Colts Hire Ryan Grigson As General Manager
Added on Jan 11, 2012 by Jack Thurman in
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After their horrendous 2011 season the Indianapolis Colts cleaned house in the front office and now they’ve hired a new General Manager to start cleaning up the mess. On Tuesday the team hired the Philadelphia Eagles’ director of player personnel Ryan Grigson as their new GM.
Grigson will fill the void left by the firing of Bill and Chris Polian and has plenty to deal with in his new job. The most immediate issue is likely the status of head coach Jim Caldwell. Caldwell survived the initial purge of team owner Jim Irsay but his status is tenuous at best. More significantly, Grigson may want his own coach in the position as a matter of general principle.
Next of the agenda is a decision that could shape the fortune of the Colts’ franchise for years to come–the decision to rebuilt around long time starting quarterback Peyton Manning or start anew with top draft pick Andrew Luck. It’s not as simple as the usual veteran/rookie dynamic–Manning’s health is a huge question mark and there are questions whether he’ll ever regain his MVP status. Further complicating the issue are the mixed signals sent by the Manning camp about their interest in serving as a ‘mentor’ for Stanford product Luck. Luck has been compared to Manning and some seasoning on the sidelines watching and learning would benefit him immeasurably but obviously that only works if everyone is on board with the idea.
Unfortunately, the Colts aren’t in a ‘wait and see’ position with Manning. The team has until March 28 to decide whether or not to pay Manning a $28 million bonus or to let him become an unrestricted free agent. There’s also a number of other aging veterans who the Colts have to decide what to do with including former Pro Bowlers Robert Mathis, Jeff Saturday and Reggie Wayne.
Grigson is a native of Indiana and has worked his way up in the NFL front offices starting as a scout and serving in roles with increasing responsibility in that realm. The Eagles promoted him to Director of College Scouting in 2006 and then to Director of Player Personnel in 2010.
