Dan Patrick not only is tying Peyton Manning to the Indianapolis Colts’ search for a new general manager — he knows that the former Tennessee star quarterback and Colts legend was reached out to by the team to gauge his interest in the position.
During Monday’s edition of the Dan Patrick Show, Patrick read a text that he received that stated that the team’s call to Manning wasn’t just to gauge which names he could give them of potential GM candidates. It was also a call to Manning to see if he would, just maybe, be interested in the position that just came open when the Colts fired GM Chris Ballard after Sunday’s ugly home loss to the Tennessee Titans.
The Titans hadn’t won a game this season before Sunday. But after they went into Indianapolis and beat the Colts, 26-20, despite falling behind 13-0 at halftime, the Colts felt it was time to make a change in their front office. Indianapolis dropped to 2-4 on the season, and team owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon said in a statement that the firing of Ballard was necessary in order to meet the Colts’ standard.
With the Colts’ 6-game win streak over the Titans over as well as Tennessee’s 11-game losing streak against AFC South opponents, the move was made and now the search is on for a successor to Ballard. Patrick believes that search started with Manning, the former Indianapolis quarterback who led the Colts to Super Bowl glory and multiple playoff appearances during his Hall of Fame career.
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“The Colts’ fist call will be/has been to Peyton Manning,” Patrick read aloud during his show, adding that the Colts would potentially be including some ownership stake in the team with a potential GM role.
The Colts have made assistant GM Ed Dodds the head of the personnel department for the rest of the season.
Ballard was in his 10th season with the franchise and was in the final year of his contract with the Colts.
The Colts’ latest loss has put them in an early hole in the AFC South. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about Indianapolis’ chances to still win the AFC South division despite its early season struggles and now firing its general manager:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
