Indianapolis Colts News & Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/13/25

Here are the latest moves from around the NFL,including practice squad elevations for all four teams playing on Monday Night Football:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

  • Signed from the Ravens’ practice squad: S JT Gray

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

  • Waived: OL Isaac Alarcon

Washington Commanders

  • Elevated from practice squad: WR Ja’Corey Brooks, WR Tay Martin 

The Bears elevated Moody to kick in their Monday night matchup with the Commanders with Cairo Santos sidelined by a quad injury.

Colts Place QB Anthony Richardson On IR

The Colts will be without Anthony Richardson for an extended period. Following the pregame injury suffered by the team’s backup quarterback on Sunday, he is set for an extended absence.

Richardson has been placed on injured reserve, per a team announcement. As a result, he will be unavailable for at least the next four games. Richardson suffered an orbital bone fracture during warmups yesterday. It was initially unclear how much time he would miss, but testing on his eye has obviously led to the Colts shutting him down for the foreseeable future.

Daniel Jones has thrived in his stead atop the Colts’ depth chart so far this season. Indianapolis leads the AFC with a record of 5-1, and the former Giants draftee will be tasked with maintaining his current level of play as the Colts look to remain hot. Depth behind Jones will be a question, however. Richardson has not developed as hoped in his NFL career, but he would have been a familiar option for head coach Shane Steichen and Co. if called upon.

With Richardson now out of the picture for the time being, sixth-round rookie Riley Leonard is currently the Colts’ QB2. Leonard has yet to make a regular season appearance, but he could find himself dressing as the backup for at least a brief period. Of course, that would change if Indianapolis were to make a free agent or trade acquisition at the quarterback spot. The team has roughly $6MM in cap space.

Richardson is no stranger to missed time after he was limited to four games as a rookie and 11 contests last season. This absence is different since it was not caused by an on-field injury, but the former No. 4 pick is now guaranteed to be available for less than a full slate in each of his first three NFL campaigns. Irrespective of Jones’ strong play, Richardson’s future with the Colts will no doubt be influenced by his injury history moving forward.

Indianapolis still has seven IR activations available at this point. Bringing Richardson back into the fold will use up one of them, but not until a notable period of time is spent recovering from the injury.

Colts QB Anthony Richardson Suffers Orbital Fracture

OCTOBER 13: It is unclear at this point how long Richardson will be out for, but ESPN’s Stephen Holder reports he will be sidelined for “a while.” The Colts could find themselves in the market for a short-term quarterback addition as a result, but decisions on that front will of course depend on Richardson’s prognosis. At least for the time being, Leonard is now second on the depth chart.

OCTOBER 12: The Colts saw a pair of uncanny pregame injuries take out a player on each side of the ball today before they were even suited up in pads. The more serious of the two injuries saw backup quarterback Anthony Richardson suffer an orbital fracture when an elastic band injured his eye, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Claims were that the injury was the result of a malfunction of the elastic band while Richardson was doing band work. In each of his first two years in the NFL, the Colts have repeatedly tried to establish Richardson as the team’s next big starting quarterback, usually just for injuries to derail any chances for success. A concussion and shoulder surgery caused him to miss all but four games of his rookie season, and he missed three separate two-week stretches for the Colts last year due to injury.

The Colts apparently couldn’t even keep Richardson healthy as a backup. The 23-year-old spent today’s game at the hospital dealing with the injury as sixth-round rookie passer Riley Leonard was elevated into the QB2 role behind starter Daniel Jones. Luckily, nothing happened to Jones, who played every offensive snap for the team, but the AFC’s current No. 1 seed was a play away from being down to their QB3 due to a freak accident in pregame warmups.

The other player who was injured in an unusual manner during pregame activities today was cornerback Charvarius Ward. While running drills in pregame warmups, Ward collided with a tight end and was left concussed and unavailable for the game. This hurt an already thin cornerbacks group that featured Jaylon Jones and Kenny Moore as existing inactives. It will be interesting to see just how Ward and Richardson progress through their injuries this week and how it will affect the team going forward.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/11/25

Here are the minor moves and standard gameday practice squad elevations heading into the sixth Sunday of the NFL season:

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Manu was ruled out for this week with a knee injury after making the first start of his career with Detroit. Unfortunately, he’ll miss the team’s next three games, as well, after being placed on injured reserve.

Wright will fill in as placekicker for the Titans in Week 6. Regular kicker Joey Slye has been ruled out with a calf injury after missing practice all week.

Avery in Cleveland and Walton in Carolina are both being called up as standard gameday practice squad elevations for the third time this year. If either of their respective teams want them to be active for another game, they will need to sign them to the 53-man roster.

Colts Restructure Kenny Moore’s Contract

The Colts restructured Kenny Moore‘s contract this week to create $3.8MM in cap room, per OverTheCap.

$4.75MM of the veteran cornerback’s 2025 salary was converted into a signing bonus. Since Moore’s contract expired after the 2026 season, the Colts added three void years to the deal to prorate his new bonus across five years instead of two. As a result, Moore’s cap hit rose by $950k in each of the remaining years. This type of restructure is known as a maximum restructure because it uses void years to create more cap space in the current year of the contract.

This particular restructure is notable because the Colts rarely use void years or maximum restructures despite their recent rise in popularity around the league. It could be an indicator that general manager Chris Ballard is looking to capitalize on a surprising 4-1 start with Daniel Jones under center with an aggressive move before the trade deadline. The team now has $7.63MM in cap space, which could be enough to make an addition in the coming weeks.

The Colts have been dealing with a number of injuries in their secondary since training camp and have been middling against opposing passing games to start the regular season. They are reportedly interested in free agent cornerback Tre Hawkins and could pursue a higher-profile defensive back on the trade market.

However, Ballard may also have been considering the team’s in-season expenses – i.e. practice squad elevations, signing injury replacements to the 53-man roster – when he completed the restructure. The Colts did not reduce Moore’s 2025 salary to the veteran minimum to create the the most space they could have. If Ballard was going shopping before the deadline, it would stand to reason that he would want as much cap space as possible to facilitate a deal.

Moore has been sidelined for multiple weeks with a hamstring injury, but it is not considered a major injury.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/8/25

Today’s minor moves:

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

San Francisco 49ers

Khalil Dorsey was recently nursing a wrist injury, and that issue will now sideline him for at least the next four games, as the cornerback landed on injured reserve today. After getting into the first four games of the season for the Lions, Dorsey didn’t see the field for Week 5. The majority of his playing time has come on special teams this season.

Kevin Givens is back at practice after landing on IR before the season even started. The defensive tackle has been working his way back from a pectoral injury that wiped out the first month of his 2025 campaign. According to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, the defensive lineman will be evaluated throughout the week to determine his availability for Week 6. Givens is coming off a 2024 season where he compiled a career-high 3.5 sacks.

Colts To Sign LB Germaine Pratt

The Colts are signing veteran linebacker Germaine Pratt to a one-year deal, per Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Pratt was released by the Raiders on Monday and needed little time to find a new home. He received interest from at least four other teams, but opted for a reunion with Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo.

Anarumo was hired for the same position in Cincinnati in 2019, the same year that Pratt was drafted by the Bengals. The pair worked together for six seasons until the team opted to part ways with both player and coach this offseason.

The Colts needed some depth at linebacker, per FOX54’s Mike Chappell, and Pratt more than fits the bill as a proven defender with 92 starts under his belt. He showed plenty of development under Anarumo in Cincinnati, totaling 360 tackles, 19 passes defended, six interceptions, five forced fumbles, and three sacks over his last three seasons as a Bengal.

The Colts’ veteran linebackers, Zaire Franklin and Joe Bachie, have both disappointed to start the year, so Pratt’s familiarity with Anarumo could see him quickly take over a prominent role in Indianapolis, especially since the Colts are still waiting on Jaylon Carlies to fully recover from his ankle injury. His stint on injured reserve was not expected to extend far past the four-game minimum, but the second-year linebacker has yet to return to practice.

Pratt could even play himself into a long-term role in Indianapolis if he returns to his previous production under Anarumo. Franklin is signed through the 2027 season, but has no guaranteed money remaining on his contract, per OverTheCap. If Pratt seems like a better option moving forward, he could take over a starting job for the rest of this season and potentially beyond.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/7/25

Today’s practice squad moves in the NFL:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/7/25

Here are Tuesday’s minor NFL moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Indianapolis Colts

The Falcons and Bears have opened the 21-day practice windows for three injured reserve players today. All three will have the next three weeks in which they can participate in practice until they are completely cleared and able to be activated off of IR at any time during that window. If they fail to be activated after 21 days, they will revert to IR and will not be eligible to be activated to the active roster again this season.

Technically, Graham and Homer were already designated to return in the preseason. At the roster cut deadline, each team can designate two players on IR to be eligible to return after missing at least four games of the regular season. Any other players on IR when the initial 53-man roster is set will not be eligible to return to the roster during that year. Graham and Homer were both one of those designations for their respective teams.

Booker, on the other hand, was placed on IR after the roster cut deadline and has just now been designated to return. The protocol from here on out for each player will be the same.

Colts To Bring Back K Michael Badgley

Spencer Shrader‘s season-ending injury will force the Colts to make another change at kicker. After bringing in Shrader to replace Matt Gay, Indianapolis will turn to one of its former options to fill in for Shrader.

Michael Badgley is returning on what NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo report is an active-roster deal. Not kicking in a game since the 2023 season, Badgley previously kicked for the Colts in 2021. Badgley joined Dustin Hopkins and Matt Ammendola at a workout today, the Indianapolis Star’s Joel Erickson notes. Badgley participated in a Falcons workout last month but did not land the gig.

Most recently seeing game action with the Lions, Badgley played for the Colts in 2021. He kicked in 12 games for Indianapolis that season, replacing the injured Rodrigo Blankenship. Badgley kicked for the Bears and Lions in 2022 and stayed in Detroit in 2023, residing on the Lions’ practice squad for much of the season before eventually replacing Riley Patterson as the team’s primary kicker.

Now 30, Badgley is best remembered for a three-season Chargers stint. He has been a nomadic NFL specialist since that 2018-20 stretch. Badgley only attempted four regular-season field goals with the 2023 Lions, making them all. In 2022, he made 24 of 28 tries between stops in Chicago and Detroit. As a Colt in 2021, Badgley was 18-for-21. He has only made two 50-plus-yard field goals since his Chargers stint wrapped, going 2-for-4 in that span.

Shrader won the competition to replace Gay but went down during Indy’s Week 5 win over Las Vegas, suffering ACL and MCL tears. The Colts have a new coaching staff from Badgley’s 2021 stint, but GM Chris Ballard remains in place. The ninth-year GM will see if Badgley can help his resurgent team retain its current course. Hopkins is still searching for a gig after being a Browns cut in August; Ammendola has not kicked since a five-game cameo with the 2023 Texans.

This marks more kicker turnover for a Colts team that has not seen the same kicker complete three consecutive seasons in the role since Adam Vinatieri‘s retirement. Blankenship was out one game into his third season (2022), after missing most of 2021, while the team bailed on Gay’s four-year deal two seasons in. With Shrader on the shelf for a while, Badgley — who has not played a full season with a team since 2020 in Los Angeles — will hold the job for the time being.