Grover Stewart Reveals What He Always Told Chris Ballard, the GM Who Took a Chance on Him

Grover Stewart has outlasted every other member of Chris Ballard’s first draft class with the Indianapolis Colts, and now he’s outlasted Ballard, too. The Colts fired their general manager Monday, one day after a 26-20 loss to the Titans at Lucas Oil Stadium dropped them to 2-4.

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Stewart, a fourth-round pick out of Albany State in 2017, credited Ballard with taking a chance on a small-school player from Georgia. “He gave me the opportunity to be here,” Stewart told Colts.com. “I always told him, ‘I owe you big time for just giving me the chance to be in the league and to perform.’ He meant a lot to me.”

Grover Stewart could be the next to go

That 2017 class also produced first-round safety Malik Hooker, one of the worst draft picks of the Ballard era. Stewart, taken 144th overall, has played 147 games for Indianapolis and has 13.5 career sacks, per Pro Football Reference.

He turned 33 on Tuesday. He’s also in the final year of a three-year, $39 million extension signed in 2024, carrying a $14.25 million cap hit, per Over The Cap. A trade would leave just $2 million in dead money, which makes him an affordable rental for a contender that needs help on the interior.

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His production has been modest, with 20 tackles, two tackles for loss and half a sack in six starts. Stewart owns a 60.7 run defense grade from PFF, 43rd among 129 interior defenders, with seven stops and four pressures on 226 snaps. The Colts rank last in EPA per rush allowed, which is a real worry against Minnesota and Aaron Jones, who has 410 rushing yards on 97 carries for the unbeaten Vikings.

As we wrote this week, the Colts can’t afford to keep Stewart past the Nov. 10 trade deadline. Indianapolis sent its 2027 first-round pick to the Jets in the Sauce Gardner trade, and the Packers have reportedly called about DeForest Buckner, a 32-year-old also in the last year of his deal. Indianapolis could move one veteran tackle and still keep the other in the middle.

Assistant general manager Ed Dodds is overseeing personnel while owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon runs a search for the next GM. Whoever makes the call over the next 18 days will decide whether the last player from Ballard’s first class finishes the season in Indianapolis.

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More on the Indianapolis Colts

• Colts QB Anthony Richardson Told Police He Smoked in His Car to Avoid Smoking Around His Kids
• DeForest Buckner Won’t Shut the Door on a Trade as Rival Teams Circle the 2-4 Colts
• Three Red Flags and Two Reasons for Hope for the Colts vs. the Vikings in Week 7
• Teams Are Calling About Jonathan Taylor, and the Colts’ Next Two Games May Decide His Future

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This story was originally published October 23, 2026 at 9:45 AM.