Early thoughts on Colts’ first wave of free-agency

Finally some activity on this front, levels of activity the Colts had not seen since the Grigson days, for better or worse.

More than a week removed from the start of the new league year, the famous “first wave” of the free-agency period is now in the books. The Colts, for the first time in a while, have been among the most active teams thus far, leaving us with a decent amount of moves to digest before we enter the second wave of free-agency and start preparing for the NFL Draft.

Signings

The Colts entered this off-season with some very glaring needs, and the question was whether general manager Chris Ballard would change his approach regarding team-building after missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. Well those questions were answered quickly, with the team shoring up the backfield, signing cornerback Charvarius Ward, who is expected to shadow opposing teams’ #1 receiver, something the team was lacking ever since the late Vontae Davis left the team, along with former Vikings’ safety Cam Bynum, who will probably start right away. Those were the two biggest signings made by the team, and I really like both of them. Cornerback was an underrated need, as even with the emergence of former 7th round pick Jaylon Jones as a viable option at the position, there was still a need for a true shutdown corner. Cam Bynum not only gives the Colts a nice player to pair with Nick Cross in the backfield, but also a great locker room guy with playoff experience.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Colts signed former Giants’ quarterback (and Vikings’ safety) Daniel Jones. I am a bit divided on this move, as the one-year deal worth 14 million is a bit complicated for me to understand. Is this move made to provide true competition for Anthony Richardson? That is a lot of money for a backup, and given the fact that if AR fails then Ballard and Steichen are probably gone anyways, I don’t really understand why they would spend some much needed cap space on a guy that will only play if the most important player for this franchise fails.

Khalil Herbert, Neville Gallimore, and Corey Ballantine are depth signings and I would not expect them to see much playing time at all next year. The only intriguing option right there is Herbert, as the Colts’ running back room is desperately thin after Jonathan Taylor, but I expect the Colts to make some more moves at the running back position.

Relinquished

Some former Colts’ players got big paydays elsewhere, with the first one being right guard Will Fries. I loved Fries’ emergence this past season and a half, and was heartbroken when he broke his leg. Before that he had played the entirety of the 2023 season, locking up his starting spot, and looked much better on the early part of last year. I wanted the Colts to keep him around, but being completely honest that price tag seems like a ton for a player with just 800ish snaps of solid, yet unspectacular, play, and coming off a serious injury.

Edge rusher Dayo Odeyingbo was signed by the Chicago Bears, given a hefty 16M a year contract for three seasons. Hurricane Dayo was a nice player to have, and he was finally finding some consistency to his game. His versatility was also a nice factor being able to play both inside or on the edge. Still, he is not a player that the Colts’ defense will find hard to replace, and while he improved he still disappeared for an alarming stretch of games before exploding with a dominant game here and there. If he manages to turn up those big appearances then the Colts will look like fools for letting him go, but at more than 15M a year it was too expensive of a gamble to take.

Longtime Colts’ center Ryan Kelly also left the team, signing with the Vikings. Kelly was struggling to remain on the field, and the Colts seemed to have found the long term answer at the position in Tanor Bartolini, so it made no sense to keep him around. He was an amazing player and locker room presence, and I wish him all the best in the future.

Stuard and Granson were depth pieces last year, and should not be hard to replace either in the draft or in the second wave of free-agency. Raekwon Davis, Julian Blackmon, E.J. Speed, Mark Glowinski, Sam Ehlinger, and Mo Alie-Cox are among the notable players that are still unsigned.

Overall the team is in a better position than it was before, and it seems to have solved two important positions of need without having to sacrifice much long term flexibility. Ballard is really good at finding players that have slipped through the cracks, and there are evident holes at the tight end, defensive end, and linebacker position, so expect some movement there prior to the draft..