Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard has historically not been great at managing the team in the offseason. While he typically makes decent draft picks, he also favored running it back with the existing roster, and was notoriously stingy in free agency. This year, with his job on the line, he took a different approach. He actually let some of his free agents walk, and made a few big signings in free agency.
It's not entirely surprising that Ballard was more aggressive; that he was given another chance at all after the 2024 season was shocking. Many Colts fans thought Ballard and Steichen should both be fired, but at the bare minimum, that Ballard needed to go. Instead, both got another chance, and it must have been enough of a wake-up call that Ballard realized things needed to change.
Evidently, he did a good job; the Colts have been ranked in the top 10 offseasons by Josh Edwards for CBS Sports, coming in at #8.
"Indianapolis finally spent on its secondary in free agency, but did lose a few pieces to the offensive line. Those two players missed a large portion of last season, which allowed rookies to gain valuable repetitions. Daniel Jones is not going to provide the level of quarterback play that every team is chasing, but it should be improved over last season. Tight end Tyler Warren was added as another outlet in the pass game.Josh Edwards
Veterans cornerback Charvarius Ward pushes down other young players into more suitable roles, while safety Camryn Bynum represents an upgrade in a make-or-break year for head coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard."
Yes, Ballard improved upon recent years, but after the draft, he seemingly decided he was done, even with certain parts of the team still needing drastic help.
Carlie Irsay-Gordon, who took over as CEO after her father's death, made it clear that Ballard and Steichen are both sitting on very hot seats this year, and that so far, they haven't been meeting the standard they need to. "As my dad said before he passed, Chris and Shane know that they have things they need to fix," she said. "We talked about not micromanaging people, but also, we have a standard here, and it hasn’t been good enough."
There's a lot of pressure on the Colts to succeed this year, and Ballard can at least point to a decent job in the offseason for now as an argument for why he should stay another year.