Colts’ brass must answer for poor roster management

The Colts are a 6-7 football team, but they didn’t have to be this way. Colts management must answer questions about roster mismanagement, especially in the kicking game.

This season started out with so much promise. The talent all across the board screamed contender. After 7 games, the Colts were 5-2 and the second seed in the AFC. Then things all fell apart, and both Chris Ballard and Frank Reich are the ones to blame for it.

Adam Vinatieri was a complete mess this season. He missed an astounding 16 kicks in just 12 games. He was placed on IR last week with a left knee injury that had been bothering him since training camp. That begs the question: why was he even out there if he was hurt?

Vinatieri said that he didn’t want to miss games and tried to power through it. He said looking back, he probably should’ve had surgery in the offseason and missed the first few weeks. Why wasn’t that done? Why didn’t Ballard and Reich make sure that was the plan?

Vinatieri cost the Colts at least 3 games this season. They could be 9-4 instead of 6-7, and this season would have an entirely different outlook. Ballard and Reich decided to make an emotional decision to keep Vinny out there instead of making the right decision to tell him to get surgery or even cut him.

Seasons like this don’t come around very often. The Colts don’t have a lot of cap space tied up in their young talent right now. Very soon though that talent is going to need paid. It will make it harder to win. This was a season that didn’t have those problems, and the Colts’ brass just threw it all away.

As much as the fans like what Ballard and Reich have done since they’ve come to Indy, this is by far the worst thing they have done. They cost their own team a chance to be a real contender. Fans deserve to be angry about that, and are right to be more skeptical about moves made in the future.