INDIANAPOLIS – Chris Ballard is talking about Reggie Wayne, but I’m thinking about Antonio Brown. Ballard, the Colts’ general manager, is talking about Edgerrin James. I’m thinking about Le’Veon Bell. Ballard is talking about Peyton Manning and Gary Brackett and Jeff Saturday, but I’m thinking about Dez Bryant and Ndamukong Suh and any other NFL superstar who might relocate to Indianapolis, bringing all that baggage.

And I’m thinking: Those guys are never coming here.

You need to be thinking the same thing, accept it, and move on. Well, I suppose we could have this debate every time a special NFL talent, someone like Antonio Brown or Le’Veon Bell or Dez Bryant becomes available for a team with deep pockets. We know there isn’t a team in the NFL with deeper pockets, in terms of salary cap space, than your very own Indianapolis Colts. We know they could use a receiver like Brown or a disruptive defensive lineman like Suh.

We could have that debate: Should the Colts? Will the Colts?

Or we could do something more productive, and less painful. Like smacking ourselves on the hand with a hammer.

Ballard spoke for nearly an hour Monday, and while he never mentioned any of those available players – Brown by trade; Bell, Bryant or Suh through free agency – he sure seemed to make it clear that as long as he works here, the Colts will never, and I mean ever, add a guy like that.

Subscription offer: Our Colts coverage doesn't stop. Get it all at a great price

Colts Insider: Our email newsletter sends great coverage to your inbox

Because Ballard did mention Reggie Wayne. And he did mention Edgerrin James. And he did mention Manning and Brackett and Saturday, and he also mentioned current Colts like Jacoby Brissett and Mike Mitchell and Adam Vinatieri. And in every case, with almost every sentence Ballard uttered for nearly an hour on Monday, he made clear: Character isn’t just … something.

It’s everything.

And we knew this. Well, we should have known this. Ballard has been big on character, big on the makeup of the locker room, since the day he took this job in January 2017. But that doesn’t stop some of you from getting silly when a big name becomes available. OK, fine, it didn’t stop me from doing the same thing. Seems like it was me a few months ago who wrote a story titled, “The Colts need Dez Bryant.” And while I don’t write the headlines, I did write the 1,000 words that came next, and like so many stories I write, those 1,000 words could have been distilled to a handful. In that case, this handful:

The Colts need Dez Bryant.

Sure they do, dummy. Like a hammer to their hand.

When Ballard mentioned Manning, Brackett and Co., he was referring to the Colts’ 38-10 victory against the Tennessee Titans in November, when the franchise inducted Wayne into the Ring of Honor, and all those Colts came back. Seemed like legends were lined up more than 50 yards to support Wayne, as Ballard was saying Monday, and that’s when it struck him. Never mind how those were all good players.

“They’re good dudes,” Ballard said.

He’s talking about how they carry themselves in the locker room. Putting the team first, supporting each other, building relationships that might actually mean something during a miserably hot day of training camp or a pivotal play of a game, when players are tired and everyone on the field is talented, but something will separate winning from losing. Perhaps something as small, something as large, as how the players feel about each other.

You can roll your eyes all you want at that, but with the salaries these guys make, every snap requires a business decision. How much are you willing to give, to be great? How much do you care about your teammates? Enough to give it all, in that moment?

Imagine Antonio Brown, so toxic in Pittsburgh that the Steelers wouldn’t let him dress out for a 2018 season finale they had to win, digging deep for the good of The Ol’ Horseshoe. Imagine Le’Veon Bell, who made the business decision to sit out this past season because he didn’t like the eight-figure contract the Steelers were offering – that’s $70 million – sacrificing for someone other than himself. Bell had the right to make that choice, of course. And the Colts have the right to make theirs.

Oh, and imagine the Colts dumping Dez Bryant like a viper onto the floor of their young locker room.

Never going to happen. None of them. Not here.

When Ballard talked about this team on Monday, he mentioned some of the veterans he reveres – Mike Mitchell, Matt Slauson, Najee Goode, Al Woods – before he ever said the words “Andrew” or “Luck,” and before he mentioned someone named Darius Leonard. But when Ballard did mention Leonard, the All-Pro rookie linebacker? This is what he said, after first saying Leonard could have the same kind of career as a linebacker named Brian Urlacher, who was inducted in August into the Pro Football Hall of Fame:

“Real-deal good,” Ballard said of Leonard. “And he’s got real-deal character.”

For Ballard, a player needs both. As he was saying Monday of draft prospects, and you can bet this extends to free agents as well: “We’re in the elimination game. (We) want to eliminate as many prospects (as possible).”

The Colts also are in the retention game: retaining as many real-deal players with real-deal character as possible. So when Ballard mentioned backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett, clearly the Colts’ most valuable trading chip, he made it clear that he will need “to be blown away” to part with Brissett. In part that’s because he loves the security Brissett offers should something happen to Luck, with Ballard saying, “I like to sleep at night.”

But also he loves the character Brissett brings to the locker room, same as kicker Adam Vinatieri. When Ballard talked about Vinny’s value to the team, he didn’t mention the NFL scoring record or the 113 points Vinatieri had this season or just his general all-time goat-ness. No, Ballard talked about Vinatieri the same way he talked about Brissett: By talking about his value, his leadership, in the locker room.

So what I’m saying is this: As long as Ballard is running the show, the Colts will never bring in a locker-room risk just because the guy can play a little football. Not even if the guy can play a lot of football. Ballard believes character wins on the field, but I’m pretty sure this is true when it comes to the prospect of winning by adding a player like Antonio Brown:

He’d rather lose.

And I write that with no judgment. Well, no, that’s not true. I write it with this judgment, as someone who lives around here and sure would like to respect the local NFL team:

Thank you.

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter: @GreggDoyelStar or at facebook.com/gregg.doyel.