INDIANAPOLIS — The sheer amount of money that will be available is staggering.

When the NFL’s new league year begins March 13 and the free-agent market opens, the Colts likely will have more than $100 million in salary cap space, even after Indianapolis locks up a few of its own before they can hit the open market.

Because of all that space, the Colts will be the speculated destination for just about every big name available at a position of need and a few who play positions already stocked deep in Indianapolis. That will be quickly tempered by the caveat that General Manager Chris Ballard prefers not to make a big splash in free agency.

Ballard bristles a bit at that.

“I guess I disagree with everybody who says we are not aggressive in free agency,” Ballard said.

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Ballard is no Ted Thompson, the longtime Green Bay general manager famous for focusing almost entirely on the draft and sitting out free agency year after year. Ballard believes in building through the draft, developing his own players and retaining them, and he has said before that an NFL team cannot build sustained success through free agency alone.

But that doesn’t mean he’s going to be idle when the free agent market cranks into high gear in the middle of March.

“In every other spot I’ve been in, we’ve participated in free agency,” Ballard said. “I just think it’s got to be the right fit.”

Ballard has found a few gems in each of his first two cracks at free agency in Indianapolis. Eric Ebron and Denico Autry, Ballard’s prize jewels from 2018, paid off in a big way. Ebron is currently living it up in Orlando at the Pro Bowl, and Autry’s nine sacks from the defensive tackle position came close to earning him a spot in Orlando.

From the 2017 class, Jabaal Sheard has been a rock for the Indianapolis defensive line over two seasons, and Margus Hunt and Al Woods have turned in career years for the Colts.

“Denico Autry, we targeted him from Day 1, and we signed him,” Ballard said. “Denico Autry ended up being a pretty good player. Just because it might not be who the media is writing about, who the fans are talking about, that doesn’t mean that guy is not a really good player.”

Ballard’s true philosophy on free agency is that he’s not going to allow himself to make an impulse buy. No matter how much he likes a player, he’s not going to let the market force him to pay more than he wants.

A look back at the list of the supposed top free agents last March reveals a cautionary tale. Few of the big names who changed teams last season lived up to the cost.

The top-tier offensive linemen, Nate Solder, Andrew Norwell and Justin Pugh, struggled in new homes. Wide receivers Allen Robinson (55 catches, 754 yards, 4 TDs) and Sammy Watkins (40 catches, 519 yards, 3 TDs) made a few plays in Chicago and Kansas City, respectively, but not nearly enough to justify paying $14 million or more per year.

The real value in free agency is players like Ebron and Autry.

“We put a value on a player,” Ballard said. “When it gets out of our reach, I just think we are comfortable enough to sleep at night saying that we are going to find an answer. Sometimes it might not be the household name that everybody wants us to sign, and that’s OK, I get it, but we are going to find an answer.”

Ballard understands the long-term implications of paying a player more than he might be worth.

The Colts have plenty of cap space now, but that’s likely not going to be true in the future. At the moment, Indianapolis has a roster full of young stars on the rise, and they’re going to command big contracts down the line. When that time comes, Ballard doesn’t want his money tied up in veterans who weren’t worth the sticker price.

“Just look at the roster and look at the contracts that are going to be coming up over the next two- to three-year period,” Ballard said. “Eventually, what you’d like to happen is you’re paying your own guys, you’re rewarding the guys in the locker room who have done the right things for you.”

Ebron and Anthony Castonzo will be free agents after next season, and defensive back Kenny Moore could generate interest as a restricted free agent if he continues to make plays. Ryan Kelly, T.Y. Hilton, Anthony Walker and Marlon Mack are free agents after the 2020 season.

Ballard’s not opposed to making a big splash, and he knows he might have a better opportunity this season than he did his first two years in Indianapolis.

Free agents, and the agents who represent them, realize the Colts have plenty of cash available, and a resurgent season suddenly makes Indianapolis one of the NFL’s most coveted destinations, a team on the rise that seems poised to contend for years to come.

“We dabbled into free agency (last year), we just couldn’t find a match,” Ballard said. “It wasn’t like people were beating our door down to come to Indianapolis. Do I think we are an attractive place? Absolutely, I do.”

Ballard is simply realistic enough to know that it’s going to take a perfect confluence of factors to get the kind of difference-making free agents who sometimes become available.

The Colts are not the only team in the NFL that wants to reward their own.

And that’s why the current lists of the league’s top free agents are misleading, why many of the big names whose contracts are expiring likely won’t be available March 13. Top-tier pass rushers Demarcus Lawrence, Jadeveon Clowney, Dee Ford and Frank Clark all play for teams — the Cowboys, Texans, Chiefs and Seahawks — that have enough cap space available to retain them. The current wide receiver market is already underwhelming because teams have wrapped up the league’s best before they could come close to the open market.

If something happens, though, and the right player becomes available, Ballard’s not afraid to go after him.

For all of the mistakes that are made in free agency, there are also perfect fits, players who sign for big money and end up being the missing piece that helps put a team over the top.

Ballard just has to be sure he’s looking at the right investment, rather than a mirage.

“If we think from a free-agent standpoint that we are going to get one of the high-priced (guys), we have a very strict guideline that he’s got to fit,” Ballard said. “He’s got to fit into the locker room, he is going to have to earn the salary he’s making, not only with his play, but with his impact and his presence within the locker room.”

Then Ballard might put a good chunk of all that money to use.