Chris Ballard will retain Chuck Pagano in 2017 as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts before reevaluating him for the 2018 season.

While Jim Irsay announced Jan. 21 that Pagano would return next season, there was some belief that Ballard would choose to dismiss Pagano and hire his own coach. 

The former Kansas City Chiefs director of football operations is replacing Ryan Grigson, who was fired after the Colts had consecutive 8-8 seasons and missed the playoffs.

The Colts will have more than $50 million in salary-cap space during free agency to build around Andrew Luck.

The Indianapolis Colts have found a replacement for Ryan Grigson.

The Colts have named Chris Ballard their new general manager. Grigson was fired Jan. 21 after five seasons with the organization.

"Chris has a solid reputation throughout the National Football League as a heavyweight executive and our extensive discussions with him confirmed that reputation," Jim Irsay said in a statement. "He's a savvy, organized, and thorough talent evaluator, but beyond that, he's a terrific person our community will be proud of."

Ballard joined the Kansas City Chiefs as director of player personnel in 2013 and was later promoted to director of football operations.

The Colts, who will have more than $50 million in salary-cap space during free agency, are coming off back-to-back seasons in which they missed the playoffs with 8-8 records.

The New England Patriots are heading to the Super Bowl yet again, but they haven't forgotten how the Deflategate saga began.

Jonathan Kraft expressed little sympathy for former Indianapolis Colts general manager Ryan Grigson, who was fired on Saturday.

During Kraft's weekly appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub on Sunday, he deflected a question about Grigson's firing before referring to the AFC Championship Game against Indianapolis that started Deflategate. "That game might have been Ryan's pinnacle, I don't know," Kraft said.

The Patriots beat the Colts 45-7 in the conference title game on Jan. 18, 2015.

Grigson later explained why he alerted the NFL about the Patriots' footballs, saying he wanted an even playing field. The Wells report also detailed Grigson's role in alerting the NFL via email before the AFC Championship Game.

The Indianapolis Colts have fired Ryan Grigson as general manager after five seasons.

Chuck Pagano will be retained at least for the 2017 season as head coach.

Grigson was under contract for three more seasons.

"It was gut, intuitive, instinct from looking at where we were and where we are as a franchise," Irsay said. "I think that we needed to make a change, I felt. Intuitively you get the feeling when the timing's right where a change will help and whereas continuity is something that I really want and long to have as much as we can have it, but in this case I really felt the time was right to make a change. We needed some new direction just in the vision of our football program. That's from talking to a lot of people and giving it a lot of thought."

There also had been uncertainty about Pagano's future, but Irsay left no question there: "He's our coach for 2017."

Irsay said he has already compiled a list of candidates -- one that will not include Peyton Manning -- and plans to start an extensive search for a new GM.

Andrew Luck has undergone shoulder surgery, team owner Jim Irsay announced in a tweet Thursday morning.

The recovery period reportedly won't interfere with Luck's 2017 season.

During the Colts' trip to London this season, Irsay said Luck did not have major problems with his right shoulder, which was initially injured in 2015, and would not need surgery.

After missing two games in 2015 with a shoulder injury, Luck aggravated the injury while trying to make a tackle after throwing an interception against the Denver Broncos in Week 2 this season.

The Indianapolis Colts have made a "strong push" to hire Peyton Manning as head of football.

Jim Irsay also pursued Jon Gruden to be the Colts' head coach, but that possibility has been ruled out. Irsay still hopes to land Manning.

Manning played 13 seasons with the Colts and has reportedly had interest in a front office role in retirement.

The Colts are currently run by Ryan Grigson.

Jim Irsay pursued Jon Gruden to become the next head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Gruden instead will remain in the booth for ESPN's Monday Night Football.

Gruden previously resisted exploratory calls this offseason from the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers.

Gruden intends to remain in the television booth, sources said, in part because of the coaching restrictions of the NFL's collective bargaining agreement.

He has denied any discussions with Irsay, saying: "I know nothing. I've told people I'm not coaching. I'm a broadcaster. I'm not a coach."

The Colts retained Chuck Pagano this offseason as head coach.

Chuck Pagano has received assurance from owner Jim Irsay that he'll return as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts next season, according to a report.

Irsay hasn't said much about Pagano's safety since the end of the regular season.

If no teams volunteers, there are eight teams that the NFL can force to appear on HBO's Hard Knocks this year.

Those teams are the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints.

A team can be forced to appear on Hard Knocks if three conditions are met: a) it hasn't appeared on Hard Knocks in the last 10 years, b) it hasn't made the playoffs in the last two years, and c) it doesn't have a new head coach.

The NFL has very few teams this season that excel in all facets of the game. Further evidence of this issue shows itself in the fact that there is only one team ranking in the top-10 in both Football Outsiders' Offensive and Defensive DVOA.

Last season, the Seattle Seahawks, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs ranked in the top-10 on both sides of the ball.

The Chiefs were the closest team to finish in the top-10 in both Offensive and Defensive DVOA at 13th and 14th.

The New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys finished the season ranked first and second in both Total DVOA and Weighted DVOA.