In answering a question about why the Colts didn't use a first or second round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft on a left tackle, Chris Ballard offered this answer:
"You just can't force it," Ballard said. "We've got time. We've still got four more draft picks here in the (third) day and then we've got until September."
The Colts didn't use any of their Day 3 picks on a true left tackle (versatile lineman Will Fries was picked in the seventh round). But as it turned out, Ballard didn't need until September to add a left tackle. He just needed about a week and a half after the NFL Draft.
The Colts signed two-time Pro Bowl left tackle Eric Fisher on Wednesday, adding the longtime Kansas City Chiefs stalwart and former No. 1 overall pick to one of the NFL's best offensive lines. The 30-year-old Fisher started 113 regular season games and 11 playoff games — including the Chiefs' Super Bowl LV win over the San Francisco 49ers — over his eight years in Kansas City.
Fisher didn't miss a snap in the postseason from 2014 through the 2021 AFC Championship, in which he suffered a torn Achilles in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs' win over the Buffalo Bills. The Chiefs released Fisher in March just before the start of free agency.
But the 6-foot-7, 315 pound Fisher is coming off a season in which he received the highest Pro Football Focus grade (80.0) of his career.
Fisher is the third unrestricted free agent tackle signed by the Colts in 2021, joining Sam Tevi and Julie'n Davenport.
Because the Colts signed Fisher after 4 p.m. on May 3, adding him will not count toward the formula that determines compensatory draft picks in 2022. The Colts could potentially gain a compensatory draft pick or two for losing defensive lineman Denico Autry, quarterback Jacoby Brissett and linebacker Anthony Walker in free agency.
