Colts hire Chris Ballard as new general manager

Jim Irsay has finished the search for a new general manager and he has settled on Chris Ballard

The Indianapolis Colts did not have the 2016 season that they would have hoped for and that resulted in the organization making some changes. One of those changes was firing general manager Ryan Grigson. It didn’t really take all that long for owner Jim Irsay to find what he believes to be a suitable replacement.

On Sunday, the team announced that they have hired Chris Ballard to take over as general manager a little over a week after they showed Grigson the door.

Over the course of the past few days, it seemed pretty inevitable that Ballard would be the new general manager in Indianapolis, as he recently earned himself a second interview with the team. Usually when that happens, it’s more or less all just a formality from there. That was indeed the case here.

Ballard has been a hot name for general manager jobs the past few seasons, as he has done a phenomenal job as an executive with the Kansas City Chiefs. A few teams showed interest in Ballard, but it was the Colts that won the sweepstakes in the end.

Now Ballard will be tasked with fixing a Colts team that many believe should be a perennial playoff contender every NFL season. To many the first order of business will be getting some protection in the fold for quarterback Andrew Luck and then working from there.

This past season, again, was another disappointing one for the Colts, as they finished 8-8 on the year which was only good enough for third place in the AFC South. Now, though, the road to improving that will fall on the shoulders of Ballard.