Colts’ Chris Ballard needs to steal a page from the Pacers’ playbook

The Pacers have been extremely aggressive over the last few years. It is time Ballard changes his approach too.

The General Manager for the Indianapolis Colts, Chris Ballard, has been extremely conservative during his tenure at the helm. The lessons of being disciplined, love your draft picks, short term deals, bargain bin free agents, build in the trenches, and financial flexibility have all been preached. Those lessons have netted the Colts a total of zero division titles and one playoff win. With an extension last year, Ballard has found something that is extremely rare in professional sports, a new lease on life after producing few results. He has to take advantage of that by changing his ways.

He can start by studying his counterparts at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Pacers knew they were going no where fast, so they blew it up and got aggressive. Besides hitting paydirt on Tyrese Haliburton, the latest example is the team trading for Pascal Siakam, the forward from the Raptors. The Pacers know nothing is ever just going to come to them, so they went out and did what they needed to. With any trade or free agent signing, there is always risk, but sometimes a risk is needed. Ballard needs to take some of those this offseason.

Besides Samson Ebukam (which proved to be a bargain), one of this past offseason’s big signings was a kicker. Yes, Matt Gay was good, but that can’t be your big splash. I know the Colts were coming off a low point last year, but signing a kicker is the best move? Ballard holds on to cap space and draft picks like they are the only things that mean anything. Meanwhile, I see team after team acquiring good talent for fourth or fifth round picks and being pressed up to the cap. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but I also see a lot of instances when it does.

Do you know what doesn’t work out? Being so conservative. Trading back eight times a draft to pick five times in the fifth round. Having one of the top four cap space situations year after year after year. Not paying for premium positions like wide receiver. Paying a guard like a defensive end. Signing twenty free agents every year to one year deals so you have to start the process all over again. You know how I know it doesn’t work out? Because it hasn’t. Results are results, and there haven’t been any to date.

It is time to go for it. If you believe you have your Haliburton on the roster in Anthony Richardson, it is time to go and get him a few Siakams. I can’t imagine his job is safe much longer if results do not materialize, so take a swing. I am not saying burn the place down on the way out, but make a trade, trade up in the draft, and/or sign some bigger name free agents. Like the fan-favorite meme that goes around every offseason of the character with the stick saying, “Do Something”, I implore and beg you, Chris Ballard, to do something this offseason.