Joe Flacco is a win-now move but will Chris Ballard change his NFL trade deadline approach?

Posted by Admin November 1, 2024 NFL

INDIANAPOLIS — If there was any doubt about the goals in Indianapolis this season, Colts head coach Shane Steichen ended it this week by benching second-year starter Anthony Richardson and handing the reins to Joe Flacco.

Steichen’s reasoning was simple.

The Colts, sitting at 4-4 and a half-game out of a wild card spot, believe Flacco gives them the best chance to win.

The goal is the playoffs.

With the trade deadline looming at 4 p.m. Tuesday, the Colts could decide to go even more all-in by breaking with general manager Chris Ballard’s precedent and swinging a deal for a veteran who could shore up a weak spot on the roster.

“I’ll defer to Ballard on all that stuff with the trade deadline coming up,” Steichen said on Friday. “But obviously, want to make a push here, the second half of the season, with nine left. Absolutely.”

Ballard’s history suggests a deadline deal is unlikely, even though the NFL trade market has already been more active than usual.

Nine deals have already been struck, beginning with the Jaguars’ decision to ship defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris to Seattle on Oct. 14 and extending through Minnesota’s trade for former Jaguars tackle Cam Robinson to fill the hole left by Christian Darrisaw’s season-ending knee injury.

The Colts rarely participate in the deadline.  

Ballard has made just one deadline deal in his eight seasons leading Indianapolis, a deal forced by former running back Nyheim Hines’s desire to get out of a Colts uniform in 2022. Ballard was able to turn a disgruntled Hines into a valuable piece, picking up Zack Moss, who rushed for 1,159 yards in a season and a half as Jonathan Taylor’s backup, and the draft pick that became Will Mallory.

But normally, Ballard believes the prices are too high around the league to strike a deal, and based on Steichen’s Flacco decision, the Colts would have to be buyers this year.

Ballard has not changed much about the way he operates over the years. Questioned this offseason about the team’s lack of participation in free agency, Ballard doubled down on his approach at the end of training camp.

“I still have a strong belief in what we’re doing, how we’re doing it and how we’re going to get there. That will not waver,” Ballard said. “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.”

Ballard’s history is not the only precedent to consider.

The entire Colts organization has a history of staying away from the NFL trade deadline. Before Hines forced his way out of town — a deal that ended up working out better for the Colts — the last Indianapolis deadline deal was the ill-fated trade for Trent Richardson in 2023.

Before Richardson, the last time the Colts made a deadline deal was the blockbuster move for defensive tackle Booger McFarland in 2006 that helped Indianapolis win a Super Bowl.

This Colts team is not considered a Super Bowl frontrunner like the 2006 team.

But Steichen has made the team’s goals clear.

He wants to get this team into the playoffs, and he’s willing to sacrifice the team’s potential future at quarterback to get the Colts there.

“If you get in the playoffs, I think anyone has a chance,” Steichen said. “Once you get in.”

The question is whether or not the front office will see a reason to sacrifice potential future assets in order to get somebody else who can help right now.