Ryan Grigson’s Legacy

[Wyld Stallyns]

Eventually when the Colts break camp in less then 3 months the Colt’s roster will still have some holdovers from the previous regime. Luck and Hilton are the major wins from Grigson’s first draft (say what you will about whether you credit Grigson or Irsay for picking Luck) but the amount of players that are left is getting smaller and could diminish even more at final cuts. 

 Bill (and Chris) Polian

The only players left from the Polian era (pre-Grigson) are: 

2009 - K Adam Vinatieri (FA/NE)

2011 - LT Anthony Castonzo (D1)

Ryan Grigson 

2012 - QB Andrew Luck (D1), WR TY Hilton (D3)

2013 - TE Jack Doyle (waivers/Tenn) 

2015 - S Clayton Geathers (D4)

2016 - LS Luke Rhodes (FA/TB), S Matthias Farley (waivers/NE), C Ryan Kelly (D1), T Le’Raven Clark (D3), G/T Joe Haeg (D5), WR Chester Rogers (UDFA), CB Chris Milton (UDFA) 

His other first rounders 

-2013 first rounder DE/OLB Bjoern Werner (out of league)

2014 first rounder (traded for RB Trent Richardson/out of league)

2015 first rounder WR Phillip Dorsett (traded to NE for QB Jacoby Brissett) 

Impending free agents

-Luck (2021), Hilton (2020) and Kelly (5th year option picked up for 2020) are the only players on this list under contract passed the 2019  season.

Clayton Geathers (1 year deal/$3M) is the first Colt’s defensive draft pick to re-sign since 2009 (DE Fili Moala) 

Grigson’s best moves as GM are his first draft (Luck, Hilton, and to an extent TEs Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen) and trading a 2nd rounder for Vontae Davis.

He over paid in free agency every year. With Erik Walden (4 year/$16M) being the only player who lived up to the contract.

His team managed to improve from 2-14 the year before he took over to 3 straight 11-5 seasons, which an argument can be made was done on the back of Andrew Luck. 

All in all the proverbial poop hit the fan the day he was fired because former players regaled in his ouster. Pat McAfee especially made it clear that he and Grigson hated each other.