The Colts announced that they have agreed to extensions with head coach Chuck Pagano and GM Ryan Grigson. It’s a shocking turn of events after weeks of speculation indicated that Pagano would be shown the door after the 2015 season with Grigson likely to follow. 
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Pagano, whose contract was set to expire, gets a four-year extension that will keep him in place through 2019. Grigson, whose previous contract called for him to stay on board through 2016, will get a three-year extension to line up with his coach. In a late Monday night press conference, owner Jim Irsay said that Pagano and Grigson are now “contractually tied.”
After helping lead the Colts to playoff berths in his first three years with the team, Pagano’s club fell short this season during an injury-riddled, tumultuous campaign. After guiding the team to an 8-8 finish, the Colts were widely expected to let go of Pagano, whose contract is up. However, despite the down season and reported friction between him and team execs, Pagano will return to the team for 2016.
After finishing with an 11-5 record and an AFC South crown for three straight seasons, the Colts entered 2015 with Super Bowl aspirations, but took a significant step backward. While the Colts’ struggles could be attributed, at least in part, to injuries and questionable roster construction, Pagano was already under pressure to win heading into the year, with the team offering him only a one-year extension rather than any sort of longer-team deal — he turned down that offer. Pagano holds a 41-23 record during his four years in Indianapolis, which includes the time he missed in 2012 due to cancer treatments.
Grigson, meanwhile, has come under fire for a number of moves over the years, including a 2013 blockbuster that went awry. Roughly two years ago, Grigson sent a 2014 first-rounder to Cleveland for running back Trent Richardson, who spent two unproductive seasons in Indy and is now out of the NFL. Beyond that, Grigson has also meddled in the affairs of Pagano and many believed that the two would not be able to co-exist much longer. Alas, both men will be keeping their jobs for next season.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) first reported that Grigson would also be receiving an extension. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Way to do the right thing Irsay. Now you have one more right decision to make….relieve Grigson of his duties.
Sorry, Sam. Grigson is reportedly staying put as well.
They made a mistake, IMO. Should have let go of Grigson, especially with there being “meddling”. Typical Colts move…duct taping the problem and limping through another mediocre season.
They wouldn’t have been able to keep Pagano if they let Grigson go. Not many GM candidates outside the organization are going to want to go there if they don’t have a say in who the coach is. If they let Grigson go but kept Pagano, their best case scenario would’ve been an internal promotion or finding a GM that wants Pagano as coach.
Honestly 8-8 with the QB shuffle they have had this year should get him consideration for coach of the year…. Sarcasm! But honestly that’s a respectable record considering e head aches that Dallas has had when losing their QB.
Chasing aging vets like Gore and Johnson raised expectations that went down the tubes when Luck got hurt.
Wow this was unexpected. Pagano and Grigson getting extensions? Best case scenario is Grigs heard the writing on the wall and begged to keep his job by promising to step back and let Chuck coach.
Pagano seems like a genuinely good guy….but keeping Grigson? Hahaha! Nice move Irsay! As long as they have him as the GM they’ll never win.
Keeping Pagano is the right move, but there would be no way Pagano would be retained if Grigson wasn’t retained too. Few, if any, serious/good GM candidates (unless internal) would want to come in to a scenario where they can’t at least have a say in who is going to be the coach. Grigson is essentially tied to Pagano, as long as Pagano is there Grigson is going to be there.
I don’t know about that, as a redskins fan I saw mccloughan come in and create no drama surrounding gruden where there was some before. Those two seem to fit together perfectly and mccloughan never seemed to want his own man.
I don’t know nccloughan credentials, but was he an internal candidate or outside the organization? Also its possible they could’ve been friendly before hand. My point is that most GMs would want a say in who the coach is. Not because they are buddies with them (as the guy suggested before) but because usually the GM hires a coach who fits with the plan they want to do. Its possible for a guy outside, with no relation to the coach, to get along, but I think in most cases the GM wants a yes man.
Two of the GMs in the playoffs inherited coaches (Carolina and Washington) and another, Keim, was hired with Arians. If your GM is more concerned with hiring a buddy instead of focusing on personnel, he might be the wrong person for the job.
Did grigson pick Andrew luck?
What exactly does the big stoop Grigson bring to the team besides bad personnel choices. He must have pictures of the lunatic owner.