NFL Rumors: Chris Ballard’s Future as Colts GM Eyed by Insiders After Giants Loss

After an embarrassing performance on Sunday against the New York Giants that ended their playoff hopes, the future of the Indianapolis Colts and general manager Chris Ballard are very uncertain.

Per ESPN’s Stephen Holder, several people within the NFL are wondering what will happen with Ballard as he finishes up his eighth season with the Colts.

The Colts’ postseason hopes came crashing down with a 45-33 loss to a Giants team that entered Week 17 with the worst record in the NFL (2-13) and had lost 10 straight games overall.

New York hadn’t scored 30 points in a game this season prior to playing the Colts. It only scored at least 20 points four times in its first 15 games.

Ballard was named Colts general manager in January 2017. He spent the previous four years working in the front office for the Kansas City Chiefs.

The early returns for Ballard in Indianapolis were extremely promising. His second draft with the organization produced All-Pro players Quenton Nelson and Shaquille Leonard; a starting offensive tackle in Braden Smith; and a rotation defensive end in Tyquan Smith.

That 2018 draft class helped the Colts finish 10-6 and make the playoffs. They defeated the Houston Texans in the wild-card round before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round.

Everything for the Colts organization changed right before the start of the 2019 regular season when Andrew Luck retired. Given the timing of his announcement, the fact they finished 7-9 that season spoke well of how much talent they had at that point around the quarterback position.

After signing Philip Rivers as a free agent, the Colts went 11-5 and made the playoffs in 2020. The quarterback spot has been a revolving door in Indianapolis since Rivers’ retirement after the 2020 season.

The Colts tried going the veteran route for a couple of years with Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan to no avail. Their selection of Anthony Richardson with the No. 4 pick in the 2023 draft hasn’t yielded strong results thus far due to a combination of injuries and struggles on the field.

During Ballard’s tenure, the Colts have never won the AFC South. By comparison, the other three teams have all won the division at least twice during that span.

This season will mark the Colts’ fourth time finishing with a losing record in eight years under Ballard. They haven’t won more than nine games in a season since 2020.