She didn’t give in to the bloodlust of the fan base. She didn’t fold to the questioning of reporters. She was straight up about how she felt and why. She saw what we all saw and instead of overreacting to negative, she put expectations on the positive, ultimately laying the gauntlet down for Chris/Shane. 2026 is the last stand and I stand with Carlie!

36 comments

  1. I think Ballard is a better GM than people give him credit for. I think he’s whiffed on picks (everyone does), I think he was put in an incredibly shit situation ultimately. The quarterback carousel is a plus and a minus to him, the teams were always so good that you were a QB away but could never get the QB. The team was too good a lot of years to tank, he nailed on so many good picks that they had to try to stay competitive. They finally get a great roster and everyone dies.

    That being said, you have to fire him after 9 seasons. I know it’s shitty and he probably will have success wherever he goes, but you have to.

  5. If she had fired them, and then proceeded to make bad hires, that would look worse in her eyes, than hanging onto the old regime for too long.

    But this team operates scared, timid and even when they swing, it feels out of place. The risk-averse nature of the team runs through the building

  6. W take. The part nobody is mentioning is she clearly suggested this year was a make or break year.

    And while I too wanted Ballard gone, I get why from Carlie’s perspective you would keep them. It is hard to believe she has only been the owner for 7 months now.

    But yeah, this is likely it for Ballard and Steichen, well it quite literally is for Ballard, his contract is up. We just gotta hope next season looks more like the first half of this season, and not the second.

  7. I hate the call to bring Ballard back, but I was hesitant on Shane

    I guess I am on board with “if you suck, you’re dead,” logic

    But it still doesn’t feel great

  8. I’ve heard rumors that the urgency has never been higher.

    Edit: words. You would think that I would remember, as many times as I heard it.

  9. I get it. She’s new and trying, and we aren’t really calling for her head….but, if you search “Ballard” on r/nfl, for the past few years a post about Ballard being retained is met with disappointment. It’s not a great time when other orgs are cleaning house and the AFCS is celebrating keeping him around. I know we have jack shit in draft capital, but damn. Put someone else in and have them rebuild or else someone else is going to inherit more trouble.

  10. She had a chance to say this isn’t acceptable. But she clearly tolerated the last 9 years as such. So yeah. I’m out.

  11. By keeping Ballard around, it’s clear that she has no idea what she’s doing. So maybe stop giving her attention and affirmation on social media.

  12. I hate it, but as a purely business decision it’s the right call. Until injuries started killing us, the team was on fire, and doing exactly what Ballard needed them to do to keep his job. It would be very difficult for her, in her first year, with one year left on Ballards contract, with the way the team played in the first half of the season and the freakishness of the sequence of events during the second half of the season, to justify firing Ballard. Any other GM candidate would see that and question coming here, which is the ultimate deciding factor.

  13. If Ballard was gone, new GM cuts Steichen and Daniel Jones doesn’t re-sign.  New GM then puts EVERYONE on the block.  JT, Nelson, Pierce, gone in a scramble for draft picks while we tank for two miserable years.

    At least this way there’s a chance for some fun football to MAYBE happen here next year.  And nothing I love better than an underdog redemption story.  Hey, it could happen!

  14. “It’s hard to pay two GMs when you have state tax and estate tax.” That was the best line I heard from a podcaster. #participationribbon2026

  15. Everybody that disagrees with this take needs to chill out. It really isn’t worth getting worked up about and hemming the same haws on Reddit all day. 

  16. I’ve sat in on more than one board of trustee’s meetings with her and can say with 100% certainty this team is cooked if she’s in charge.

  17. We are better off than most teams. Run it back. If less than 11 wins and the division. Done

  18. And people need to remember that this isn’t her first season in the NFL. She’s been involved her whole life.

  19. “this is the last stand” with these 2 is the same copium half this sub feeds themselves one disappointing season after another.

  20. How aggressive will Ballard get with our future to save his? That’s what I’m worried about

  22. ![gif](giphy|4Hk1LqZ7xAwIRVqc75)

    It’s a dumb move. She’s just kicking the can down the road till next year. What’s the point of next season? It sends a message loud and clear that her and her sisters are okay with mediocrity. The biggest fallacy of Ballards tenure is that “we’re just a QB away”. We found a decent QB and it still wasn’t enough. The sauce trade, his inability to draft just one solid defensive end, would be the nail in the coffin for any self respecting franchise

  23. Friendly Broncos fan stopping by here. I agree with OP.

    Almost midway through the season you guys had the best record in football. You guys were 8-4 when your breakout QB went down early in Week 14. You all lost your starting OT, CB, DT, and traded for what should’ve been a blockbuster move only to lose him to injury too.

    From an outsider perspective you guys weren’t likely to win a SB by the time the injuries started piling up, but it almost certainly cost you the playoffs. I look at your roster and see a team that’s a few pieces away from seriously competing at the highest level. I’d be in the boat of the Colts are trending way up after this year.

  24. No matter who the coach and GM are, they must have a road map to be better than Houston and Jacksonville are next year. That’s priority one. We have to get better players and prepare them better than those two teams do. Do that and almost everything else falls into place. Right now we are very behind both those teams. I would have liked a reporter to have asked that question….

  25. Ultimately, my feelings are mixed. If Carlie needs a full season at the helm to get a plan in place for the team’s future, then that’s understandable. Ballard only has one year left on his contract anyway.

    That being said, For me to be ok with keeping Ballard long term, he would have to make this next season noteworthy in some way. I don’t think simply being good is acceptable for someone as long tenured as him, especially considering that he’s had several big misses over the years.

    In short, I wouldn’t say I’m happy, but I’m willing to suck it up and see what 2026-2027 brings.

  27. This thread has been interesting to read, seems you guys are fairly split and I can see why.

  28. >She didn’t give in to the bloodlust of the fan base.

    The same fans that have supported a team for the past 9 years that’s accomplished absolutely nothing, yet is too stubborn to make any changes after a decade of failure? The same fans that want BETTER for the team, not more of the same?

    Yeah, she sure showed those bloodlust fans…

  29. Lol yeah glad the literal owner of the team with no one to answer to didnt feel the need to cater to anyone

  33. Well, go ahead and eat a big long juicy one while you’re at it. Hope u don’t choke

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