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<\/p>\nPHOENIX \u2014 When Indianapolis Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon sat down to speak with the media at the Arizona Biltmore Resort on Sunday, it marked another clear step in the franchise\u2019s new era. For the first time in three years, the team\u2019s owner spoke on the record at the league\u2019s annual owners\u2019 meetings, as Irsay-Gordon continues her first full offseason as the Colts\u2019 principal owner. She took over for her late father, Jim Irsay, who died May 21 and had not spoken at the owners\u2019 meetings the last two years, and inherited a franchise that finds itself far from its glory days.<\/p>\n
The Colts have missed the playoffs for five straight years and have not notched double-digit victories in a season since 2020, which was fittingly the last time they reached the postseason. Last season, at first, appeared to be different. Indianapolis began 8-2 before a litany of injuries, most notably QB Daniel Jones\u2019 ruptured right Achilles tendon, derailed its promising campaign.<\/p>\n
Irsay-Gordon spoke for roughly 35 minutes Sunday about why she still believes in the glimpse of greatness her team displayed last year and where it stands now. Here\u2019s what she said and what I think it means.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Carlie Irsay-Gordon spoke with media members in January, after the Colts\u2019 season ended with six straight losses. (Mykal McEldowney \/ IndyStar)<\/p>\n
On re-signing Jones and trusting him, despite his lengthy injury history: \u201cObviously, the human body is a mystery and everything points to his rehab going great, everything went well. And he\u2019s gonna do all of the right things, so I\u2019m really convicted that he\u2019s gonna be (good). It\u2019s sort of like last year, before we kind of faced some adversity and went downhill, it\u2019s like we pressed pause on a movie and now we\u2019re pressing play, and we get to see what happens at the end, which I think is gonna be a really cool thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
My analysis: Jones was undoubtedly the best QB the Colts have had since Philip Rivers in 2020 (not to be confused with the one who came out of retirement in 2025). During Indy\u2019s 8-2 start, the team averaged 3.17 points per drive, which was the fourth-highest mark by a team through its first 10 games this century. Jones threw 15 touchdowns against seven picks and held a 101.6 passer rating during that span. He also had five rushing touchdowns.<\/p>\n
Irsay-Gordon appears to be banking on Jones putting together a full season in 2026, but to use her movie analogy, the sequel may not be much better than what we watched in 2025. The reality is that Jones is injury-prone, evidenced by him playing only one full season through his first seven. She also noted Jones\u2019 chemistry with Colts coach and play caller Shane Steichen, as well as several players on the team \u2014 namely wide receiver Alec Pierce \u2014 wanting him back as big reasons he was retained. The Colts had no desire to start over at QB, she said, which is understandable. But I\u2019m still more inclined to think this season won\u2019t have the fairy-tale ending Irsay-Gordon is hoping for. Sports rarely work out that way.<\/p>\n
On Anthony Richardson Sr.\u2019s future with the franchise after he requested a trade: \u201c(General manager Chris Ballard) can probably speak more to that, but I think Anthony, I\u2019m proud of the way he\u2019s handled himself. \u2026 He\u2019s so immensely talented, and I feel like the world is his oyster. He totally has an opportunity to have a career in the NFL, if he wants to. I just feel so bad that he\u2019s getting the short of the stick (with injuries).\u201d<\/p>\n
My analysis: I asked Irsay-Gordon directly if the Colts would like to trade Richardson before next month\u2019s draft, and unsurprisingly she did not give a definitive answer. To be fair, it probably wouldn\u2019t be wise for any owner to speak on the future of a player amid a public trade request. But her response, in my opinion, reaffirmed that Richardson simply hasn\u2019t worked out in Indy and a change of scenery is likely a formality. The 23-year-old has started just 15 games through his first three years, and he\u2019s thrown 11 touchdowns against 13 interceptions. Irsay-Gordon added it would be easy to look back and say the team should have gone in a different direction, but she defended the Colts\u2019 selection of Richardson, saying Sunday he was \u201cthe most talented player available\u201d when he was drafted fourth in 2023. In my opinion, it would behoove the Colts to trade Richardson before the draft so they can immediately use whatever potential draft capital they recoup.<\/p>\n
On if the team has improved since the end of last season: \u201cI think we\u2019re off to a great start. Obviously, getting Arden Key \u2026 and getting both Daniel and Alec signed, and one of the things I\u2019m so excited about \u2014 that was so heartbreaking to me \u2014 is Justin Walley and Hunter Wohler coming back. \u2026 But this is just my layman\u2019s view is that I think the path that we need is obviously D-line, and I think it\u2019s a clear path as far as, \u2018What are the pieces that we need?\u2019 And I feel like there\u2019s a lot of great opportunities in the draft.\u201d<\/p>\n
My analysis: Irsay-Gordon explained that it was difficult to part ways with veterans such as wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. and linebacker Zaire Franklin, who were traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers, respectively. But those moves were necessary because of \u201cwhat\u2019s best for the whole\u201d team. The issue, from my perspective, is that while the Colts have moved on from five starters, including Pittman and Franklin, they haven\u2019t found adequate replacements. Therefore, it\u2019s more than fair to say the team hasn\u2019t improved.<\/p>\n
The Colts have glaring holes at a few positions, most notably defensive end, and while the draft could offer some solutions, Indy also doesn\u2019t have a first-round pick this year. Sure, Key may be a fine addition, but he should not be starting opposite Laiatu Latu on the edge. And if he is, the Colts will be in big trouble, especially if they don\u2019t find a game-wrecking defensive end in the draft. Keep in mind, the Colts drafted former Ohio State edge rusher JT Tuimoloau in the second round last year, and he played just 24 percent of the team\u2019s defensive snaps during his rookie campaign and was a healthy scratch a few times.<\/p>\n
On if the Colts have enough cash to compete with other teams in free agency: \u201cWe do. But I also think even if you have enough cash, you don\u2019t want to (be reckless). I think that\u2019s why setting a budget and being disciplined (are important) because what you don\u2019t want to do is defer (money) in perpetuity. \u2026 There\u2019s a lot of moving pieces, but I think we\u2019ve shown this year that we\u2019ve spent more than we have in a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
My analysis: Irsay-Gordon dismissed the notion Indianapolis has any financial restraints when it comes to constructing a team. The Colts signed Jones to a two-year, $88 million with $50 million fully guaranteed, and they signed Pierce to a four-year, $114 million deal with $60 million fully guaranteed, per Over the Cap. Those two contracts speak to the team\u2019s willingness to spend big to retain its top talent and stay competitive, but the question now becomes: What next? The Colts have $26.6 million in cap space, according to Over the Cap, which should give them plenty of money to upgrade their roster, though as free agency wains, there doesn\u2019t appear to be a clear player left whom Indy should back up the Brink\u2019s truck for.<\/p>\n
On her end-of-season comments about the team\u2019s sense of urgency being at its highest and how that\u2019s been put into practice this offseason: \u201cWhen you miss the playoffs for five years, you feel it. It\u2019s palpable. \u2026 And so, I think part of it is just being with sort of the road that we\u2019ve gone on, now it\u2019s sort of like. \u2018OK, we\u2019re gonna empty the tank because we gotta go balls to the wall.\u2019 And I think sometimes feeling that helps everyone sort of raise that waterline.\u201d<\/p>\n
My analysis: The only tangible thing I can point to and say that the Colts\u2019 sense of urgency is higher than it\u2019s been in the past, at least for one person, is the fact Ballard is entering the final year of his contract \u2014 without an extension \u2014 for the first time in his now 10-year tenure. But aside from Ballard\u2019s murky future, Indy\u2019s roster moves this offseason haven\u2019t felt as palpably urgent as Irsay-Gordon suggested. Perhaps that could change with a home run draft, which is something Ballard can speak to more directly when he sits down with the media Monday afternoon, but if anyone is skeptical of the Colts\u2019 offseason plan so far, they have every right to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX \u2014 When Indianapolis Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon sat down to speak with the media at the Arizona…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":841998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2059],"tags":[2005,7,2004,392,2381,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-841997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indianapolis-colts","8":"tag-colts","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-indianapolis","11":"tag-indianapolis-colts","12":"tag-indianapoliscolts","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116315390660537218","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}