Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard addressed the biggest storyline surrounding the team, which is the status of running back Jonathan Taylor.
Though Ballard didn’t give specifics about any of the trade offers or go deeper into the injury Taylor is dealing with, he did talk about the entire situation for roughly 35 minutes with the media.
Buy Colts TicketsHere’s everything Ballard said about Taylor and his standing with the Colts:
Addressing the elephant
Chris Ballard: “All right, so now let’s address the elephant, Jonathan (Taylor). I want to talk, and I want y’all to hear it because I know you’re going to have questions. Just so y’all know and I want everybody to know, Jonathan is a well-respected and really good human being and a damn good football player. I think we all know this. Things like this happen. I tell every rookie that comes in here, ‘There’s going to be a point when we disagree, and it’s usually about money and it’s going to be hard. And just know that doesn’t change my care level for you.’ I care deeply for Jonathan Taylor. I have great respect for Jonathan Taylor. Our relationship I would tell you is – look, even when it gets hard, I won’t quit on the relationship. I won’t do it. I think too much of the young man. I think too much of what he’s given our organization and how hard he’s played for us.”
Relationships are repairable
Chris Ballard: “What sucks – I mean, the situation sucks. I’m not going to sit here and give you some rosy picture like everything is OK. No, it sucks. It sucks for the Colts, it sucks for Jonathan Taylor and it sucks for our fans. It does. It’s where we’re at and we’ve got to work through it, and we’re going to do everything we can to work through it. Relationships are repairable. They’re repairable. “
Talking about the offers
Chris Ballard: “We’ve got work to do, we do. We’ve got work to do on the relationship and we’ve got work to do to find a solution to the problem, which is what we’re going to do. Now, to answer some questions, did we give him permission to seek a trade? Yes, we did. Yes, we did. I’m not going to get into the details of teams, what was offered and what wasn’t offered.”
Addressing the injury
Chris Ballard: “As for the decision to put him on PUP, it’s when you’re still having effects from last year’s surgery and still having pain and not 100 percent – we’re not going to put a player on the field that’s still complaining with pain in the ankle. I’m not going to do that. I wouldn’t do that to any player. I wouldn’t treat anybody any different. So what Jonathan will do is he will rehab his butt off and try to get himself ready to go.”
Any regrets?
Chris Ballard: “That’s a fair question and I want to answer it because I’ve thought a lot about it. You know me – especially when I know you’re hurting a guy you really care about because he trusts the relationship, that’s hard. I’ve felt I was very honest with all my discussions. I’ve thought through what we could’ve done differently. I’m sure both sides would probably tell you, ‘Man, I wish I would’ve done something a little bit different.’ The one thing I do know is it doesn’t do me any good or anybody any good to sit up here and say, ‘It’s something else’s fault,’ or – no, that’s not productive. It doesn’t help you find a solution. It doesn’t.”
Why this situation is different than other past extensions
Chris Ballard: “That’s a good question. Here’s what I would tell you, I think you can look this up – we’ve given guys early extensions, we’ve given guys extensions before they went into their fifth year, we’ve given guys extensions who have played their contracts completely out and have gone into free agency and signed them back, we’ve let guys go all four years and then they ended up signing good contracts somewhere else. I think every situation is a little bit different. And I explained this during camp, coming off last season, it’s tough. You won four games, you’ve got a brand new coaching staff and all the circumstances surrounding it. So, I think every situation is different.”
Negotiations going public
Chris Ballard: “Well look, I’ve communicated consistently with Malki (Kawa) and Jonathan (Taylor). I’ve definitely talked to my owner, who has great insight. He’s been doing this a long time. I think sometimes everybody gets a little emotional and I don’t think it does any of us any good right now to complain, point fingers. That’s not productive for what we need to get done going forward.”
Admits he doesn't have the solution right now
Chris Ballard: “To answer, no I have not talked to Jonathan (Taylor). I have communicated with his agent. I will talk to Jonathan here in the next day or two. I know Shane (Steichen) has talked to Jonathan. That’s something we are going to work for. I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Okay here, we have the magic answer.’ No, this is complex. This is something we have to work through and find an answer.”
Taylor is still part of the future plans
Chris Ballard: “I sure hope so. That’s the way I look at it. I think he’s a really good player. I think he’s a great kid. I think he’s great for the community. That would be the plan. I’m not going to get into hypotheticals of yay or nay, but I don’t want the indication that we don’t want Jonathan Taylor. That is not true and not true by any – I have never once made that statement. The one thing that never gets mentioned, and maybe it’s because I’ve never really had the opportunity but – everybody keeps bringing up the (franchise) tag and it’s automatic. We’ve never used it. We’ve never been in that situation to use it, but we’ve never used it even when guys hit free agency we haven’t.”
Franchise tag and false promises
Chris Ballard: “I never had that discussion about that. They asked if we would use [franchise tag] and I said well, it’s a tool. It is, it is a tool. It’s CBA-bargained. I’m not – the one thing and I told Jonathan (Taylor) this, I don’t want to say something that is not true. I don’t want to lead him down a path and say, ‘Okay give it,’ and then he looks at me and says, ‘You’re a liar.’ That, no. We’re not going to do that. You don’t want to make false promises that you can’t keep, especially with players because the second you do it, you’re done. I know it looks not the best right now, but I know I’ve never lied to him. I know that. I never lied to him.”
Why teams made offers despite the injury
Chris Ballard: “I think because he’s a 24-year old running back and even though he might not be ready for a little bit, he’s still 24 years old and he’s got a bright career in front of him.”
Why Taylor wasn't traded
Chris Ballard: “I kind of stated that when I opened up. I’m not going to get into details of why, what was offered or where we’re at. At the end of the day, he is a really good player. If somebody is going to trade for him, I think that needs to be valued correctly.”
Taylor's absence stunting Anthony Richardson's growth?
Chris Ballard: “I don’t know. Did it stunt Andrew’s (Luck) growth without a special back?”
The market
Chris Ballard: “Let me say this – the running back market is what it is, but I’ve said this all along. Quenton Nelson – didn’t have a problem paying a guard a lot of money, which other people don’t either. When guys are having great seasons and having a chance to really help your football team – absolutely. The running (back) market is what it is, but great players are what they are too.”
If Taylor is great, why not pay him?
Chris Ballard: “We won four games last year. We won four games.”
