Free-agent receiver Dez Bryant is visiting the Browns on Thursday. Colts G.M. Chris Ballard recently explained during a visit to the #PFTPM podcast that his team isn’t interested in veteran wideouts like Bryant and Jeremy Maclin, at this point.
Ballard also provided insight regarding the challenge that Bryant or any other veteran receiver will be facing when joining a new team at this specific juncture of the calendar.
“It’s really hard,” Ballard said, via a partial transcript of the interview prepared by Colts.com. “In baseball, they can move and you can slot a guy playing third base, and playing third base is no different if you’re playing for the Houston Astros, the Cubs, the Braves -- it doesn’t matter. It’s still third base. They might have little shifts, but at the end of the day it’s still third base. In football, the verbiage is different in the offense, the way that they want you to actually do what you have to do to be successful as a player might be a little bit different, and then from a timing and chemistry standpoint. So it’s very difficult.”
For Bryant, change will be even harder. He spent eight seasons playing one position -- the X receiver -- in one offense. Whether it’s Cleveland or somewhere else, Bryant will be required to learn new plays, new terms, new players, new coaches, new everything on the fly, with the start of the season three weeks away.