Armed with $34.5M of projected cap space, but with no first round pick, the 2026 Indianapolis Colts have some work to do following another disappointing late season collapse that saw them fall short of the playoffs yet again.
One of the biggest current deficiencies facing the Colts this offseason is their consistent lack of outside pass rush:
Lack of Outside Pass Rushing Production
Under longtime general manager Chris Ballard, the Colts have invested a lot of draft capital into their edge rushing group, with arguably little to show for it.
That includes two first round picks, Laiatu Latu and Kwity Paye, as well as five second round picks through the years including: Ben Banogu, Tyquan Lewis, Dayo Odeyingbo, J.T. Tuimoloau, and Kemoko Turay. Paye is set to become a pending 2026 free agent, and appears unlikely to be re-signed, while 3 of those 5 second round picks are no longer with the team and didn’t even receive a second contract with Indianapolis.
It’s also worth noting that veteran defensive end Samson Ebukam (30) is set to become a free agent.
As a defensive unit collectively, the Colts had 29.0 total sacks, which was the 7th fewest in the league this past year. Per ESPN Analytics, the Colts ranked just 30th at 29% in pass rush win rate during 2025.
No Colts pass rusher had double-digit sacks, as Latu led the Colts with 8.5 total sacks this past campaign. No other Colts defender had more than 4.0 sacks individually.
As mentioned, Latu, as the Colts’ 2024 first round pick, appears to be a nice player as an emerging young pass rusher—and has only improved his first two seasons.
However, it’s a fair question of whether he’ll ultimately be more of a complementary outside pass rusher, as the ‘Robin to someone’s Batman’, rather than as the alpha dog edge rusher that the Colts have desperately lacked since retired greats Dwight Freeney and/or Robert Mathis infamously donned the Horseshoe and routinely wreaked havoc on opposing quarterbacks during the franchise’s better days.
Top 2026 Free Agent Edge Rushers
- Joey Bosa, Buffalo Bills (30)
- Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals (31)
- Boye Mafe, Seattle Seahawks (27)
- Odafe Oweh, Baltimore Ravens (27)
- Jaelan Phillips, Philadelphia Eagles (26)
Top Potential ‘Day 2’ Edge Rushing Targets
- Keldric Faulk, Auburn
- Romello Height, Texas Tech
- Cashius Howell, Texas A&M
- Joshua Josephs, Tennessee
- Akheem Mesidor, Miami (Fla.)
- T.J. Parker, Clemson
- R Mason Thomas, Oklahoma
- Zion Young, Missouri
- Dani Dennis-Sutton, Penn State
- Nadame Tucker, Western Michigan
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