The Colts’ 2025 season is coming to a close, and as they move past a disappointing year towards the future, they must first open and attempt to solve a rather difficult box. What to do with general manager Chris Ballard?
2025 marks the fifth year in a row in which Indy has missed the playoffs. 2025 marks seven seasons since the Colts’ last playoff win. 2025 marks Chris Ballard’s ninth season with the horseshoe.
In Ballard’s term as acting general manager, the Colts have never won the AFC South, and the team has only two postseason appearances, a single playoff victory.
Yet, despite Ballard’s shortcomings in building a contending team, he has put together competitive rosters.
Some of Ballard’s most notable draft selections include: Jonathan Taylor, Quenton Nelson, Michael Pittman Jr., Grover Stewart, Darius Leonard, Braden Smith, Zaire Franklin, Isaiah Rodgers, Alec Pierce, Josh Downs, and Tyler Warren.
Quenton Nelson and Tyler Warren are the only players in the list who were first-round selections. Ballard has proven his scouting prowess for finding quality players throughout the entirety of the draft. This is an improvement from the Colts’ previous GM, Ryan Grigson whose claim to fame was selecting Andrew Luck at the first overall pick. Outside of Luck, T.Y. Hilton, and Ryan Kelly, Grigson never had much success in the draft. Yet, he was fired after only five seasons with the team, due to the Colts failing to make the postseason for back-to-back years.
Ballard seems to have been given a pass on this front, but many Colts’ fans understand why.
The Andrew Luck Set Back
GettyIndianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck went 11-5 in his final season with the team in 2019.
The Colts were blindsided by Andrew Luck’s surprise retirement in 2019, the move subsequently capped Ballard’s potential early. He went from focusing on building a Super Bowl-contending roster around the team’s star quarterback to having to completely flip gears to focus on finding his successor instead. And for the duration of Ballard’s term, he has been unable to do that.
The Colts have gone through 12 different starting quarterbacks since Andrew Luck. Many of those have been one-off seasons with a veteran quarterback who has been unable to regain the magic of their youth.
Ballard’s selection for a young gun signal caller was Anthony Richardson at the fourth overall pick in 2023. Richardson’s tenure with the team has been tumultuous at best, and he is currently an afterthought just three seasons into his NFL career.
Ballard finally seemed to find the proper Band-Aid to heal the Colts quarterback’s wound this season, as Daniel Jones was a revelation for the franchise before fracturing his fibula and eventually succumbing to a torn Achilles tendon.
Now, once again, there is uncertainty at the most important position, and the question remains whether Ballard is the person who can fix it.
The Latest On Chris Ballard’s Future
GettyCarlie Irsay-Gordon is the acting CEO of the Indianapolis Colts, as well as a co-owner of the team with her sisters Casey Foyt and Kalen Jackson.
Ballard has been relatively reserved when it comes to free agent signings and trades across his tenure in Indy; however, coming into this season, he altered his outlook. Colts reporter James Boyd detailed Ballard’s different approach this season in an article he published for The Athletic, writing, “This year, to his credit, Ballard finally changed his strips and was more aggressive than he’s ever been, and early on, he appeared to strike gold.”
Boyd credits the signings of Daniel Jones, Charvarius Ward, Cam Bynum, and Spencer Shrader as examples of Ballard’s proactivness.
You pair the big-name free agent class additions with the blockbuster trade for Sauce Gardner mid-season, and it becomes clear that Ballard is trying to break his mold to shake things up.
Despite the Gardner trade costing the Colts two future first-round picks and injuries derailing many of the big-name signings, the intent behind each big move may save Ballard’s job yet again.
NFL Insider Dan Graziano shared his outlook on the Colts general manager situation, writing, “Ballard has a good relationship with owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon, from what I am told, and while the Anthony Richardson Sr. pick seems to have been a miss, the Daniel Jones signing was a hit until he got hurt. I think Ballard sticks around.”
The curious case of Chris Ballard features teams with strong bodies, but never the perfect head to guide them. Carlie Irsay-Gordon is expected to evaluate Ballard’s resume in the offseason and determine if he is still in the team’s plans for the future, or if it is time to move in a different direction.
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