Chris Ballard says Colts were in on some guys in free agency

In a recent podcast with Adam Schefter, Colts GM Chris Ballard mentioned that the Colts were in on a few more guys in free agency, but ultimately decided their price was too high.

Everyone knows that Chris Ballard is a patient guy. When it comes to team building, he takes the long approach. He knows that the draft is the best way to build up his team. That is why he has slow-played free agency so far. But apparently they didn’t try to slow-play it as much as people thought.

In a podcast with ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Ballard revealed that there were some guys early on in free agency that they were trying to get, but ultimately passed on because the price was over what they valued them at. Ballard did not reveal who these players were.

Ballard has always said that they evaluate a player’s worth and then stick to that number when trying to sign them. They won’t overpay someone just because they have money, and Ballard reiterated that to Schefter in the podcast.

We can only speculate as to who these players could have been. My guess is one of them was Landon Collins. Once Collins signed with the Redskins, it forced the Colts to go back and negotiate with Clayton Geathers to bring him back. Collins would have been a great fit in Indy.

Another player could have been Le’Veon Bell. The Colts knew he was trying to get paid the most amount he could though, and ultimately decided to sign with the Jets. The Colts know how valuable a player Bell is, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they tried to sign him.

We will probably never know who these players truly were. Ballard doesn’t like to divulge such things, which makes sense. But it did sound like the organization was fully focused on the draft right now, so more free agent signings probably won’t happen until after that is done.