Colts GM Ryan Grigson briefly addressed Rob Chudzinski status

Indianapolis Colts general manager Ryan Grigson had a season-ending press conference on Friday, and naturally he got a question about Rob Chudzinski. He did not go into much detail, rather issuing a statement that should surprise nobody:

"I'm not going to get into specifics, but it's ultimately my job to make sure that good people stay in this building and don't just walk right now. So we'll address that, and do our best to keep good people here."

The Colts have Chudzinski under contract until either this coming Monday or the following Saturday (depending on the report you believe). The team declined requests by the San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Rams to interview Chudzinski for their vacant offensive coordinator jobs. Both teams will have the opportunity next week once he is out of his contract, but in the meantime, the Colts have an exclusive negotiating window. They don't know their future with Pep Hamilton, so if they think Chud can be a quality OC, it makes sense to try and figure out a way to keep him around.

As for the 49ers? The team has been reportedly hiring some assistants already, including Tony Sparano as tight ends coach, while retaining Tom Rathman, Geep Chryst and Ronald Curry, among others. An offensive coordinator would seemingly want some say in the staff, so maybe some kind of gentleman's agreement has been reached.

Some have suggested Geep Chryst will get the job. If he does end up getting it after Chudzinski becomes a free agent, it seems like Chryst would be the backup plan. They have had him in house all month, so if they actually wanted him to be their OC, wouldn't it make sense to promote him? Even if the team did not want to make it official, one would think it would have leaked by now if it was in fact the case.