After Peyton Manning was fired and Andrew Luck was hired, we didn’t think there would be much for Colts owner Jim Irsay to tweet about.
Wrong again.
Irsay says, with enough all caps to hurt the eyeballs and exclamation points to make Jake Jarmel hurl, that the trade winds are blowing.
He says that they’re “talking about giving up high pick for a SERIOUS Vet/Starter,” and that his “check book stands ready!”
The obvious targets are Steelers receiver Mike Wallace and Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew.
As to Wallace, Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians served as the Steelers offensive coordinator for all three years of Wallace’s career. As to Jones-Drew, former coach Tony Dungy has said multiple times that he wanted to draft Jones-Drew in 2006.
Wallace is the more likely target, even though the Steelers have said he won’t be traded. Coach Chuck Pagano has said Donald Brown will be the “bell cow” tailback. Besides, the Jags likely wouldn’t want to trade Jones-Drew within the division.
Regardless, Irsay’s reference to his “check book” means that, whoever the player is, he will be expecting a new contract.
Stay tuned to Irsay’s Twitter page.
UPDATE 7:50 p.m. ET: Irsay, perhaps realizing that tweeting about a possible trade may not get it done, especially if it wakes up some other team that could be interested in acquiring Wallace or Jones-Drew, has now decided to “move behind the curtain!” Unfortunately for Colts fans, the great and powerful Oz already has spoken.