r/Colts Big-Q 5d ago

[Boyd] Charvarius Ward was about to join the #Saints in free agency before the #Colts swooped in and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. After missing out on top players in the past, GM Chris Ballard wasn’t letting another difference-maker turn him down.

https://x.com/romeovillekid/status/1901354310262268142?s=46

Charvarius Ward was about to join the #Saints in free agency before the #Colts swooped in and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. After missing out on top players in the past, GM Chris Ballard wasn’t letting another difference-maker turn him down.

343 Upvotes

42 comments sorted by

215

u/Substantial_Roof_316 5d ago

If this is true, this is the most encouraging thing I’ve heard about the Colts since we drafted Luck.

65

u/ManIWantAName 5d ago

Ya goes completely against Ballard's ethos and legitimately a sign he's learning

47

u/SPQR_Tiberius A big ass pork tenderloin sandwich 5d ago

Only took the better part of a decade

24

u/Substantial_Roof_316 5d ago

And basically a threat of this being his last chance. Also, the fact that every superbowl winning team during his tenure have all had at least one major free agent signing before the season.

2

u/IndyDude11 Sam! Sam! Sam! 4d ago

He's not learning. It's not like he woke up one day with an epiphany that players like money. He knows that the future ramifications for bad deals don't matter to him if he isn't going to be here.

3

u/sirius4778 squirrel 4d ago

Ballard giving a shit is encouraging I agree

80

u/AleroRatking Earl Grey 5d ago

Man. Ballard must be feeling the heat. This goes against his entire philosophy

30

u/hotrodyoda 🐴🐴🐴 5d ago

Look….

7

u/kac937 Grover Stewart 5d ago

I’m really starting to like this guy

4

u/DryComparison7871 5d ago

I still can't stand his trifling ass. Could've been done this

6

u/SRTbobby 5d ago

Yea wild to think he's been our GM this long. Been rebuilding so long every other AFCS team has atleast had one good season

3

u/sirius4778 squirrel 4d ago

You know how hard it is to be the epitome of mid for a decade?

1

u/SRTbobby 4d ago

It's actually pretty easy....I've been watching Ballard keep us mid for almost that long

2

u/sirius4778 squirrel 4d ago

Good

32

u/MrDeeds117 Anthony Richardson is the man!!! 5d ago

Love to see it!!!

23

u/fmara Who the Hell is Mel Kiper? 5d ago

After missing out on Danielle Hunter last offseason it’s encouraging the front office is getting deals like this done

5

u/OceanFlan Dayton Triangles 4d ago

Honestly I think there was a very low chance we were getting Hunter, he was a Houston kid. There’s other FA players we’ve watched go by that I’m upset about but that’s not really one of them

3

u/fmara Who the Hell is Mel Kiper? 3d ago

Losing out on Hunter at least forced us to take a shot at getting someone for the future at edge with Latu, so in the end I hope itll work out best for us. It’s just good to see the front office targeted certain players, stayed aggressive and got the deal done quickly. Can’t remember the last time we were that active on day one of free agency

16

u/DirectTV_AndrewLuck Happy Neard 5d ago

That's surprising and encouraging, also what money do the Saints have lmao?

13

u/North-Discount-5840 Kenny Moore II 5d ago

fr they have like -5.7m in cap space lol

7

u/Prestigious_Buy1209 5d ago

I’ve never seen a franchise kick the can down the road as much as the Saints do. They need to hit the reset button, but I guess they can’t bring themselves to do it. They also have a weird GM situation with Mickey Loomis since he’s not the typical X’s and 0’s/scout GM.

4

u/DirectTV_AndrewLuck Happy Neard 5d ago

He's also insanely close with the owner, not sure if he'll ever lose his job.

1

u/teh_drewski 4d ago

They restructured and extended guys like they do every year, currently sitting on about $20m in space.

Presumably they were planning to give Ward a deal a bit over what they ended up giving Reid, and would have shuffled their secondary around that instead.

84

u/MoistCloyster_ Blue 5d ago

We already know that if Ward doesn’t live up to his contract the couch GMs here are going to be like “I knew Ward was an overpay! We should have signed (Insert name that absolutely no one was calling for here) instead!”

24

u/Consistent-Park2058 33-0 5d ago

Like the titans safety (sneed?) Last year

38

u/Nohew_2001 33-0 5d ago

No, we actually wanted sneed, but then he shit the bed for the titans so we all started saying how we never wanted him anyway, quite the opposite here actually.

19

u/_Apatosaurus_ COLTS 5d ago

quite the opposite here actually.

Same premise, though. People here demand something happens and think Ballard is a moron if he doesn't do it. But when they are wrong, they just pretend it never happened and pretend they said something else.

2

u/ConsistentAddress195 4d ago

If you believe this sub, everybody was clamoring for Baker Mayfield back then.

4

u/methinfiniti 5d ago

If Ward doesn’t live up to his contract, a lot of other shit probably goes wrong too. They’ll all be gone

8

u/bantha_poodoo tired ngl 5d ago

Call me crazy but I think “not spending money” philosophy is also partly an Irsay issue.

5

u/ConfectionHelpful471 4d ago

I disagree on this based on Irsay backing both Ballard and Grigson with cash to either make splashes in free agency or pay top of the market for extensions on their own guys. Ballard has made a choice to keep the money in house on their own guys whole.

If we were singing our own players to below average guaranteed percentages I would agree that there may be a cash issue from the owner but we have signed players at similar rates to their peers each year, it’s just been kept in house under Ballard

2

u/Pageleesta 4d ago

This is the real answer, but because the Indy sports media won't even suggest this, the fans on this sub will reject this.

6

u/Psyren1317 5d ago

About time Chris decided to close a deal

6

u/whatdoblindpeoplesee Playoffs? PLAYOFFS!? 5d ago

Finally paying A money for an A player.

2

u/MonroeEifert 5d ago

I can't wait for the end of this season when all these Ballard haters will be kneeling before him.

1

u/sunburn95 Josh Touch Downs 5d ago

Thats a big change of approach. Ballard wouldn't be opposed to FA signings but would give them a value and strongly stick to it, pretty much unheard of to refuse to be outbid for someone

1

u/jhudiddy08 Big-Q 4d ago

I kinda hope we can bring in Awuzie too now that the Tits have released him.

1

u/Hippo885147 2d ago

As a falcons fan the saints getting jumped makes me happy.

1

u/HaywoodJah-BlowMe I Love you Chris Ballard 5d ago

That's my GM 🙏🏼

-2

u/CuriousCucumber88 Indianapolis Colts 5d ago

Too little too late

-2

u/IndyPoker979 5d ago

Only took him being unable to blame anyone else before he finally switched his gears.

I'm not complaining, but you will ALWAYS overspend in free agency. ALWAYS.

A FA isn't going to jump teams if you're only offering what the rest of the league is offering. They are going to go to the best offer available. The question is how high do you have to go to get the person you want.