Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Takeaways from Indianapolis Colts' Chris Ballard and Frank Reich's NFL Scouting Combine Press Conferences

Episode Date: March 2, 2022

On today's episode, Evan is joined by Stephen Reed to go over Chris Ballard and Frank Reich's NFL Scouting Combine press conferences. What were the biggest takeaways?Carson Wentz's days seem numbered in Indy as Ballard and Reich both refused to say much positives on their QB1. What does that mean moving forward for Wentz? Is "All Chips In" a move for Russell Wilson? We cover the QB scenarios that stand out most right now.Closing out the show, we go over other notable notes from a huge Tuesday in Indy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. Locked On Podcast Network. Today is always your host, Evan Sidery, joined by Stephen Reed of Stampede. We're here on a Tuesday night to go over a very eventful day for the Indianapolis Colts. Obviously, the Scouting Combine is starting this weekend in India. And we had a chance to hear from Chris Ballard and Frank Wright today at the Scouting Combine. Steven, how you doing today? Hey Evan, I'm doing well today. How are you?

I'm doing great. Appreciate the time as always, Steven. I know our listeners always enjoy having you on here and we were just talking about off the air real quick, but obviously the big takeaways that are going to cover all throughout today's show is Carson Wentz. There was a couple other nuggets we'll dive into maybe closing out the show, but this whole episode is going to be about Carson Wentz, our thoughts, what we've heard from Ballard and Reich, what's coming next for the Colts and Carson Wentz as well. So let me go ahead and pull up real quick. I was going to play a minute 30 second clip. It's from Dom Izzo, who is a, I think a news anchor in North Dakota. Obviously they're interested about Carson Wentz, a former North

Dakota state bison, but get a minute 30 clip from Chris Bowden and Frank Reich today with all their quotes about Carson Wentz. I'm going to play that real quick for you guys in full. Here it is. I don't have a direct answer. I don't know. We're still working through it. And I know I'm going to get a lot of questions about Carson right now. And I don't have a direct answer for you.

We're working through it, Jim, Mr. Arce, and Frank and I will sit down over the next 10 days and figure out where it's going. Ultimately, we'll do what's best for the team, for the Colts, both in the short term and in the long term. I'm not saying we don't. But in the long term, it's best interest for us. I think as we sit down and work through whether Carson is the long-term best interest for us, I think as we sit down and work through whether Carson is the long-term best answer or not is the best way I can put it. We're not there yet.

I'm not there yet. And that's something that we'll talk about as a group and move forward. And whatever decision we make will be the best one for us. I know I believe in Carson. You know, I believe that, you know, I believe that I stuck my neck out in Carson. I believe that I stuck my neck out for him. I stuck my neck out for him. So last year I was a big part of that decision to get him here. And so I believe he's going to continue to have a lot of success at cornerback.

That might be here. It might not be here. That decision has yet to be determined. But I still believe in the person. I still believe in the player, right? I mean, we're all in progress. You know, I'm in progress. He's in progress.

Every one of our players is in progress. I want to get into that trap of taking a snapshot of any one week or one year. It's a bigger story than that, right? So the storyline is much bigger than one season. We've always had that perspective, and we'll continue to do that. All righty, Stephen. Instant reaction to that.

For those listening out there who heard that for the first time, if you haven't had a chance to watch Chris Bowden and Frank Reich's press conference, I had a chance to watch it live today on Colts.com. My instant reaction to that is Carson Wentz is gone, and I think Frank Reich has a little bit of hope there. He's instant reaction to that is Carson Wentz is gone and I think Frank Reich has a little bit of hope there he's obviously in the camp of Carson Wentz if he does come back but I think it's pretty obvious just reading that he leaves there Steven and then once again refusing to back Carson Wentz publicly again in a national setting Carson Wentz is gone I mean but

what's your opinion Steve after hearing that minutea-half clip I just played for you? Yeah, I mean, it's the same pretty much. I feel like at this point Carson Wentz is no longer going to be the quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts in 2022. They did, I guess, leave some wiggle room in there, but it's kind of like when your parents growing up said, we'll see like you know that you're not going to get to do whatever they said we'll see you get to do but there's that little bit of hope that maybe they might change their main their mind there um yeah this is a

we'll see um from from chris ballard there uh it's I just don't see him coming back. It'd be really tough to bring him back. Now, to Carson's credit, he's out working with Michael Pittman and Desmond Patman, wherever they're working. Chris Ballard mentioned they had an hour-long interview, or not interview, but meeting with Carson prior to Chris Ballard mentioned they had an hour-long interview, or not interview, but meeting with Carson prior to Chris Ballard's press conference at the Combine. So, I mean, Chris is telling us everything by telling us not a lot, and that should be pretty telling. And Carson, I feel bad for the guy to a point because it's not like he's over here doing terrible things or he's a bad person necessarily.

It's just not the right situation for him. And Frank Wright's comments I actually think were more telling than Chris Ballard's. That comment about, I still think he can be a great quarterback whether it's here or somewhere else. Part of me thinks they've already got a trade lined up for him. And it's already in the books. It's already sent into the league or whatever. And they just haven't announced it yet. And that's kind of where my thoughts are on it because it just sounds like they it's chris ballard always has that kind of wry smile if you watched it live

in a video uh about it and it's just he was pretty matter of fact and you don't want to move on unless you've already got something in place. Bruce Arians mentioned this when talking to Pat McAfee in his press conference. It's, you know, you don't want to – the quarterback market's going to be tough this year in terms of the veteran stuff because nobody wants to give up a known quantity unless you're getting – know what you're you're going to get so the fact that the Colts are already willing to move off of Carson it makes me feel like they've already got something up their sleeve planned that's just kind of my gut reaction to it yeah I think

honestly this is a situation where we were at like 95-5% as far as percentage values go for if Carson Wentz is back or not. And I'm still around the same unless something really – everything doesn't go the Colts way. I could see Carson Wentz back next season. But just the way they've worded things and multiple times in the public just not giving any sort of positive reinforcement to Carson Wentz, really doing the exact opposite.

And Chris Ballard mentioned that some of the criticisms Carson Wentz has taken from places like us, Stephen, on the podcast, talking about his inconsistent play. He said today those were – he said most of the criticisms were fair about Carson Wentz. And even Chris Ballard hesitating to say he's the guy long-term or not. Like, they're still evaluating that. Even though he just played a full season, he's still technically under contract.

And like you mentioned as well, Frank Reich's saying here or somewhere else when he's technically still under contract with the Colts. I think it says an awful lot, like you mentioned as well, Stephen, them saying a lot without actually saying much. Maybe that wasn't their intention at all, but it kind of really came off that way. For the hour-long meeting, though, that's what really intrigued me today. What do you think that was all about? Because, I mean, I know they had actually an exit meeting with Carson Wentz.

Chris Bauer mentioned that in the last time he spoke to the media. So what do you think this was all about because I mean I know they had actually an exit meeting with Carson Wentz uh Chris Bauer mentioned that and the last time he spoke to the media so what do you think this was all about I think it's all just about hey like by the way we might have you back but you're in talks with the commanders Steelers like have a backpack like that's what that's what the conversation was about or what do you think an hour-long conversation was with Wentz and Bauer because that that really caught my interest I have no idea, to put it bluntly. Chris Ballard has always been one of those guys that's going to be a straight shooter. And so I wouldn't be surprised if that meeting was something like what you described, where he said, hey, look, we're having trade discussions for you.

We're probably going to move on. I just want to be the one to tell you so you don't find out about it through media or leaks or somewhere else. I want to be the guy to tell you what's going on and why we're moving on. And that just seems like something that Chris Ballard would do just as a man. So that wouldn't surprise me. And it could just be Chris just feeling out Carson they're still trying to he said that that him and and Reich and Jim Irsay would make a decision within 10 days of today so by March 11th we're going to find out probably what's going to happen and so it could be just trying to get an

idea of where his head's at, uh, in terms of what off season work he's done, everything like that. It could be just a normal meeting. These guys will talk to the, the people within the organization throughout the, throughout the year. So it could be something normal.

My guess though, it was probably something where they might have something like i mentioned before they might have something already in place for him and they wanted to make sure that he was the one that relayed that information to carson versus carson finding it out from the media or anything like that yeah it just saw in the monitor because that's what caught my attention a little bit from the presser today because i'm just curious what that conversation was about but as Steven and I mentioned this is a speculation we don't know anything about those conversations but looking ahead a little bit Steven and hearing actually today about Jimmy Garoppolo needing shoulder surgery maybe it feels like to me I

don't know about you but unless they do make a move for a Russell Wilson type or if they're both including the same trade and Aaron Rodgers stays which feels like all the momentum this week is going towards Aaron Rodgers staying in Green Bay, according to Ian Rappaport and multiple other national NFL reporters, it seems like to me that Chris – is it fair to say Carson Wentz could be the first quarterback dominant of the fall in this QB career? So it feels like it's heading towards that direction. Football might be over for this season,

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Carson Wentz could be the first one on the move. That would not surprise me at all if that were the case because the Colts, they're going to – my guess is they're going to look to Tampa Bay, something like that, a team that has already got a pretty solid structure in place with a coach that we know likes Carson Wentz. And so I just, yeah, Carson probably is going to be the first one to be traded because the other thing to consider is those free, the other guys that we're talking about are free agent quarterbacks.

So you've got Rogers, Wilson, Kyler. Kyler's staying in Arizona. They're not going to be stupid and let go of Kyler. You've got Rogers probably staying green, but Russell Wilson is the question mark. He said today, you know, I'm in Seattle right now. And that's, and I love it here. So that right now is the operative phrase that, that Russell Wilson used in his interview today, because he's from Richmond, Virginia. And so he had a bunch of people reaching out saying, hey, you should come be the commander's quarterback. I mean, he shot that down,

said that that's not really an option. And then he mentioned something along the lines of, you know, right now I'm in Seattle or I'm in Seattle right now. And I love it. So who knows what Russell Wilson's going to go. I think that was probably going to be the first domino to fall. Cause I think he's going to get traded. And then after that, you're going to see Carson Wentz get moved. Jimmy G because of the shoulder surgery, it's probably going to jam up that trade market a little bit. Cause they're going to want to know how that surgery went, what the rehabilitation timetable, that timeframe is, and move on from there. And then after that, you've got free agent quarterbacks and the free agent quarterbacks can't do anything until free agency opens there on March 16th. So in terms of QBs following, Wentz could be the first one to be moved if that's what we're

going to go with. Yeah, it seems very likely Carson Wentz will get moved for sure within the next 10 or so days. And like you mentioned, Chris Ballard said that he, Jim Irsay, and Frank are going to talk about within the next 10 days, have a firm decision on what's going to happen with the Carson Wentz. But one more thing I wanted to mention along these lines was Ian Rappaport today on NFL Network at the Combine. He pretty much relayed – there's like a minute-long quote,

but just giving you guys the cliff notes here. Pretty much said that the Colts are big fish hunting for quarterbacks. They're looking to make a splash. No surprise here, Stu. And I would say the odds are very high. Probably already have happened at this point, but like a 99% to 1%. You have to imagine that the Colts have already called Green Bay they've already called Seattle and they're trying

to work those phones because obviously Interactport mentioned today they're hunting for a big upgrade a splashy name and we're hearing a lot of smoke around that with other people on the NFL too Steven so it feels like the Colts are one of those teams to watch out for where they I mean Jim might be impatient enough at this point to make a godfather offer that Seattle can't refuse for Russell Wilson so to say so what's your opinion of what's next for them as far as upgrading quarterbacks we went over all the options uh on our last episode but it feels like to me the Colts were there gearing up for something bigger yeah I think they are I think that I I said last week when we had the, the extra super long, fully stacked QB podcast, I think it's Russell Wilson. That's, that's where I'm at with it. I still think it's

Russell Wilson. I still think that that's where they're going. It just seems like the, the Colts being noncommittal Seattle last year, one of the things that they wanted back in any kind of trade package for Russell Wilson was a quarterback. The teams that were open to trying to get to Russell Wilson didn't have a quarterback available. This would be a perfect situation for the Colts and for Seattle, quite honestly. And the,

I think the rumored holdup was that the Seattle wanted an extra player or potentially wants an extra player from the Colts. And I don't remember where I saw that. So it might not even be a real thing because right now it's all just smoke screen season, NFL combine, all that. I'd be interested to know actually your thoughts on what kind of trade package would the Colts offer Seattle in terms of trying to get Russell Wilson? Yeah, that's a really good question because it's something to me where I feel like

what we talked about in the podcast last time, talking about the quarterback destinations and mentioning Russell Wilson, I think it's going to be more than what we've said. I think Russell Wilson's content in Seattle right now, and I think it's going to take the Seahawks saying, okay, we can't deny this kind of trade. This Colts team is ready to win now. Half their guys are in their prime years.

They're willing to pay a steeper price than any other team will be willing to for Russell Wilson. We can really restart around our young playmakers and see where it goes from there. I could easily see something along the lines of three first round picks, Carson Wentz and Quentin Nelson. And I think that's realistically a chance because I have a hard time seeing how the Seahawks say no to that.

I know it's three first round picks, but Russell Wilson, Stephen, we talked about this on the podcast as well, but he's the cleanest QB out there as far as fits right into the locker room. He'd be great in the city of Indianapolis. He's a MVP type of quarterback, puts up huge numbers. He'd be even better in the Colts system. I mean, obviously losing Quentin Nelson would be tough, but, I mean, if you're getting rid of a generational guard

and then you get a generational quarterback in return, I feel like the answer is easy there. You obviously lose Nelson there, but you can plug in Chris Reed, you can re-sign Mark Lewinsky, and kind of run it back with a whole offensive line outside of Quentin Nelson there. So I think it's something along those lines there. I think it's multiple future first-round picks, Carson Wentz plus Quentin Nelson, or at least one of those players,

because Chris Bauer did mention today that no player is untradeable or untouchable in trade talks, and that kind of caught my eye a little bit as well yeah i'm i'm kind of right there with you i don't think it's gonna if quentin nelson's involved i don't think it goes up to three first round picks but you're right though if that's if they want to make a godfather offer uh that would be it uh because there's zero chance Seattle's turning that down regardless. My personal bet is Carson Wentz, Ryan Kelly, and two first-round picks. Because you know that there are going to be two first-round picks at least in there because they're going to look for what Matt Stafford got last year in that trade. So that's kind of my framework on it.

And I think that you add in Ryan Kelly and that overcomes the third round pick that the Rams gave up last year to go ahead and get that. Because you've got the Jared Goff-Carson-Wentz contract swap there, two first round picks and a third round pick that went to Detroit in that trade. And then you had, then I think that that would be a fair compensation given the given basically like Matt Stafford to me is just as good, if not better than Russell Wilson. And I know that some people might find that blasphemous to say, but I've always been a huge Matt Stafford fan. And I think that Detroit has just criminally undervalued him.

And you saw once he got a real coach and some real weapons that he won the Superbowl. And that's what, that's honestly what I think Jim Irsay wants. And that's what he's going to go for. That's why I think when you mentioned Ian Rappaport going big game hunting, that's, I think Jim Irsay is going big game hunting and wanting to go get Russell Wilson. And that's where I put my money on if I were a betting man. Yeah, that was also, I believe, from George Schultz, who has connections. I think he's actually the son of Howard Schultz, the former guy of Starbucks, I believe. He has connections at NBA, NFL. I don he's actually the son of Howard Schultz, the former guy of Starbucks,

I believe. He has connections at NBA, NFL. I don't know if I trust him fully, but he has been right a couple times. But he did mention, I believe, last week that Jim Mercer is a big fan of Russell Wilson. I think we all kind of knew that anyways. But I think it's kind of notable that kind of leaked out there a little bit last week as well. So that momentum is kind of ironically going in that direction, Stephen. But let me ask you about this real quick because Chris Bauer, I'd be remiss not to mention Chris Bauer did mention, I believe it was in the local media scrum outside of the national podium for the combine today. Chris Bauer did mention that they want to extend Quentin Nelson.

So I do want to throw it out there that they want him to stay around long term. So hypothetically speaking, Steven, let's say they do keep Quentin Nelson. What else would you do in that scenario? I know you mentioned Ryan Kelly, but looking at the other players on the roster, there's really not much assets you could trade because the only guys with no dead money on their contracts are Quentin Nelson, DeForest Buckner. I don't think you're going to trade either of those guys. And if you trade Leonard or Braden Smith, you lose money next year actually instead of getting money.

So it feels like to me, if they actually do want to keep Quentin Nelson around Steven it'd probably be maybe you have to throw in a three first round picks and Carson Wentz instead of two first round picks and if you want to keep your whole offensive line together maybe you do just throw this three first round picks and attach Carson Wentz to it and see what happens because I mean if you're Seattle standpoint or any team like Green Bay for example you'll be getting 2023, 2024, 2025 first round picks from the Colts. We have no idea what the NFL will look like by 2025. So those are goldmine picks. I feel like if you do three first round picks plus Carson Wentz and maybe no players attached to that, maybe that's the offer we go for there. It might be. I always, I tend to be wary when you get out into three first round picks, because I don't know

how often that, I don't know if that's been done. Um, and if it has, it's, it's been a long time, maybe RG3. I think it was the hurt, like the RG3 trade. I think Herschel Walker. I was going to say that that's the one where I was like, maybe RG3. Um, and that, that's the one where i was like maybe rg3 um and that that's the only one i can think of where they they put potentially three first round picks in um the one thing i'll say in terms of why i placed my value on that trade um where i did is because carson wentz's contract is not nearly as bad as jaredff's contract was when LA sent him to, to Detroit. And the rumor was that it was a first and a third for Matt Stafford.

And then threw in another first to take Jared Goff with that. So that's where I like, I'm, I'm hesitant to go beyond two first round picks. I do think that the Colts are going to look into potentially trading two first-round picks for Russell Wilson. I know this has been a lot of Russell Wilson talk because, again, honestly, that's the only one that makes sense to me because it fits.

He checks all the boxes. He does everything that Jim Irsay and Chris Ballard-Frank Reich really want in a quarterback. So I tend to lean that way. I think it's not going to be anything more than two first-round picks. I do think that they're going to have to give up potentially a player. The player, though, I don't know. Like, you've got a couple um for guys that they could give up

but like they're not going to give up to forrest buckner um they're unlikely to give up leonard because like you mentioned it's going to end up Okereke or Karake, sorry, or, you know, Rock maybe because Rock had a great year this year, this past year. So I think he could be something. But maybe Naeem Hines could be a guy, but he just got a contract extension. There's very limited guys for the Colts that they could really potentially trade outside of Quentin Nelson or Ryan Kelly. And if they're going to keep their entire offensive line together,

I think you're probably going to have to throw in maybe the second round pick from this year and they might just say you know throw caution to the wind and say all right we're giving up our second round pick this year and two first round picks along with carson wentz give them a little bit sweeter deal than what they uh detroit got in the matt stafford deal and see if they'll bite. They require Brian Kelly or maybe one of the young offensive linemen. Maybe they want Danny Pinter. They're a versatile offensive lineman that can play all three positions on the inside. Who knows?

He can also catch touchdown passes. So there's that. But, yeah, it's real interesting. It's going to be a wild two weeks, wild 14 days. Cause Colts are going to have, we're going to have an answer here by the time free agency starts. And then by the time March 8th comes, so in 16, 17 days, depending on when you're listening to this, it's, you're going to have an answer and it's going to be wild.

That's all I can say. Yeah, it's going to be a crazy next couple weeks from a rumor standpoint. It's going to be hot stove central here for the Colts, and we'll be covering here all in lockdown Colts. But by the way, that RG3 trade, Stephen, I looked it up while you were talking there, three future first-round picks plus a second-round pick. So, I mean, that's on the table there.

Like, hypothetically speaking, three future first-round picks plus 47 for Russell pick. That's on the table there. Hypothetically speaking, three future first round picks plus 47 for Russell Wilson. That's an awful lot, but that's the model for the RG3 trade. Yeah, that's why I think that they might... There's a reason that kind of trade hasn't happened since then. It's because it was just such a catastrophic trade for the Redskins now, the Washington football team, now the Commanders. Yeah, it was just not a – I just don't see a team doing that again. So that's why I'm like, eh, I'm kind of hesitant about this more than two.

The other thing about that is that was a first-round pick in the year they were picking, too. So it was two years out. It was, what, 2012, 2013, 2014. The Colts, the only thing they can do, unless they trade Carson Wentz for a first-round pick, the only thing the Colts can do is offer 2023, 2024. So that's going to into the the situation i i don't know how it's gonna play out but um i don't i don't see them trading for jimmy g at this point um i also don't see

them trading for derrick carr because neither of those seem like all-in approaches to me it's just i i feel like they're gonna either trade for rus for Russell Wilson or potentially run it back with Carson. I don't know. Who knows what they're going to do? They're going to figure it out the next 10 days, apparently. I think that they're moving on, but I don't know what they're going to do next at quarterback. By the way, for those wondering,

if you haven't had a chance to go subscribe to The Athletic, but Zach Kiefer wrote a story here a couple hours ago. I had a chance to read it before we started the show. And here's a quote from Zach. Almost seven weeks later, their tone hasn't changed. Neither has their stance. The Colts' top decision makers aren't willing to publicly back their embattled quarterback, Carson Wentz, because privately they know how all this is going to end. They're going to move on from him. So there's more definitive answers. Zach kind of doubling down there and saying, going on his reporting, saying they're going to move on from Carson Wentz. And it sounds like he checked in on that and he heard from today. Obviously, Boward and Wright got that impression too as well to go on top of that. But, I mean, if they don't get a big fish, Stephen, I mean, it sounds like this is almost irreparable between Carson Wentz and the Colts

because they kind of dragged him through the mud and maybe that maybe that's what the hour-long meeting was about was about the stuff being said out there maybe that's what it could have been but I mean this it's been a lot that they've said about Carson Wentz the last few months out there nationally these reports and the Colts again publicly in person twice refusing to back Carson Wentz and they have not come out and made a statement about Chris Morton's report either. Chris Bauer did not deny that one bit when asked about it today. So it kind of feels like to me this is irreparable.

I know you brought up Carson Wentz. Maybe they don't get a Russell Wilson, but I just have a hard time seeing Wentz back in our center either way next season at this point. Yeah, I mean, you're probably right. I think they're – yeah, my gut is set all along after the end of the season and Chris Ballard's into your press conference, Frank Reich's into your press conference, Jim Ursae's tarmac of Twitter posts. 99.9% sure they're moving on. The question is, who are they going to bring in? I still think, like we've talked about for most of this conversation, what we talked about last week, it's probably going to be Russell Wilson.

But if it's not, I mean, Mitch Trubisky is getting a lot of run. They're at the combine from people. Again, it's smoke screen season, so who knows? But it's just a real interesting situation that's going on. Yeah, the all-chips and stuff. It feels like there's a lot of pressure on Ballard to really hit this out of the park this year. And obviously the only guy that matters in the decision-making is Jim Irsay. If Ballard or Reich keep trying to convince Irsay that Wentz should stay

and the scenario they don't get a guy, and Irsay's like, nope, I'm not doing it. He just needs to be off the roster in whatever way possible. It sounds like that's what it is according to multiple people it seems like it's hard for me to see Carson Wentz coming back and that leads me to the question Steven if they don't get a big fish if they if no one bites on that line for the big fish hunting what's your honest assessment of what could happen here because if it's not Carson Wentz maybe all chips in is trading up into the top 15 for like a Malik Willis. Like maybe that's a scenario there.

But like outside of that, it's the Trubisky's, the Mariota's, the Jameis Winston's who it sounds like all indications from the comment that Winston's probably going to be back with the Saints this year. So you could probably mark him off. So it's probably Mariota, Marcus Mariota there for your most realistic option with Mitch Trubisky. I mean, that's what's outside of Carson Wentz here. And maybe Jimmy Garoppolo if they want to wait until his shoulder surgery.

But like you mentioned, I have doubts too as well on that, Stephen. So the all chips in thing, it's kind of three options here. And maybe we're not really know what's going on. It's so tough to predict right now because it's so fluid. The one good thing about for the Colts right now is with all the, the situations going the way they are with Aaron Rogers, likely staying Winston, likely stay resigning there with new Orleans, Jimmy G having a surgery,

not really being available. It puts more pressure on teams who really want quarterbacks to trade for quarterbacks. So the Colts might be able to get themselves a second-round pick, maybe late first-round pick. Again, I keep bringing up Tampa Bay. I think that they make a lot of sense. Bruce Arians, love Bruce Arians.

And B.A. said that Tom Brady's done, that book's closed. And if any team wants him, they're going to need to trade him five first-round picks. So they've moved on from Tom Brady, it sounds like. And Tom Brady's moved on from them, and he's not going to play anywhere else. So they need a quarterback. It's just a wild situation in the NFL.

And it's one of those ones where, as Colts fans, we've been really blessed for years to have consistency in elite quarterback play. And this quagmire of not knowing who you're starting QB is going to be from year to year. This really stinks. I don't know how all these other fan bases have done it for years and years and years. I know that we've been a little bit spoiled, but goodness gracious, this is not fun. I don't like it. Yeah, it's certainly not.

I think Jim Irsay's fed up too, just based off of what all we heard from Irsay this offseason. But one more thing on Carson Wentz, and then we'll dive into some little nuggets that Bauer left. Via Kevin Bowen, I'm just pulling up his story here. He has all the quotes and all the interesting stuff here. But before we get into that and close out the show, Stephen, what's your opinion of Carson Wentz's trade market? Because I tweeted this out today earlier on Locked on Colts, but Carson Wentz's contract really is very movable and it should be actually

be very easy to trade him. I don't have a reason to see why the Colts would need to cut him because essentially Carson Wentz's contract, it looks on the surface like a multi-year deal, but he only has guaranteed money for next season. So it's really a one-year contract, a one-year flyer for any team that wants to take on Carson Wentz. I kind of feel like that could help his trade value a little bit where there's an easy out if all goes wrong. And the Colts have to bite the bullet a little bit,

but it seems like that could be a scenario here where some teams that we talked about last time, and I think, again, make a lot of sense, like the Buccaneers or the Steelers, the Commanders. Maybe you can throw in another team into the mix as well. But what's your opinion of the Wentz trade market heading into this? This episode is brought to you by Rock Auto. With the ever-increasing numbers of makes and models, it's now impossible for your local chain's auto parts store to stock all the parts you need.

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reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. Go to rockauto.com right now and write Locked On in the How To Your Boss box. I think it's going to be better than people think. The hard part is people have this really interesting perception of Carson Wentz

because he struggled hard down the stretch. But Chris Ballard brought up a really good point because people put so much focus on those last two games and how they weren't able to pull them out. But they had two or three games in the middle of the season, beginning of the season, that they should have won. And had they won any one of those three games that I think went to overtime, all three went to overtime and they ended up losing?

No, Tampa Bay didn't go to overtime, but it probably should have. But had they won any of those games we're not even talking about this like the Colts are in the playoffs they're not worrying about these last two weeks of the season Carson Wentz goes off heroically because he won the Arizona game which would have clinched a playoff spot for them it's a whole different conversation um Carson Wentz improved as to from 2020 to 2021. He played well enough in games. He didn't necessarily lose games all the time. He didn't turn the ball over in terms of interceptions. He's a little reckless with his play, but there are some coaches that like that, that like the fact that he's a competitor and he likes to stay up,

stay upright and fight for every extra little inch. I think his trademark is going to be better than what we think. I know that the rumors were that the trademark for Wentz and Jimmy G were like lukewarm. I think they're going to recoup something for him. I think they'll get at least a third round pick. I think, I honestly believe they might be able to get a second round pick, maybe a late first for Carson, because like you said,

his contract is movable. His salary, especially if the Colts decide to eat a lot of that salary, say they decide to go ahead and keep that $15 million on their books. So they trade away Carson Wentz to a team that gets him for $13 million for one year to give him a tryout and then still has him under contract for like 26, $27 million a year for the next two years. So you've got full control of this quarterback situation on your team for potentially three years at not $45 million a year, which is what

if the Colts trade for, for example, Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers, that's the number you're looking at is like 40 to $50 million a year. And so whatever team, like this contract isn't terrible. The contract definitely might be the best part about it, to be honest, because it does give them an opportunity to play him out and see if he works. And if he doesn't't they can cut bait and move on and if he does work out they've got a lot of control over him so i think this contracts this contract and carson wentz is a lot more tradable than people want to believe um or what local media and eagles fans are telling you i think that they're probably going to get my guess is they'll probably get a second round yeah i believe on the last episode I mentioned that I thought Carson Wentz

would probably – I think my prediction was Carson Wentz to the commanders for a third-round pick, and that feels like a strong one to me. What's your prediction, Steven? I know it's almost impossible to ask right now, but we've heard connections to Washington, Pittsburgh a little bit as well. Tampa Bay could be interested too. Maybe Carolina could be a team that could be with Sam Darnold. That could be an option as well. Denver. What's your prediction for where Carson Wentz ends up? Because those teams really make up the potential market for

a Wentz trade. Not Carolina. The reason why I say that is because they don't have a pick until the fifth round. Their picks are all gone. Outside of pick six. There's no way they're giving up pick six for Carson Wentz. Um, then you said the commanders are interesting. Um, you're not going to get that first round pick from him, but you might get 42. Um, which would be great.

73 and you know, third round pick. I think you can do better than that. I still think Tampa Bay is the one. That's the team that I would circle because they're looking for a quarterback. Bruce Arians mentioned that they drafted one in the second round last year, you know, but I don't know how confident they are in them. So that could be an option. Denver actually has two second-round picks at 40 and 64.

If Russell Wilson stays in Seattle, Aaron Rodgers stays in Green Bay, Denver's going to start to panic. And they're going to want to make a move to get something. And so I could see them being in play there. It's real wild because there's a lot of teams that need quarterbacks. Like I said, Carson isn't terrible. Pittsburgh, they pick 20, pick 52. They might be an option there. I still feel like

Tampa Bay is going to be the sweet spot for Carson. Or the Colts might get lucky. They might get a little bit of a bidding war and get that higher of the Denver picks in the second round. I think you're probably looking at Denver or Tampa Bay as the most likely options for me. Yeah, it's going to be so interesting. Maybe Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh because they like those bigger quarterbacks that like to stretch the field. Yeah, I think day two pick, that seems like it's on the sweet spot there, whether it's round two or round three. It feels like it for Carson Wentz, but we'll obviously cover more on course and whence here all leading up to whatever the colts decided to do there but here's a couple nuggets i want to go with you steven from hearing from frank reich and chris ballard today and this is via kevin bowen i'm reading off his story writing all the things down he put down in the writing from quotes he

mentioned that the roster building philosophy and i believe Kevin was the one actually asking this question about adding more weapons and seeing how teams like the Rams made a cerebral and they went on on weapons and Kansas City Buffalo Chris Bauer did mention they are going to address play making pretty hard this offseason that's what made it at least the impression I got from that was they're going to really attack that hard in free and seeing a draft and what's your opinion of them finally kind of adding those weapons I have been really needed since ballard to write in 2017 he really hasn't dipped his toes in much at all what i think it's a scenario to me where i think at least right now after hearing ballard talk to that i think they're going to draft a receiver whether it be in the third or fourth round maybe the second round and they're probably

going to sign a veteran free agent too i think they're going to double dip for a wide receiver and tight end, or at least add one or both those weapons via the free agency and draft pretty aggressively. So what's your opinion on that? Yeah, there's a couple positions that I think that they're going to definitely go after. I firmly believe, like you mentioned, playmakers.

That was something that Chris Ballris ballard noted is is that he likes taylor pitman and heinz's playmakers and they definitely need more um he mentioned not giving up on paris campbell but it's tough there um ty hilton there was some rumor there that he might still want to come back but it just just doesn't feel like he would be he would be more like a wide receiver three wide receiver four um for the colts so i do think that they're going to venture out into free agency um to get a playmaker at wide receiver um i think that that makes the most sense i do think they're also going to look to the draft to get one as well, just to try to boost up that receiving core pretty quickly.

Now, when I say receiver, it's either wide receiver or tight end in the draft. Because this draft is pretty solid at tight end in rounds two through five. You're going to be able to get one that kind of fits the flavor that you want. So I think that they're probably going to look to to get one that kind of fits the flavor that you want. So I think that they're probably going to look to wide receiver in free agency and potentially the draft and then tight end in the draft. And then they're going to address the defensive line. That was another position group that I think Chris Ballard focused on. I forget who asked that question, but it makes perfect sense for them to go after the defensive line and try to bring that group up because Chris Ballard knows that after watching the Super Bowl for the past two years, you had defensive lines that just absolutely dominated elite quarterbacks.

And there was nothing that the other team could do. So Chris Ballard, I think, is going to probably look at maybe Hassan Redick there with Carolina. He's going to look to try to maybe Harold Landry. I would love it if the Colts swiped Harold Landry from the Titans because I think he's a perfect fit in a 4-3 defense. He's just absolutely explosive from the edge. I think he was completely misused by Tennessee for the past four years. So I would love it if they were able

to get some kind of defensive line pass rusher, and I think that that's what they're going to look at is get pass rusher, get wide receiver and playmakers. Maybe even a tight end and free agency. Who knows? Gusecki and Dalton Schultz are both going to be free agent tight ends as well. David Njoku and OJ Howard are two names to watch out for. It could be like the Eric Ebron types for cheaper too. This is a loaded free agency class for tight ends. I do agree.

They're going to address whether it be tight end or wide receiver or both in free agency and a high draft pick on day two. I think the Colts realize that in today's NFL, you can't just win behind a running back. You have to have some sort of combination on the outside that really make it impossible for defense to guess what you're going to do next. And I think that's what the Colts have realized here. So one more thing I wanted to hit on too as well,

related to the wide receivers, I think we kind of heard through the cracks him not saying it. This is from actually the scrum that was outside the comments. I don't know if you had a chance to read the quotes yet, but this is from Kevin Bowen. He said Zach Paschal was a really good player for us, and he went in to talk about the young guys. So it's not like a decision has been made there.

Zach Paschal is going to move on from the Colts. And like you mentioned, all season long, I think he's destined for the Philadelphia Eagles for a third or fourth round conflict in 2023 because Nick Sirianni is not going to take Paschal off the field. He'll probably get paid $6 million, $7 million per year in free agency as well. But now we know for sure that they're moving on from Zach Paschal. What's your thoughts on that? I think they should franchise tag him and then trade him to Philly.

No, I think Paschal's gone. I've said that. I've said that all year. I think this is going to be his last year with the Colts. And I think that he's a perfect i've said that i've said that all year i think this is gonna be his last year at the colts and i think that he's a perfect fit over there in philly um and so oddly enough that's i mentioned this every time we talk about zach pascal but that's i sat next to his family in philadelphia at that colts eagles game um and so yeah that super nice family. So I think that he'd be, he'd be a really good fit there in Philadelphia. He'd be a really good locker room leader there in the wide receiver

room for them. And he does all the dirty things that Nick Sirianni loves. So I wouldn't be surprised to see them move on from Paschal. I think he's going to earn his contract. Probably we'll end up netting the Colts their fourth or fifth round compensatory pick if the Colts don't. Well, quite honestly, that pick's going to get wiped out in free agency because I think the Colts are going to sign some, actually spend some money this year in free agency,

which means Colts are probably not going to get a comp pick next year. Yeah, that's a really good point to bring up there. And I think I agree with you, thinking back on it now. And obviously, like you mentioned, they're going to upgrade their receiver position and free agency. So that will wipe out that comp pick. But Pascal, we know for sure, is gone. And a couple more guys here before we end this one, Stephen.

Eric Fisher, it sounds like, again, Chris Bauer seems like an Eric Fisher fan still. And he did mention he'll bring competition. But it sounds like, to me, they might re-sign Eric Fisher and Matt Pryor and have those guys duke it out in training camp for left tackle. It's kind of a risky game with how bad it got at points last year with Eric Fisher, but I think Chris Bauer is confident second year post-Achilles surgery, it'll be better for Fisher. So what's your thoughts on the potential of a Pryor-Fisher tandem at left tackle and just solve it at Grand Park in training camp? I don't mind it.

Fisher played okay and got better as the season progressed. He still needed to work on explosion out of a stance. But, again, coming off that Achilles injury, what basically is the Achilles heel for guys that are offensive tackles is being able to get out of their stance with explosion. And that was his forte. And so it's probably going to take a little bit for him to get it back to it. I think by next season, he'll be more, I guess, back to full strength as to what Chris Ballard expected.

I do think that they are going to look to draft a left tackle. And it all depends on what becomes available. Like if Taron Armstead for the New Orleans Saints, if they allow him to hit unrestricted free agency, I would go out. I would go and sign him as fast as I can. It's kind of really similar to what I thought about Charles Leno last year. I said, hey, look, Colts, go get him. Do not get Eric Fisher. Charles Leno said that. I said, hey, look, Colts, go get him. Do not get Eric Fisher.

Charles Leno said that he wants to play here. I mean, there was a girl that the girl made the song for him and they didn't end up signing him. And look what happened. He went to what, the Clanders, Washington football team, played great and got a second contract. So Chris Ballard could have had that, but he went with the guy that he knew coming off an Achilles injury.

So there's that. Last one here, Stephen, before we close things out here. T.Y. Hilton and Jack Doyle. Chris Ballard did mention that neither guy has given a decision yet, but it sounds like T.Y. is open to playing. I think, honestly, this is all just a decision on what happens to quarterback. If the Colts get a Russell Wilson or an Aaron Rodgers or one of those types of quarterbacks,

I think both those guys are running back for one more year on cheap deals. Obviously, Jack DeLisle is starting a contract, but if they do swing and miss, and let's say they're running back a Carson Wentz, which I think is very unlikely, but if they do something else, a lower tier, like a free agent or even like a draft pick next year, for example, I think

Jack DeLisle and T.Y. Hilton will retire. I think it's all based around the QB decision right now. agent or even like a draft pick next year for example i think jack doyle and ty hold rewards higher i think it's all based around the qb decision right now steve what's your thoughts on on the next steps for those guys for close close things out here yeah i think well for ty i think it's two things i think it's the quarterback position like if carson once runs it back then i think they're both returned i think right there um it depends on who they bring in and the quarterback position but also it depends on who they bring in in the quarterback position, but also it depends on who the wider series coach is. It's rumored that it's going to be Reggie Wayne.

And so if they bring back Reggie, TY will probably want to play and learn from Reggie because that's who he learned from when he first was a rookie in the league. And so I wouldn't be surprised if TY wants to stay around and help Reggie and learn more from him because all these guys, they get out of football and they don't know what to do. So I think it'll be interesting to see how they go from there. Jack, I think Jack's done, to be honest. I think that he's going to move on regardless.

I don't think that this is a quarterback driven decision. I just think that he's taking his time and he's talking to Andrew Luck and Andrew's like, hey, man, retirement's great. No, I'm just joking. I don't think that might be happening. Who knows? I just don't see Jack coming back. If he does, great. He still is effective in limited time, but the Colts will need to get a true receiving tight end in either free agency or the draft and to be able to make up for the steps that Jack has

lost. That was a lot of fun, Steve. I know we went probably about 40 or so minutes here, but appreciate the time today as we went in depth here on the Colts situation with Carson Wentz. We learned more today from Chris Bowden and Frank Reich. But if you haven't already, make sure you follow Steven on Twitter at Nice Read Steve.

Steven, appreciate your time tonight. Thanks, Evan. Have a great one.