The Indianapolis Colts are the kind of organization that doesn't mind bringing back former players to be leaders. The team did that with Jeff Saturday, for instance, though that was ultimately a massive failure. With Chris Ballard now fired from his general manager position, ownership might be thinking of making calls to Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck to replace him.
How realistic those calls are, fans will probably never know. The idea of Luck or Manning becoming GM is a nice one, but almost certainly one that will never occur. Each would have good reasons for saying no.
For Manning, what would he have to gain? He's a legend in Indianapolis and can't be seen in any better light. He also has loads of opportunities outside of working for a team, such as his ManningCast on Monday nights. Being a general manager would mean less time to do the other things he wants to do.
Indianapolis Colts are likely not going to have Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck replace Chris Ballard
He also would never be able to be a majority owner of the Colts, should they ever be sold. Manning has a net worth of about $300 million. That is about a 20th of what it takes to be a majority owner of an NFL team now.
As for Luck, he retired from football because he was worried about his long-term health. He wouldn't be playing anymore, of course, but he is also unlikely to leave his current gig for a professional team. He has spoken about wanting to spend time with family and working in college athletics, and that is what he does for his alma mater.
Luck is the football general manager for Stanford University, and while he deals with fundraising and other matters, he doesn't have to worry about an NFL salary cap or facing the scrutiny of wins and losses at the professional level. At Stanford, the expectation isn't winning a national championship, for instance, but winning a Super Bowl would be the expectation as a professional GM.
Could Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning run the Indianapolis Colts well? Likely, but it is also almost certainly not in their best interest to come back to Indy. What they each do for their jobs now is a much better fit for them. The only real hope is that they take the kind of role Matt Ryan did with the Atlanta Falcons and oversee the new general manager as president of football operations.
Instead, the organization should look to hire someone who has experience as an NFL general manager. The Colts have built themselves into a mess that might take some time to undo. A new GM might feel overwhelmed by the process. The team does have talent, though it needs to start over at quarterback. The problem is Ballard traded the 2027 first-round choice for Sauce Gardner.
Indy could let Daniel Jones go and save $38 million in cap room in 2027, but the real answer lies in choosing someone in the draft. The answer might not come for QB1 until 2028, or likely more than a year after the new general manager has been on the job for the Colts.
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