still get a ton from Houston. We don't even know who their quarterback is,

but they were a top three defense last year in multiple areas. They have lost some pieces though obviously our man john simon and aj bouyer and stuff like that so do they have the depth and the coverage ability maybe not right now but also they get a draft too so we don't really know what they're going to get but you can just about assume with edge rushers, edge defenders in general, and cornerbacks and secondary, that they're going to have their pickings just as much as the Colts will of quality NFL caliber coverage guys and guys that can get to the quarterback. So they're going to recoup what they lost. The Colts are the ones that are really coming from the bottom here.

And the Colts could be a 500 team next year. But it's the years after that that we really need to worry about. And not worry about, but the ones we need to be looking forward to. The ones that should concern us the most. And not in a negative way, but they should concern us the most because those are the realistic years where we want uh you know a second draft and a second free agent period uh out of chris ballard and this uh colts team and and to see what what the the depth guys and and sheared and simon can can bring to the team legitimately and then we get this second draft under our belts and maybe we've got something you know so uh and we've still got regardless any way you slice it, the best quarterback in the division. That's not debatable.

So once that comes up and once everything kind of mashes itself together, then we've got some real stuff to think about. The Colts would probably overachieve this year if they won the division. That's just my feeling at the moment, and I think that's realistic. I think that the Colts are already, just with the depth signings and stuff, are legitimately better than they were last year, aside from the secondary, at this time. I mean, their front seven is significantly better. I won't say significant.

They are better because they've got depth already, and we didn't have much of that last year. We've got a little bit of it, and we lost a little bit of it as well, but we've recouped it, and I think that they've got two better edge rushers than the Colts had last year, regardless of how much credit anybody wants to give Walden. He did do well, was opportunistic, but he was also a guy who got a lot of his sacks in the coverage sort of way. So these aren't things that you can necessarily compare to each other. I think Simon

and Sheard are both pure edge rushers, are both better pure edge rushers than Walden was last year and certainly better than Mathis was last year as well. So outside of that, we've got Ayers and some other guys that are already going to be there. Our front four is going to be better. Our linebacking core is going to be significantly better after the draft regardless. I mean, just having another quality young guy in there is going to make our defense better. And Sean Spence is a quality guy as well. Highly respected.

A guy who could really show out. We shouldn't expect him to be Jarrell Freeman 2.0, you know, but we should certainly expect him to hold his own. And if he grows and is better than that, then the Colts will be in good shape at the middle linebacker position. And we should be excited for that. Also, just a little bit of a recap over what's gone on the past week, week and a half on Locked On Colts, that is. You should definitely go back and check out the bonus episode that I did with Lee Steinberg, basically talking about cultivating the agent and player relationship. He gives us a lot of really cool information, a very good episode, if nothing else, for just what he can offer in knowledge. And it kind of gives

you an inside look at what those guys do in about a 30-minute interview, the best that I could do. And that's a really good episode for you guys to check out. Also, Alex Kozora, who covers the Steelers, gives us a little inside look at Sean Spence, kind of what to expect from him, what he's capable of, what he can bring to the Colts middle linebacker position. And also we talked with the newest member of Colts Nation was Kevin Hickey, who's running the new Colts Wire site for USA Today. And that's a good one. Get to know him. Go out there and follow him.

Follow Coltswire. He's a good dude. He deserves your follow. And he's a good conversation as well. So you'll really enjoy getting to know him, especially on Twitter and stuff like that. You can follow him at KevinHickey11. You can follow Alex at Alex underscore Kozora. And then John Oning came on the other day, if you guys remember that, and kind of talked about his edge rankings, which were a little different than what you guys may be hearing national-wise. And some interesting guys, it's top three edge guys as well. So that's the good stuff. That's the stuff you want to see. People that use their own head and their own thoughts and their own process to come up with their own class and their own rankings.

That's what's good about draft time. Because a lot of times, like we talk about several times, you'll see so many different rankings, so many steps for each team of how they have each guy's rank. And that's really interesting to check out. It truly is. Check out John at JohnOwning on Twitter as well. And then yesterday's show with Rick McLaughlin at Draft Tech Colts, he came on and we talked a little bit about the draft as well and kind of what we thought the early round picks should be, who we thought would be viable options in the first couple rounds. And

that was a good show as well. And it's always a good time to talk with those guys. Smart people. I'm trying to bring you guys smart interactions with guys who know their stuff and can create a good show, to be quite honest with you. And it'll intrigue you guys a little bit as well. So let me know what you guys think about this. Let me know what who your favorite guests are, and stuff like that I want to bring on. I love having George Bremmer on, obviously, try to get him on here once every week or two. You know, we've had Josh Wilson from Stampede Blue, and all these guys have been on a couple different times, I think as well. So let me know who you guys really enjoy listening to,

and we'll try to get them on a little bit more often or just whatever. But a little bit of personal news as well, real quick before we end our night. I've also climbed on board Stampede Blue with Josh Wilson, and will be also riding there while maintaining my spot at FanRag Sports and Locked on Colts as well. So you guys will be able to read my content there as well. Pretty excited about that. Josh is a great guy. He runs a good tight ship. Very knowledgeable guy. Excellent site. So that'll be good. I'll be able to get on another Colts site and see what I can provide there content wise and hopefully bring you guys as much coverage on the Colts as I possibly can.

So I appreciate all your follows on Twitter. I appreciate all the kind words. I truly do. I say this it seems like I'm saying this every episode but I really do. I enjoy interacting with you guys. I think that anybody who's ever messaged me or anything like that, you would probably agree. I try to get back with as many people as I can. Sometimes it's not always possible. I mean, I've got five kids of my own and, you know, busy house and between writing and podcasting and a full time job and stuff myself, it's not always the easiest thing to do, but I definitely try. And I hope that you guys enjoy interacting with me as well. So thank you guys for everything that you're doing out there. Please share the show. Tell a friend. Tell them that it's a great Colts podcast and that they should be listening if they're Colts fans as well. Send them to iTunes. Have them give it a rating and a review. And just tell me what you guys are loving about the show. You can always catch me on Twitter at mdainley underscore NFL. You can get the show at Locked on Colts on Twitter as well.

We have the Facebook page up, have been for quite a while now. So if you go and like that too as well, it also has some aggregated site work and stuff from other websites that cover the Colts and stuff to give you guys as much news as possible. It's not about competition. As far as I'm concerned, it's about just sharing as many viewpoints as possible. A lot of great writers out there.

A lot of great guys and gals doing phenomenal work for the team and on the team. And you should follow all of them. So thank you guys for listening. Thank you for coming by. I will talk to you all next time right here on Locked on Colts. You are Locked on Colts, your daily podcast on the Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. save you 20% on auto parts. That's 20% off headlamps, 20% off oil filters, 20% off virtually anything you can fit inside

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