Not a lot to go around and plenty of places to improve.
The Indianapolis Colts are accustomed to rolling over a lot of cap space every year. Chris Ballard loves two things as the general manager: cap space and draft picks. Normally, he is equipped with more money at his disposal than he is willing to spend. This year, he might be right at home by not having to spend much money at all. While cap space isn’t indicative of success or failure regarding wins and losses, being middle of the pack in cap space with little to show for their efforts is concerning.
Thankfully, the Colts aren’t in the same position as the Browns who have a huge $30 million hole to climb out of after an ill-advised decision to bring on Deshaun Watson. Still, being in a better position than the Browns isn’t really saying much. Ok, so the Colts aren’t the Browns, but it does beg the question, what do they have to show for their current situation? With only $28 million, sure there are ways to make more, but this is a team coming off another unsuccessful campaign. Even more unfortunate is the fact that Ballard actually seems willing to spend some of that money in free agency this year.
This roster isn’t good enough and bringing in players via the draft alone isn’t going to move the needle enough. Restructuring current contracts or cutting players will be the path forward if the Colts want to gain more purchasing power. I do expect some degree of that but not much. Ballard claims to be a changed man, but I just don’t believe it. I don’t think he is going to change his overall philosophy and approach to free agency. I see him making several small moves and one mid-range move three to four days after the free agency period begins. For him, this amount of cap space won’t be problematic. While he may love financial flexibility, it hasn’t led to success in past seasons, so the point seems to be moot.
This will be a different offseason for the Colts. Usually flush with cash, they won’t necessarily be strapped, but they have to move judiciously. Chris Ballard will have to create more if he wants to improve the team by raising the competitive floor of the roster. Bringing in quality veterans is the fastest way to getting better. Continuing to churn the current roster is only going to lead to similar results. This could be it for Ballard. He needs to work some magic and overhaul this roster. Creating more cap space and spending like there is no tomorrow might be his best chance.
