Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Wentz trade offer reportedly leaks, Colts check in on Sam Darnold, plus a loaded EDGE free agency class

Episode Date: February 12, 2021

On today's episode, Evan and Stampede Blue's Stephen Reed discuss an eventual Thursday afternoon of Colts quarterback trade rumors. According to Ron Jaworski, the Colts' trade offer for Carson Wentz has reportedly been leaked: No. 54, 2022 2nd, plus a future 3rd or 4th-round pick. Is that too much for Wentz, or right on the money with extra added on?Then, Adam Schefter mentioned the Colts were one of three teams to recently check in on Jets QB Sam Darnold. The other two were Washington and Carolina. Is Darnold now officially Indy's Plan C after Matthew Stafford and Wentz?Closing out the show, Evan and Stephen quickly go over a loaded free agency class for EDGE rushers. Around 10-12 names could make a legit difference if they signed with the Colts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everybody, welcome back to the latest episode of Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's audience is your host, Evan Sederich, joined by Stephen Rita Stampe Blue. To recap, a very eventful Thursday here in the middle of February for the Colts, where two new rumors came out about two clerks we've been connected to

for the Colts for a little bit now. Carson Wentz sued the Colts during the thick of things for trade negotiations for. And then Adam Schefter on an appearance on KNBR radio in San Francisco's weekly spot. I had a chance to listen to that today and kind of dropped a little bit of a mini bombshell, so to say, with Sam Darnold. Just quickly talk about Sam Darnold. Was the Colts linked to Sam Darnold about inquiring with him alongside the Washington football team and the Carolina Panthers?

And then we'll close out the show today going about five or six minutes to preview the edge rushing class in free agency, a really loaded class. The Colts really could take advantage of here, especially to get a quarterback in the draft or via trade. Steven, how are you doing with that? I'm doing well, Evan. How are you? I'm doing good. Let's dive in first off, Steven, to this new Carson Wentz report,

and it's from Ron Jaworski, the former Eagles quarterback. He worked in the Eagles organization, I believe, covered the Eagles on their radio team as well over the years, if I'm not mistaken. So Jaws is very plugged in over there. As you guys know, he used to work for ESPN for a couple decades, I believe, for ESPN NFL Live and Sunday Countdown, a lot of stuff. Over the last couple years, he's been doing his own thing.

But Ron Jaworski went on a local radio spot. I think it was ABC6, if I'm not mistaken, in Philadelphia. And he had a report on there speaking to one of the reporters there for that news station, talking about the Carson Wentz situation when they brought it up and the trade offers and what's happening. And he had the opportunity to say, because it seems like the Eagles from all situations, Stephen, since we talked on Monday, I think honestly it looks like they're stalling.

At this point, they're trying to get an offer that's better than what's on the table from Chicago, what's better than what's on the table from Indianapolis, and it's just not happening. I think they're just getting really desperate at this point. Ron Jaworski said, and I quote, my understanding is that the Colts have offered two second-round draft choices, maybe your third or fourth down the road.

That appears to be the best offer I have heard. End quote there. So in short, number 54 overall, a 2022 second, plus a future third or fourth round pick in 2022, I imagine for Kirsten Wentz. Steven, I feel like that's a legitimate offer because like I just mentioned there, Ron Jaworski has been around the organization

for a very long time. He played for them, worked for them. So I think this might be the Eagles kind of throwing it out to Jaws and just seeing what happens there to get maybe some last-minute desperation leverage. If that's the case, what's your thoughts on that? I've got a couple thoughts on that. One, I could see that being the offer. It feels like it might be just a little bit high for Ballard to give up the two seconds.

And then a future either third or fourth round pick. But at the same time, I could see that being the offer. It just feels a little high. And the reason why I think that that might be the case is because it seemed like it was the Eagles organization that leaked that to Jaws or to Ron Jaworski. And it feels like they are trying to drum up interest that just isn't there probably to push Chicago to include pick 20. And if you go out and throw out a situation or a trade offer that's a little higher than what it was, you run the risk of alienating the team that initially made the offer.

Because, I mean, Chris Bauer is probably not going to feel great having that offer out there. I don't know if it's going to change anything. But it's also going to kind of put it in a tough situation. The tough part about Philadelphia here and Howie Roseman is that I feel like he just massively overplayed his hand with Carson Wentz and he's been bluffing this entire time and now he's kind of left with egg in his face and he's just scrambling trying to get the most that he can out for Carson Wentz, but he would have been much better to do this kind of more in private than necessarily throwing

it out in all these leaks. Um, it's just, I feel like that could be the offer, um, from the Colts. It makes sense that if Chris Ballard is able to keep pick 21, I could almost guarantee that he would trade back in the draft and pick up an extra second round pick or a future pick in the second round. Unless there's an elite left tackle prospect there at 21, then he would obviously take him. But there's a lot of different options here. It feels like Philly's kind of pushing and reaching and grasping at straws because they obviously don't have the offer that they want,

and it's going to be really hard for them to keep Carson Wentz there in Philadelphia given the such open dissension that he's had with the organization and Howie Roseman just as a general manager. So I think it could be the offer. But at the same time, it feels like it's a little much for what Chris Ballard has said in the past in terms of the value that he placed on quarterback. For example, Philadelphia is sitting there trying to scrambling, trying to get somebody to offer him a one. And realistically,

Chris Ballard didn't offer a first round pick for Matt Stafford. He sure as heck not going to offer a first-round pick for Carson Wentz after the season that Wentz just had, after the past two seasons that Wentz has had, where he's really struggled throughout the thing. Now, at the same time, if you follow one of my fellow writers at Stampede Blue, Chris Shepard, on Twitter, he did kind of a tweet stream or just a series of Twitter posts

that break down Carson Wentz from 2017 to this past year. And 2017 was the year that he was an MVP candidate. And he said there's a lot of issues with Wentz, but they're fixable in terms of his mechanics and things like that. So if Chris Ballard can get Carson Wentz for two second round picks and a third round pick, and that's his offer, even though I think it's a little high, but if that's his offer and Philadelphia takes it and Carson Wentz comes to the Colts and excels and returns to that 2017 form,

then it's another absolute steal for Chris Ballard. But if Carson Wentz continues down this regression path that he has in 2019, 2020, then it's going to look really bad for Chris Ballard that he swung and missed. And thankfully, it would be only like a two-year rental for Carson Wentz in that situation. But it's a huge cap hit. And not only that, it restricts what you're able to do in free agency, given the cap hit that he would take on. Yeah, with this deal, like we just went over there, two seconds, possibly a third or fourth.

I'm thinking that third or fourth with him saying that could be like a conditional fourth, and if he plays well, turns into a third-round pick, so to say. That can make a lot of sense. And I know Mike Kay, the Eagles' peer reporter, came on and gave us some insider scoops on Wednesday to talk through the latest on the wins trade scenarios with the Colts. And it sounded like from his reporting, and he later confirmed it on our podcast.

So if you have not had a chance to listen to that, go ahead and check it out in your podcast with Mike K. of NJ.com. It sounds like from the Colts' point of view, we didn't know the exact offer just yet. If this is true, then we know the offer now. But the Colts are pretty steadfast, Steven, that they want at least compensation back with Wentz, whether it be a player or a pick. It sounds probably more like a player, honestly. So hypothetically, you could say that deal might be Ertz plus Wentz, maybe a conditional pick in there as well for the two twos and a conditional fourth or third. Maybe at that point, that makes more sense for the Wentz trade. I mean,

it seems like to me, honestly, just tying this all together with this Wentz report today from Ron Jaworski, we're going to dive into the Adam Schefter report about Sam Darnold in just a moment here as well. But with that coming out today, with the Ron Jaworski report coming out today, it feels like both sides are kind of just posturing in the meat at this point. Chris Byrne might be playing that game back to Howie Roseman, where it's your last chance. If you want this offer, you got to take it by the end of this point, Chris Ballard might be playing that game back to Howie Roseman, where it's your last chance. If you want this offer, you've got to take it by the end of this week

and I'm going to pull that offer. Yeah, I think that that's spot on. I think that as this goes on and as this drags on, Chris Ballard is just going to lose patience with it. And Chris Ballard has always seemed like a very patient man. But once you get to a point where it just feels like you're just kind of stringing him along, then he's no longer interested. He's going to pull that offer. And then Philadelphia is going to be left with nobody else competing. So they're going to get an even worse offer from Chicago.

The one thing that I would say, I think Chris Ballard is holding out for another pick or another player. I've kind of hitched my wagon to Wentz in 37 for pick 21. But my concern with getting a player in this deal is Carson Wentz is going to come in and he's going to cost $25 million on your cap this year. And then say you trade for a Zach Ertz as well. Last year of his deal, I believe, or maybe he's got another year left after this, but he adds on an extra eight, eight and a quarter to your salary cap. The problem with that is now you're adding $33 million to your salary cap. Yes, you're adding two good players, but Wentz is 31 years old, so he's an older size on the other side of 30, which for NFL players, that's really kind of your rough age for skilled position players. So he's going to be on the other side of 30.

He's going to be making eight and a quarter. That's going to restrict what the Colts are able to do in the free agency market. And the Colts need to go out and either re-sign T.Y. Hilton or go get a top wide receiver. They need to invest heavily in the edge rusher market, whether it is in the draft or in free agency. I think it's probably going to be in free agency this year.

They need to look at the left tackle situation. They've got a lot of kind of major holes to fill. And so trading for Carson Wentz and Zach Ertz without having some kind of major holes to fill. And so trading for Carson Wentz and Zach Ertz without having some kind of restructure go on with their contracts, it makes me worry a little bit. But at the same time, for Frank Reich's offense, having a tight end as familiar with it as Zach Ertz and as good as Zach Ertz really can benefit the entire team. So there's a lot of different levers to play here and a lot of different angles to look at. So it's not quite as straightforward as saying,

all right, I want this guy, I want this guy, I want this guy. There are other things that kind of cascade from that. So if you get Wentz and you get Ertz, then you have this salary cap situation that you have less money to be able to pay guys that you really would like to pay. So that's kind of where I look at it from that standpoint. I do think that Chris Ballard is looking for another pick with Wentz or another player with Wentz. And whether it is Zach Ertz or whether it is one of the edge rushers, whether it's Andre Dillard, somebody like that, who knows? But I do think, like I said, I'm not sure whether the two second

round picks and the third round pick is a real offer from Chris Ballard because I feel like he's going to want something other than just Wentz for that. But at the same time, if he does take somebody else like Wentz, that's one of those considerations that they have to take into account. Colts fans, rockauto.com is the place to go if you want to save money on your next car purchase. Whether you're saving $100 plus on a fuel pump assembly, or whether you'll be getting new tires or oil, whatever you want for your car or your truck,

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car or truck. Write Locked On in their How's Your Bounce box, send a Locked On cold sending you over there. Again, Locked On at low C-K-E-D-O-N in the How's Your Bounce box, send a Locked On Colt to send you over there. Again, Locked On, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N, and their How'd You Bounce box, sending a Locked On Colt to send you over there. February is Black History Month, and the Locked On Podcast Network

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with being a black woman in sports. There's a new episode coming next week, so go ahead and subscribe to the Locked On Presents podcast feed on the radio.com app, wherever you get your podcasts. Last thing here on Wentz for a dive into the darn old discussion, which it seems like at this point could be the Colts plan C option. Of course, plan A was Matthew Stafford. He went to LA.

They made a competitive offer for Matthew Stafford, the Lions quarterback plan B seems to be Carson Wentz plan. C might just be Sandra. I'm going to hit on just a moment here, but one thing from Albert Breer of SI.com yesterday, I went out and really quickly, Steven. And I quote,

my sense is Indy would want us to be more of a two year flyer than a full on marriage to Wentz. And it's important to remember the Colts didn't put their first rounder on the tail for Matthew Stafford. That's something to remember here too and makes me think that that deal, if it's not legit, it might be pretty close to being spot on because I think a second-round pick makes a lot of sense. Maybe the Colts offered, let's say, a 2022 first-round pick for Matthew Stafford

instead of a 2021 in that scenario. But I think here with Albert Breer mentioning that it's more of a tier flyer on Wentz than a full-on commitment, which I think makes a lot of sense because you can get out of the contract in 2023 without much debt cap after that. And really, that's a tier trial run for them, Stephen. If it doesn't work out, then obviously Frank Gray couldn't fix Carson Wentz. But if it does, you get him for a huge discount. He's a franchise quarterback for the next six, seven, eight, ten years.

Who knows? But it really just seems like the Colts are playing this the perfectly right way with Carson Wentz. Yeah, I think Chris Ballard is playing this perfectly. He's not betting against himself. He's not bidding against himself. He's not just throwing things out to the wind, which is nice given what the Colts had in the past as a general manager it's just nice to have somebody

that has patience and has feels like they've played poker in their life where they're like yeah no I know what hand you have and and I'm not going to give you what you want. He's very steadfast in his beliefs and steadfast in his values and where he projects players and their value, and he doesn't go above it. It's one of the best parts about Chris Ballard is that you're not going to get yourself into crazy contracts from free agents, and you're not going to get yourself in crazy situations with draft picks where he goes and trades away the farm for somebody that is mediocre.

And so that's the risk with Carson Wentz. I read the article with Albert Breer as well about it being potentially a two-year rental. That's honestly one of the reasons why I i'm hesitant to say that two second round picks um would be the offer just because of how much chris ballard values those second round picks and how um there's a computation that comes in based on their performance and second round there's a cutoff between second round third round picks um in terms of roster bonuses and things like that are performance bonuses and so like that or performance bonuses. And so Chris Ballard really values those second round picks for a number of reasons.

And he thinks that those are going to be four-year commitments. So you're essentially giving up two four-year commitments for a guy that could be a two-year flyer. You have to really have conviction that Carson Wentz is going to return to his 2017 form. He's going to become coachable again. And he's going to become an MVP candidate. Because without that, you're kind of putting yourself in a tough spot. But the other thing is, for the quarterback position, sometimes you've got to take those risks.

Because you're not going to get one where the Colts are probably going to be drafting for the next, you know, five, 10 years in that, that mid twenties range that, that early twenties, mid twenties range, hopefully 32 here soon, but you're not going to get that quarterback there. So unless you trade up in the draft, which I think is a viable option, or you make a trade for somebody like a Carson Wentz or a Sam Darnold, then you've got those options available. For me personally, if it was trading two second round picks and a third round pick for Carson Wentz or trading a third round pick and a conditional fifth for Sam Darnold, then I take Sam Darnold every time. Just because I feel like Frank Reich's going to be able to work with him,

just like he's going to be able to work with Carson Wentz, it's going to cost you a lot less. You know, Carson Wentz has shown that he can be an MVP caliber candidate. That's the only thing that really kind of sways me, makes me second guess myself. But yeah, it's just one of those things where you've got to look at the whole situation and the cap charge with Carson Wentz is huge the compensation is probably going to be pretty large unless Chris Ballard gets his way but the longer this drags out I feel like Howie Roseman loses leverage every single day and that's not good for Philadelphia and it's great for the Colts.

Let's tell them the Sam Darnold report now from Adam Schefter. It was really just in passing what Schefter said on Thursday morning to KNBR, the local radio station that he had a weekly spot out for in San Francisco, because they actually asked him about Sam Darnold being a possible trade candidate for the 49ers. And he wanted to say that the 49ers really haven't kicked the tires at all on Darnold yet. Could be maybe down the road. But as of now, he's heard, it sounded like he's heard that Indianapolis, Carolina, and Washington are the three teams that really inquired with the Jets

about Sam Darnold so far. I know Schefter had a report last week as well that teams have started – start really hitting the phone lines for Darnold as well with the Jets. So, really, that line of thinking, that reporting makes a lot of sense. You want to connect the dots there that those three teams are the ones who have called about Darnold. But let me ask you this, Stephen, because I tweeted this out today on Locked on Colts. And financially, like you mentioned, Carson Wentz, he's a two-year marriage with him at least. Two years, $48 million.

His cap hit in 2021 is $34.7 million. Compare that to Sam Darnold, Steven. And it's pretty astonishing how much lower and how much more flexible you are. If you were to get Sam Darnold instead of Carson Wentz, because Sam Darnold, his cap hit in 2021 is only $9.8 million. 34.7 million for Carson Wentz.

And you can decline the fifth year option, which is due in the first week of May for Sam Darnold to really have it just be a one-year trial run, if he proves to be a legit franchise quarterback or at least an above-average starter for a four- or five-year run, you can maybe franchise tag him or you can extend him at this next offseason. But I think the Colts, if they were to trade for Sam Darnold, would decline that fifth-year option and just see what happens there

for a one-year run. But to me, financially, I actually like the Darnold deal. And like you mentioned there let's say it's for 84 overall in the draft like number three and then like you say a conditional fifth or something along those lines for a guy it's going to cost less than 10 million dollars next year on a one-year deal for a four top three pick I mean that it does make a lot of sense why the Colts would inquire about that yeah Sam Darnold it, it's tough because he hasn't really, he's got talent. There's a reason that he was a number, the top 10 pick, a top five pick at the quarterback position. He had great

film coming out of USC. Everything we're hearing though is that Chris Ballard may not be as smitten with Darnold. But quite honestly, I think that this report about Darnold was leaked out by the Colts to try to put pressure on Philadelphia to kind of get the ball rolling. Hey, just stop with this whole glacial movement towards a deal. Just figure out what you're going to do and make a deal so everybody can move on um but if i could get i think it was bleacher report as well put out like different trade trade scenarios and one was darnold being had for like a fifth round i think

it was with with san francisco darnold being had for a fifth round pick and jimmy g or jimmy garoppolo and i thought that was interesting and And I was like, well, you know, you take out Jimmy G and you just make it a player swap. Then basically you're looking at like a third round pick. So 84, and then a conditional pick the next year, obviously I, not obviously, but I assume that the condition would be you make the playoffs or win the division or, or make it to the, to the AFC championship game, something like that.

The difference between it, I think, is the ability to put pieces around the roster, though. Because if you have faith that Frank Wright can fix Carson Wentz, you kind of got to have faith that he can fix Sam Darnold. And so having that Sam Darnold's cap hit be only $8, $10 million, whatever it is next year versus Carson Wentz, which is 25, it allows you to sign that edge rusher. It allows you to potentially sign an edge rusher that with some promise and also a wide receiver that you think can come in and play. So it really allows you more flexibility in filling out your roster to have the

guy with a lower salary cap hit. Now, again, quarterback's most important position on the football field. So if Chris Ballard and the Colts really feel that Carson Wentz is head and shoulders above Sam Darnold in terms of where he's at now and where they project him to be, then whatever they decide to give up, and if he gets to that, it's worth it. For me right now, I look at it and say Carson Wentz has steadily declined, so I'm not going to want to give up a first-round pick or a second-round pick for him. Sam Darnold really hasn't had a chance to take off,

which is ironic given he plays for the Jets. But they've really stunted his growth in the NFL, and you hope that he's salvageable. But if he's not, again, no matter whichever quarterback you're trading for, it's going to be a gamble. So you really have to be sure of your coaching staff and have faith in them. So whoever Frank Reich and the coaching staff has more faith in in terms of the quarterback position, that's where I think Chris Ballard should go. And if he can get Carson Wentz for

a second, and I honestly think it's a second and it's a conditional fourth or something like that in 2022, then you take that deal. If he feels like he can get more out of sam darnold then trade the third and and go on and then just trade back from 21 pick up an extra second or third round pick and then you basically get sam darnold for effectively whatever the trade back cost was in terms of the value of the pick so that's the way i look at it in terms of the two you just gotta what's really annoying is that all we hear is rumors right now. And I just wish that there was something concrete that, that we can go on because it would make the conversation a little bit more

cogent, a little bit more focused. And so that's just, that's just my thoughts on it. You know, whatever they decide to do, obviously as a Colts fan, you kind of support it. You hope they don't give up the first-round pick. But if that's what they think that the cost is and they think that's good value, then you have faith in Chris Ballard at this point. Yeah, I think both these moves, what we've heard so far, Chris and Wentz especially, it seems like the Colts are really deep

in negotiations on that. Honestly, I feel like we're going to see a Wentz resolution one way or another by the end of this weekend. If it's not the Colts, I think it's going to be someone else. It's because I think the Eagles are back into a corner now where you see all these leaks left and right from Philadelphia, from other teams. It seems like we're getting really to the breaking point for the Eagles. If you want to get a good deal for Carson Wentz, it's going to be within the next

few days or next week, bare maximum in my opinion, or the full maximum to me is you wait for me until next week. But I think this week is probably the target spot for Carson Wentz. But overall, like I mentioned, going into Carson Wentz, Sam Darnold as well being floated out there today by Schefter with the Colts and that connection. Both those guys are projects. They would have to be revived for their careers. I feel like if Chris Darnold is going to figure out both those guys,

Steven, it kind of does show you how much faith he has in Frank Wright kind of being that QB whisperer. they would have to be revived for their careers. I feel like if Chris D'Arcy is going to figure out both those guys, Stephen, it kind of does show you how much faith he has in Frank Wright kind of being that QB whisperer, doesn't it? Yeah, absolutely. He's got to have faith in Frank Wright. No matter what move he makes, he's just got to have faith in Frank Wright and Marcus Brady and Press Taylor. Like, that's it.

Like, if those guys can't work it out. And so we're clear, I'm not sold out. I haven't checked out on Jacob Eason either. Again, I want to bring him up because that's part of the reason why I feel like Chris Ballard isn't making these all-in plays, is he's very, very calculated in his movements and in the trades that he makes. But he knows that if need be, he can bring back Jacoby Brissett, and he can have Jacob Beeson and Jacoby Brissett compete. And I know it's not a sexy, sexy move at the quarterback position,

but this team doesn't need necessarily a sexy move. They just need stability. And if they're able to get Jacob Beeson up to level and he can compete in camp and really show off his arm and do well with live bullets, then the Colts have basically a starting quarterback already in their fold. That's one of the reasons why I think bringing in Sam Darnold or Carson Wentz still kind of makes sense because you're allowing Jacob Eason to grow and compete with those guys. And if by the first year and Sam Darnold hasn't really wowed you, but you've given Jacob Eason a chance to grow, then the Colts can move on from Sam Darnold. And it's not a huge loss. You've seen Chris Ballard cut third, fourth-round picks

before training camp. Zach Banner comes to mind. And so he's willing to move on from mistakes if that's what the case is. So I wouldn't – no matter what happens, as a Colts fan, I'm going to support Chris Ballard and the Colts, and I'm going to think that it's a good move, and I'm going to talk Chris Ballard and the Colts. And I'm going to think that it's a good move and I'm going to talk about it and, and all that. But there's a lot of different,

different things to consider. So you can't just look at it just from one, one perspective. You got to have to look at it from the whole picture. And that's what Chris Ballard does. Bet online, the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action. Football might be over, but NBA, college basketball and NHL are in full swing. Bet online even covers awards,

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from Ryan and Jake every Thursday. Subscribe to LockedOn NFL wherever you get your podcasts. A lot of QB dominoes still fall here in the cold. It's likeed on NFL wherever you get your podcasts. A lot of QB dominoes still fall here in the Colts, like we're talking about on today's episode. Really going to be linked to every single one. Carson Wentz is on the hot topic right now. If the Colts don't go to Wentz, we're probably going to be hearing a lot about Sam Dern for a couple weeks

until we get to free agency. This quarterback is going to be the number one discussion for the Colts until they actually make a move on that. But I think second on that list even is going to be edge rusher. And this free agency class is where the Colts can they actually make a move on that. But I think second on that list, Stephen, is going to be edge rusher. And this free agency class is where the Colts can really make some hay, in my opinion. And they're going to have around $70 million of cash base to work with. The quarterback, whatever they do with Wentz or Darnold or wherever,

it might fall around closer to $60 or $50 million, but still a lot of money there to make a big money move in free agency for an edge rusher, which they desperately need to go along to Forrest Buckner in the middle of that defensive line. Here's the free agency for an edge rusher, which they desperately need to go along because they're DeForest Buckner in the middle of that defensive line. Here's the free agency class so far. And a couple of these guys could get tagged. They can be re-signed to extensions. But I feel like almost 80%, 90% of these guys are going to be on the open market

this year, Stephen, which really shows you that the 2021 pass rush class could be a special one. And here's that list for you as far as the um the top names from what i can tell justin houston of course is going to be on this list because he's a former colt could be re-signed here as a fallback option but jack barrett yannick and gawkway carl lawson trey hendrickson of the saints matt judon melvin ingram bud dupree romeo aquara hassan reddick who had a 12-sec season arizona this year he finally broke out and then ly then Leonard Floyd, who had an 11-sec season for the Rams, and he finally broke out after being released by the Bears this past season. That's about 10 or 12

names there, Stephen, who could legitimately be some upgrades for the Colts and could really be a boom signing for them if they were to get one of those guys on board here in Indy. What's your thoughts on this edge rush class? It really should be, I think, in my opinion, what Chris Bauer targets outside of quarterback this offseason. Yeah, the edge rush class is great to share in terms of free agency. A lot of guys that are younger, too, which has been key for what Chris Bauer targets, is guys that are kind of coming into their prime

that maybe haven't quite hit it yet. So looking at that list, you know, you've got guys like Shaq Barrett. I don't think Shaq Barrett's going to get out, but he's also 20 years old. And throughout the course of the season, he had, I think, eight sacks, and then he really showed up hard in the playoffs. So you always kind of wonder with certain players whether once they get paid, whether they're going to kind of fade away. Um, so, but looking at this address, a class guys that I really like for the Colts, um, Romeo Quarra, uh, from Detroit is a guy that I think can be had on a, on a little bit cheaper

side, um, that he put up 10 and a half sacks this year for detroit he's basically their only pass rushing option there and and really showed out well he's super fast off the line of scrimmage i think zach kicks if he hasn't done a a uh rundown of romeo aquara for stampede blue yet i think he probably will um because i know that that's a guy that zach really likes uh, Trey Hendrickson is another, another one from new Orleans that you mentioned how to break out your 13 and a half sacks to son Reddick, same thing, 12 and a half sacks. Um, both of those guys, Romeo Carr is 25 years old. That really fits into Chris Ballard's wheelhouse. Hassan Reddick and Trey Hendrickson are both 26. Um, one guy that, that I think is kind of under the radar and will be an under the radar signing in free agency is Carl Lawson from the Bengals. He only had five and a half sacks this past year,

but the dude is super long. So I think that he could possibly come in and be one of those just long, lanky defensive ends that he can get to the quarterback. But he was saying that – I think it was reported that Cincinnati was telling him not to use all his pass rush moves. And I know Robert Mathis had made a comment on the Twitter machine about how in the world is Cincinnati going to do that to an edge rusher. Edge rushers got to eat kind of thing, something along those lines. But yeah, there's a lot of great edge rushers,

and I wouldn't be surprised to see Chris Ballard double dip in this class if they don't re-assign Justin Houston, which I'm not sure they will. I thought Justin Houston played pretty well last year, even though he didn't get quite the sack numbers that everybody was expecting. He still commanded a lot of double teams and was pretty efficient when he was hit with one-on-ones. So I could see them going in and taking a couple guys in this class and really double dipping in the edge rusher class because you saw just how important it was in the Super Bowl to have edge rushers in a defensive line where you could brush for and feel confident getting to the quarterback with that.

And how much more difficult it made life for Patrick Mahomes, the best quarterback currently going, and how much more difficult it was for him to really get any kind of completion, any kind of rhythm going. And that was big for me. And something that really kind of stood out is how much the trenches matter and how much Chris Ballard really focuses on the trenches throughout the draft and throughout free agency. So I wouldn't be surprised to see them double dip in this free agent class for the edge rusher.

Yeah, I went through mockdraftworld.com, which is kind of that site where you can use like a spider web for the athletic traits for all these guys. And the one that stands out to me that really fits is a Chris Bauer type and like you mentioned Remy Acquara is one of those guys and Trey Hendrickson of the Saints is one of them too really breaks the church so to say and we know Bauer loves those young athletes and I feel like both those guys can make a lot of sense maybe on cheaper deals compared to other ones in the market I know Hendricksonson could get a little more money after the year he had in New Orleans,

but I think this is a very good class of edge rushers this year and it could go to show you that the Colts, if they could add one or two key pieces on the defensive line

to go with the Forrest Buckner, if Kamoko Turrier or Ben Vannegut breaks out fully next year in 2021, they could be well on their way to having a really good front four next year

to go along with the linebacker in Cora, Bobby Okereke, and Darius Leonard, which are one of the best in the NFL. We'll have to see how it goes, of course, Stephen. But last thing I had for you, just about this defense. I mean, the edge rushing, the defensive backs,

how close do you feel like the Colts are to having, like, a truly bona fide top five defense? Because they were a top ten one this past year. But I feel like just one or two moves, like adding, like, an elite pass rusher could really be the the jumping off point here yeah that's the that's the that's the move right there it's they've got to have an elite pass rusher they've got to have that edge that can come in and ideally they have they need to get two because even if you just get one you know teams can focus over on that one side and make it difficult for that guy.

If you can get two in this class, and for whatever reason, my gut says Romeo Acquara and either Trey Hendrickson or Carl Lawson or Hassan Reddick, those are the four guys that I feel like make the most sense for the Colts in their defensive scheme. Then I think they also need to get a corner. Unless they re-sign Xavier Rhodes, I feel like they need to get a corner, you know, and a Kelly Witherspoon or somebody like that. A.J. Boye was just released by the Broncos.

And so there's a couple guys that I'd like for the Colts in the corner position. But they really do need to shore up that position. If they, they go ahead and let Xavier Rhodes walk and let him go and sign elsewhere. They'll need to, to figure that out because even if they can get the address here, of course it increases the value of the entire defense and it lessens the lessens the pressure on cornerbacks to cover for more than the two and a half three and a half seconds and so if they can get that elite address sure I think it's going to go just leaps and

bounds for this defense and really skyrocket them into the the top five territory and and I think that's that's legitimate the you. They were a top 10 this past year. They didn't have much of an edge rush this year. Every once in a while, you saw it out of Kamoka Ture. Every once in a while, you saw it out of Justin Houston when he wasn't being double teamed. The Colts best pressure came from blitzes. And if they can really get home with the front four and get themselves an elite edge rusher in this free agent class, then I think it's going to go just, it's going to go really well for the Colts next year if they can do that. Steven, always enjoy talking with you. I know our listeners do as well. You can go follow Steven on Twitter. You can already at nice read Steve and go to read and

listen to his work as always over on Stampede Blue. Steven, appreciate the time, man. Thanks, Evan.