If anything, I think it will help the locker room. Shaq wasn’t worth a small portion of the money he was making. The fans knew it, and the locker room knew it.

Everybody loved Leonard, but he was a liability on the field. I wanted him on the bench, and his contract is a lot for a cheerleader.

This honestly means to me that the Colts were tired of Leonard complaining to the media when his play was poor. Other LB gets a pick to seal a game while Leonard is complaining by his locker post game.

I think Steichen has built a strong enough culture so far and Ballard has always been a culture guy

Zaire has had the green dot all season.

The only thing Leonard was leading was missed tackles.

Does it matter? This team isn’t going anywhere anyway

Not as bad as having a disgruntled vocal leader

Zaire has clearly become the alpha dog in that locker room. I think we’ll be okay.

The leaders of the D are Zaire and Kenny.

It messes up my wardrobe. I just got my jersey two weeks ago

Is Zaire’s defense now tho.

Painful but necessary, I don’t know what happened to him but watching the last game it was just sad

I’d actually bet Leonard it’s more likely he has been a net negative as a “leader” v a net positive since 2021 (vaccine stuff and then injuries and playing time complaints)

We still have Buckner, Zaire and Kenny on the defensive side of the ball. Those guys are more than capable of handling the leadership in the locker room.

He was vocal, that is true…

I actually think the team will respond really well to this. It seems like it was a mutual decision for us to drop some serious cap, while giving Leonard a chance to bet on himself in FA. Players may respect that we gave him that opportunity.

Luckily we have 3 more captains from that side of the ball, including one from that position group. I think those guys will be able to keep the ship righted and emphasize the opportunity this represents for young guys on the roster.