I like the trade even if it doesn’t pan out. This is a reversal of his mo of keeping our own and hoping for improvement commensurate with experience. Evidence has proven a more aggressive approach is needed especially when your record shows the window is open. At least he isn’t sitting on his hands. I’d be pissed if we were one and done in the playoffs if he hadn’t made a trade to improve the team. Now if we falter it can’t be blamed on lack of aggressive roster building. Ballard and Steichen are very aware of Carlie’s expectations and I think he’s doing everything he can to secure his job for next year.

It's a no doubt risk and probably an overpay. Still, I like the general idea that this team could win it all this year and they tried to make themselves better to do it, instead of being in the perpetual 7-9 win club every year.

not when we let te's just run wild on our lbers

pierce and jones

traded too much for my liking but if he plays at an all pro level for his contract then who cares



this secondary should be fantastic. I must thought with Jones coming back, he was good enough to be that #2

If they were going to make a move, I was on team-DB over pass-rusher. Two 1st-rounders is huge, but he's arguably CB1 in the league (I'm really surprised he was on the table at all) and he's under contract for 4-years and I think I heard his bonuses are already paid.(?)

Add that to Ward's 3-years, Moore for at least another year, Walley coming back on a rookie deal and it's a little less jarring of a price-tag.

I think this is now five 1st-rounders Ballard has traded away.

Treadwell

I agree. The pressures have been there. Lou likes to play more DBs than LBs, so this move makes a lot of sense for his scheme.

Apparently, Gardner is taking Downs 1#, I no longer approve of this trade, that number was perfect for Josh "First" Downs.

Downs switching to #2, same as his brother at Ohio St.

I literally could not believe this was true when I read it. We in no way overpaid for this guy. He signed a huge contract like a few months ago. It included something like a 39 million dollar bonus. That money stays with New York. We get him on a steep discount.

I liked Mitchell but I like the message being sent even more. Sat him then traded him. Harsh but this team needed discipline last year. This is a nice and huge change

Finally this is such an extreme change in the way things have been done around here it cannot be a total coincidence that we have new ownership. A team that goes all in. I do love it.

By the way... I can't remember a position group being both this badly beaten up and also attacked by the front office this hard with moves to give the DC what he wants.

CB room has been in flux all year.

Sure we over paid. But who will give a shit, if it leads to multiple long playoff runs, a top 5 defense and perhaps 1 or 2 SB's?

Carlie has definitely been a difference maker.

Get Ward back and keep him healthy, Walley back in the fold next year. We have a legit backend that will give offensive coordinators nightmares. Cross and Bynum at safety and it frees Lou up for some creative defensive schemes. I am here for it.

If he plays at all pro level it isn't an overpay. He is young, we have him on a decent contract (for us anyway) until 2030. You going to play and beat Mahomes, you better be able to cover. Good CB play opens up Anarumo's playbook also. It is just two first rounders. I can't get upset-I have seen us give two first rounders for Fredd Young

Exactly. Two first round picks is like having two lottery tickets, they guarantee you nothing, especially when those picks are likely to between picks 25 & 32.

I like this take on the trade by Walterfootball.

On paper the best D the Colts have assembled?

This after the Gus Bradley yrs??????

Haven't been able to get to the computer all day.

Very excited by this. I was gung-ho for an edge, but I did not realize how high we ranked in pressure rate. This should give us the ability to get some additional sacks out of those rushes.

I definitely think this backfield is on par with the group that won the SB for us. Just have to stay healthy.

Also wanted to comment on the sentiment about the messaging of AD being part of this. I totally agree. I really do think that is much more about the message than it is the compensation. I think this sends a reverberating message throughout the entire org- your job is no longer secure just because your scan card worked yesterday. I love that expectations have been ratcheted up. AD may turn out to be a very good player, but for now, we needed to send the message that to be on this roster, you have to be a very good player right fucking now and if you aren't, you don't belong here.

I love it too, the only other time I saw it was the misguided BS during one of the Grigson years when we gave Andre Johnson $7 million dollars to score four TDs while Andrew luck was getting pummeled into early retirement.

These things are not the same. The Only part of this team I am worried about is Shane Steichen.

For what it’s worth, from perusing Jets message boards, 90 percent of their fans are thrilled with this move. Everything from he’s soft to he’s overpaid.

They think Mitchell will automatically be their number two receiver and that the Colts will end up imploding because of Jones, so those picks will be better than they currently are.

One thing is for certain, if the deal works out Ballard will get credit for it, if it turns out badly, Steichen and Anarumo talked him into it, Ballard not a fault in any way!:D

Seriously though, this should make an already very good defense, great! I personally think we should have got at least one 2nd rounder, but this could be a real game changer for the Colts!

I imagine that one would have to maintain a certain level of delusion/madness in order to keep being a Jets fan year after year. It would be very difficult.

The way our minds as humans work is weird. We are getting shit from lots of places for giving up so much for Sauce. In 2022 he was taken with the 4th pick; not that long ago and has totally panned out-all pro and all. What would it have taken to go from a 20 something draft to number 4? If you want a comparison the 49ers gave up three firsts and a third to move up from 12 to 3 in the 2021 draft. Before you use the draft pick it seems to be worth a fortune, not so much after you actually have a player, not just a 'lottery ticket'. It makes zero sense. I would rather have the proven NFL player. Carlie/Ballard seem to get this. I'm loving this version of the Colts, love being set up for a big unexpected success story or a huge fall. It is as good a year as I can remember with this team, a diversion I am really thankful for.

Exactly, lottery ticket (a dollar and a dream) is an apt description of a draft pick. Especially a near the bottom of round 1 pick. More of them don't pan out at all than become starters, much less, all pros. We have to wait until the 2027 draft to see who the Jets get with these picks, but I'd be willing to bet the farm that they will be no where near the talent of our Saucy new CB.

I think the smart Jets fans want to stockpile picks in order to have the ability to go get the quarterback they want.

And there is some merit to that plan.

They have literally no confidence that their front office will get the right guy, though.

Mooney Ward, Sauce Gardner, Kenny Moore, Nick Cross, Cam Bynum...
A day later and I still love this trade. Excited.

I mean the team was around 500 with Anthony Richardson; those picks are not going to be that great.

BSPN had the exact opposite reaction.

Colts' grade: D
Jets' grade: A

While Bleacher Report aggreed with Walterfootball.

Colts: A
Jets: B

Grades of the trade depend entirely on the graders opinion of the value of draft picks.

I’m much more of a F them picks guy anymore except for a situation like the Jets have, where they can be used to get a quarterback.

If the jets end up using those picks to draft a franchise quarterback, then they won the trade regardless of what the Colts do.

Otherwise, I think it’s likely the colts end up winning the trade, so long as Gardner continues being the player he’s been so far in his career. Which there’s really no reason to think that he won’t, provided he stays healthy.

It was not really the grade as much as what they said about the trade

I think this win-lose in a trade attitude is often silly. It can be good for or bad for both teams, Colts win or come close to a SB and the Jets get a franchise QB., Did we somehow lose, it is not like we were going to be in a position to draft that QB.

How difficult would it be to find out who got drafted with those five 1st rounders? Actually, 3 since the Jets 1st rounders are in the future.

Browns squandered theirs, I'm sure. 69ers probably picked well. Philly, too.

The 49'ers pick (the 2020 First Round Draft Pick that was traded to acquire Buckner) was ultimately used to draft DL Javon Kinlaw...which was sort of interesting because many mock drafts linked Kinlaw to the Colts before that trade.

During the draft process, several NFL teams flagged Kinlaw medically - they thought his knees were going to be a problem long term.

Kinlaw missed a significant chunk of games during Years 2 and 3 of his Rookie contract.

The 49'ers declined his fifth year option and Kinlaw signed with the NY Jets last season and then Washington this year.

The Colts traded away their 2019 First Round Draft Pick to Washington: the Montez Sweat draft.

At the combine, doctors flagged Sweat with a heart condition. Because of that diagnosis (or possibly misdiagnosis), many teams removed Sweat from their draft boards - at the time of the draft, I had read that over half the NFL teams took him off their boards...I would guess the Colts were one of those teams.

So the Colts traded their late First Round Draft Pick (Pick 26) to Washington for two Second Round Draft Picks (2019 + 2020).

And Washington drafted Sweat.

This grading who won trades is idiotic. Who gives a shit if the Jets draft excellent players if Sauce does what everyone who has a brain and isn't a rabid fan thinks, turns this secondary into one of the best in the league. What matters is that we wouldn't have been able to get a player of Sauces caliber with those picks and you win Super Bowls with elite players. To my mind it cost one first (I consider him the first we would have had next year) and Mitchell (who I am more bummed than most here to lose, I love watching young players develop but wouldn't take him over Pierce in any scenario and we won't have both).

I coulnd't agree more. The new owners bring a new attitude, a winning attitude. Wonder how much leeway Ballard had before vs. now. I also wonder who initiated the conversation for Gardner. Love the new owners!

Interesting article on how this all went down


https://www.si.com/nfl/how-the-colts...-their-futures