Musings of an Old Sportswriter

Where I share thoughts on Chris Ballard's future, Caitlin Clark's metamorphosis into a `monster' and the Pacers' epic signing of Pascal Siakam.

Does Jim Irsay still care about winning? Or at least spending the money necessary to win a division title for the first time since 2014?

Here’s how we’re going to know:

If Chris Ballard fails to build a team that qualifies for a playoff berth this season, he needs to be cast asunder. The man will have been here eight years; in all that time, the Colts, 54-60-1 during his tenure,  have been to the post-season twice, have won one playoff game and have not won the AFC South a single time. (And it’s not like the AFC South is Murderer’s Row). If Irsay cares about vying for championships the way the Colts did throughout the 2000’s, he will find Ballard’s production to be unacceptable. Eight years: Think about that. Nearly a decade without making an impact, without being close to elite, without winning a division title. If he comes up short again, how does Irsay make the case that he cares about the ultimate success if he continues to keep Ballard in his employ?

In the past, I’ve been convinced Irsay, whose primary business interest is his football team, was willing to dig deep to make the Colts a consistent contender, but in recent years, his team (read: Ballard) has been very sparing with the cash when it comes to obtaining free agents.

So the question is: Is that a Ballard thing? Is he just judicious with cash and philosophically opposed to overspending on occasion for a game-changing free agent?

Or is he just doing Irsay’s bidding, having been informed by the owner that there will be limitations on the amount of cash that can be spent?

Fellow columnist at the Star, Gregg Doyel, has reported recently that Ballard keeps his position because he’s willing to work under Irsay’s fiscal constraints. I don’t know that that’s true – I don’t know that it isn’t – except to say I’ve spoken with one agent who insists Irsay has become more interested in other ventures and is, in his words, “cheap” Now, I put limited stock in those comments because this agent has had a number of tough negotiations with Ballard over the years, so how much of that is true and how much of that is bitterness, I don’t know for sure.

Well, we will find out this year.