While the Kansas City Chiefs are riding high at 5-0, it has not been the same story for the Indianapolis Colts. The Chiefs and Colts actually squared off back in Week 2, and it came down to the wire, but the Chiefs reigned supreme while the Colts continued to stumble.
After a head-scratching loss to the then-winless Tennessee Titans, the Colts' front office made the decision to fire general manager Chris Ballard. Some Chiefs fans might wonder why this is a topic of conversation on a Chiefs site, while others might remember that, before he went to Indy, Ballard held two different positions in Kansas City.
Ballard was the director of player personnel in 2013 and 2014 before holding the director of football operations position in 2015 and 2016. The Colts then hired him as their GM in 2017, a position he held until Monday morning, when he was relieved of his duties.
Chris Ballard's tenure with the Colts came to an ugly end
It wasn't exactly a shock to see Ballard get dumped by the Colts, considering how things have gone for the organization recently. Last year, he used an 8-1 start as a reason to swing for the fences, trading two first-round picks and Adonai Mitchell to the Jets in exchange for Sauce Gardner. At the time, it was a move that made sense with the Colts' woeful cornerback issues, but it's aged poorly.
Ballard also opted to sign Daniel Jones to a two-year extension worth $88 million. Again, Jones had helped lead the Colts to a tremendous start a season ago, and their season did come crashing down once he was injured and missed the rest of the year. But, as evidenced by Indianapolis' poor start, the moves weren't the correct ones, and Ballard ultimately paid the price for that.
So, what's next for Ballard? We obviously don't know the answer to that yet, but it wouldn't be the least bit surprising if he found his way back to Kansas City.
Could Chris Ballard return to the Chiefs?
For one, Ballard's son, Cole, is a quarterback on the Kansas Jayhawks football team's roster. Ballard returning to Kansas City would give him an easy opportunity to be closer to his son in Lawrence.
Ballard also has history with the Chiefs, as I already touched on. Plus, the Chiefs have lost some big names in their front office in recent years, with Ryan Poles bouncing for Chicago in 2022 and Mike Borgonzi landing the Titans' GM gig in 2025. The Chiefs are obviously set with Brett Veach as their GM, but there are plenty of vacant roles for Ballard to come in and serve in.
Things didn't work out for Ballard in Indianapolis, but he's proven to be good in a front office role. The true rough patch for him in Indianapolis began when Andrew Luck abruptly retired, forcing Ballard to jump from one quarterback to the next. When the Colts finally were bad enough to land a top-five pick, they took Anthony Richardson fourth overall, and he did not pan out for them.
Still, Ballard continued to hold onto his job until it became evident that things weren't going to turn around. He's now a free agent with history in Kansas City. The good news for him if he lands back with the Chiefs is that he'd already have a quarterback, and that wouldn't be a lingering issue for him here like it was in Indy.
We'll have to see what Ballard's next step is, but the fact of the matter is that if the Chiefs want to bring him back, it'd make a lot of sense to do so.
Add us as a preferred source on Google