How Does Ryan Grigson Still Have A Job?

Ryan Grigson is somehow still the general manager of the Indianapolis Colts, despite a mountain of evidence that he should have lost his job long ago. On Friday, Grigson once again proved he’s unfit for his position when he blamed Andrew Luck’s contract for his team’s defensive woes.

With his team sitting at 1-3 and only a win over the lowly San Diego Chargers this season, Grigson said the following:

"“When you pay Andrew what we did, it’s going to take some time to build on the other side of the ball.”"

Hey Ryan, maybe you should have thought of that before giving Luck $139.125 million when you had massive holes littering the rest of your roster. I don’t know, just spitballing here.

Grigson’s real problem has been his horrible draft record. Other than landing Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton in the 2012 NFL Draft, he hasn’t selected any true impact players. You could slide Donte Moncrief, Dwayne Allen and Jack Mewhort into the discussion, but after that there is an absolute dearth of talent. Guys like Bjoern Werner, Coby Fleener, Khaled Holmes and Hugh Thornton highlight the long list of Grigson draft failures. Not to mention the fact that he shipped a first-round pick to Cleveland in exchange for Trent Richardson.

Grigson has also spent money on the wrong guys. He wasted cash on busts like Todd Herremans, LaRon Landry, Trent Cole and Donald Thomas, all of whom were or have been awful. Meanwhile, he let stud linebacker Jerrell Freeman walk this offseason without so much as a wave in his direction. For the record, Freeman is one of the NFL’s best bargains right now.

Aside from that, it’s not like it’s impossible to pay a quarterback and build a defense. The Broncos paid Peyton Manning a ton of money and managed to have one of the NFL’s best defenses. The Patriots have had outstanding defenses while Tom Brady has been under center. It’s a weak excuse by Grigson. The real problem for the Colts is poor decision-making, not Luck’s contract.

Grigson and Colts owner Jim Irsay are to blame for all of this. They can point to Luck’s massive new deal, but this has been a problem for years. It’s ridiculous to claim one player’s contract is responsible for the failings of an entire front office. This is systemic and it starts at the top. Grigson should have been fired long ago. It is stunning that he still has a job.