INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts will not be sellers at Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline.
Head coach Shane Steichen essentially confirmed that when he benched 2023 No. 4 pick Anthony Richardson in favor of 39-year-old Joe Flacco. To steal a line from team owner Jim Irsay, the Colts are seemingly “all chips in” on their postseason quest.
But are they really?
Indianapolis sits at 4-4 as it hands the keys to Flacco ahead of a Sunday night showdown in Minnesota, and there is still plenty of season left for the Colts to earn their first playoff berth since 2020. Flacco, the 2013 Super Bowl MVP, has already proven to be a key offseason addition after joining the team on a one-year deal in March. He’s thrown seven touchdowns against one interception in relief of Richardson, which put pressure on the team to eventually demote the struggling Richardson and make Flacco the new starter.
Flacco’s steady play and impressive résumé have quickly garnered him respect in the locker room. But for the Colts to significantly boost the production coming out of that same locker room, GM Chris Ballard would probably need to do what he’s rarely done: Make an in-season trade.
“I’ll defer to Ballard on all that stuff with the trade deadline coming up,” Steichen said Friday. “But obviously, yeah, I want to make a push here, second half of the season with nine (games) left. Absolutely.”
Since Ballard was hired in 2017, he’s only made one in-season trade when running back Nyheim Hines requested to be moved at the deadline in 2022. Hines’ departure worked out in favor of Indianapolis.
The Colts swapped Hines for a conditional sixth-round pick and running back Zack Moss. Hines made a quick impact in Buffalo, returning two kickoffs for touchdowns in the Bills’ regular-season finale. But the following offseason, Hines suffered a torn ACL in a jet-ski accident and hasn’t played since.
Moss took longer to take off with the Colts, who finished with 4-12-1 in 2022. But the following season, Moss wound up becoming one of the team’s top offensive performers as he filled in often for 2021 first-team all-pro Jonathan Taylor, who missed seven games due to injury. Moss finished as Indianapolis’ leading rusher with career highs of 794 yards and five touchdowns.
Perhaps the Colts, once again lacking a consistent backup running back, could revisit the trade well? Tight end, cornerback and edge rusher could be viewed as positions of need, too, whether it’s due to lack of experience, production or simply attrition because of injuries. Indianapolis tight ends Mo Alie-Cox, Kylen Granson, Drew Ogletree and Will Mallory have totaled a combined 17 catches for 221 yards and two TDs. Starting defensive end Samson Ebukam tore his left Achilles on the third day of training camp; cornerback JuJu Brents suffered ad MCL injury in the season opener; and starting defensive end Tyquan Lewis sustained an elbow injury in Week 4. All three remain on injured reserve.
“I think every week we’re evaluating everything after games,” Steichen said of the current state of his team. “ … It’s roster, it’s everything we go through. We’re constantly evaluating everything we do.”
The most notable evaluation as of late has undoubtedly been Richardson’s benching. Steichen and Ballard recently sat down with the 22-year-old after Steichen made the decision to insert Flacco isn’t the starting lineup. Steichen said he would keep the contents of that conversation private, and the same can be said about any potential trade deadline moves.
Steichen nor Ballard will spill the beans, but judging off Ballard’s conservative history in this arena, there may not be any beans to spill.
The Colts entered this season with largely the same roster they had last season, and Ballard said in his annual preseason news conference that he believes this team could reach the postseason. When pressed on his team-building approach and the lack of success during his tenure — two playoff appearances, one playoff win and zero AFC South titles — Ballard doubled down.
“I still have a strong belief in what we’re doing, how we’re doing it and how we’re going to get there. And that will not waver,” Ballard said. “Either you believe something, or you believe nothing. It’s easy to vacillate, easy to vacillate and go with what the world wants you to do. You either believe in something, or you don’t. This is what we believe.
“If it gets me fired, so be it.”
Who stays and who goes after the season ultimately rests on the shoulders of owner Jim Irsay. But at the moment, as Indianapolis sits a half-game back from a an AFC wild-card spot, any roster shuffling falls at the feet of Steichen and Ballard. Steichen already made his move by starting Flacco.
Now, days away from the trade deadline, it could be Ballard’s turn to do something that helps propel the Colts to the playoffs.
(Photo of Chris Ballard: Kelly Wilkinson / IndyStar / USA Today Network)
