Colts news: Chris Ballard says trading No. 3 pick shows confidence in Andrew Luck's status

Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard says trading the No. 3 pick to the New York Jets showcases confidence in Andrew Luck's playing status for 2018.

The focus around the Indianapolis Colts for much of the last few months has been on star quarterback Andrew Luck's recovery from shoulder surgery. He has appeared to have hit stride going forward in his rehab moving toward being able to take the field at some point this offseason.

The Colts have remained confident in the process that Luck should be back in the fold for the 2018 campaign after missing all of last year. General manager Chris Ballard made that more clear on Friday morning by pointing to the team's decision to move down from the third overall selection in this year's draft is a telling sign about what they think about the 28-year-old's outlook, according to Zak Keefer of the Indy Star.

This is telling.

Asked about the #Colts confidence in Andrew Luck for the 2018 season, this is how Chris Ballard responded:

"We traded the 3rd pick in the draft to move back to 6. I think that said we’re pretty confident where he’s at."

— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) April 20, 2018

The third overall selection could have been a spot where the team could have snagged one of the top quarterback talents in this year's draft class. Instead, the Colts decided to acquire a few more selections while moving down a few spots to acquire a player to help address another position of need.

Luck has demonstrated to the franchise that he is pushing forward to getting back on the field in the coming months. He has yet to progress to the stage where he's throwing footballs, but his continued positive movement in that direction is quite encouraging for the franchise.

The Pro Bowl has progressed to the point where he is able to work on building strength in his arm without any discomfort, which is a huge step in itself. He had missed the entire 2017 campaign because he couldn't get past that in his recovery that had even pushed the option of additional surgery back into the picture during that time.

It is still a fluid situation around Luck, but this upward trajectory over the last few months has the Colts confident he will be back in the mix in near future.