The Kansas City Chiefs are rolling at 5-0, but the story in Indianapolis has gone the other way entirely. The two teams met in Week 2, and Kansas City came out on top in a tight one while the Colts kept sliding. That slide eventually cost Chris Ballard his job, as Indianapolis fired the general manager after a head-scratching loss to the then-winless Tennessee Titans.
For Chiefs fans, Ballard’s name isn’t exactly random. Before running the Colts’ front office, he spent time in Kansas City in two different roles.
He was the director of player personnel in 2013 and 2014, then moved into the director of football operations job in 2015 and 2016. Indianapolis hired him as general manager in 2017, and that run ended Monday morning when the Colts relieved him of his duties.
Ballard’s exit wasn’t all that surprising given the way things have gone for the Colts lately. Last year, he took an 8-1 start as a sign to make a bold move, sending two first-round picks and Adonai Mitchell to the Jets for Sauce Gardner.
At the time, it looked like a reasonable answer to Indianapolis’ cornerback problems. In hindsight, it’s aged badly.
He also committed big money to Daniel Jones, signing him to a two-year extension worth $88 million. Jones had helped fuel a strong start for the Colts last season, but once he got hurt and missed the rest of the year, the season unraveled. With Indianapolis off to a rough start again, those decisions were enough to put Ballard on the chopping block.
Now the obvious question is where he lands next. Kansas City would make plenty of sense.
Ballard has a personal reason, too: his son, Cole, is a quarterback on the Kansas Jayhawks football team’s roster, so a return to Kansas City would put him closer to Lawrence. He also knows the organization well, and the Chiefs have seen some key front-office departures in recent years, with Ryan Poles leaving for Chicago in 2022 and Mike Borgonzi taking the Titans’ GM job in 2025.
Brett Veach is locked in as the Chiefs’ general manager, so there’s no opening at the top. But there are still plenty of roles where Ballard could fit in if Kansas City decided to bring him back into the building.
His time in Indianapolis didn’t end well, but Ballard has shown he can do the job. The trouble really started when Andrew Luck abruptly retired, and Ballard had to keep resetting at quarterback. When the Colts finally landed in position for a premium draft pick, they used the fourth overall selection on Anthony Richardson, and that move never worked out.
Even so, Ballard lasted until it became clear the Colts weren’t turning the corner. He’s now on the market, and with his Kansas City ties, a reunion would not be hard to imagine. The difference this time is simple: in Kansas City, he’d walk into a setup with a quarterback already in place, instead of dealing with the kind of uncertainty that dogged him in Indianapolis.
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Chiefs Stayed Unbeaten But This Win Raised A Bigger Question
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Patrick Mahomes still guided the offense to another victory in a game that will count as a milestone in his career, but the bigger takeaway was on the other side of the ledger, where the defense controlled the night and left the Chargers searching for answers. With Kansas City now unbeaten and the AFC West race already taking shape, the lingering question is whether this was a complete performance or just another win that left more to sort out than the score suggested. [Read more 🡒]
Taylor Swift Just Added Another Wild Chiefs Game Day Twist
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Instead, Swift made the trip to Kansas City and was there for the game, cheering from a VIP suite as the Chiefs took on Los Angeles. It was another reminder that even when the travel board says one thing, the scene around this team can change fast, and Swifts appearances continue to add a layer of attention to an already familiar Sunday backdrop. [Read more 🡒]
Eric Bieniemys Sideline Blowup Said Everything About Chiefs Offense
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Whatever was said, Kansas City came out of it looking sharper and moved into Chargers territory soon after. The drive ended with a field goal, a small but useful spark in a game the Chiefs controlled on the way to a 22-6 win. [Read more 🡒]