Making no secret of Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce being their top priorities, the Colts have big decisions to make in the coming days. The quarterback and 1,000-yard wide receiver’s statuses point Nick Cross out the door.
The former third-round pick has been a quality starter at safety over the past two seasons, and while multiple factors (the Jones and Pierce matters among them) could point the young DB out of town, Chris Ballard said (via the Indianapolis Star’s Nathan Brown) he has spoken with Cross’ agent about a possible re-signing.
“I’m proud of Nick; I’m happy for Nick. Look, sometimes for players, there’s going to come a point where you and I don’t agree, and you don’t like me because of finances,” Ballard said during an appearance on The Fan Morning Show. “There’s this big pie, and I can slice it up and give you a piece of the pie, but someone (else) might be willing to give you a bigger piece, and if that happens, we’ve both done our jobs.
“We’ve done our jobs developing you, and you’ve done your job taking the coaching and getting better each and every year, and you deserve that opportunity. So we’ll see what the future holds with Nick. He made it to free agency on a high note, and we’ll see how that works out.”
Not only is the QB-WR duo taking precedence here, but the Colts (projected $35.7MM in cap space, per OverTheCap) already made tremendous commitments in the secondary last year. They gave Camryn Bynum a four-year, $60MM deal and handed Charvarius Ward a three-year, $54MM contract in free agency. Months later, Indianapolis traded two first-round picks and Adonai Mitchell for Sauce Gardner, whom the Jets had just given a four-year, $120.4MM extension. With Kenny Moore on a three-year, $30MM contract, there does not seem to be room for Cross in Indy’s secondary on a second contract.
The Colts traded a 2023 third-round pick to move into the 2022 third round for Cross, who only made four starts over his first two seasons. From 2024-25, however, the Maryland product was a prolific tackler (266 combined stops) and registered 11 tackles for loss in that span. Cross, 24, started all 34 Colts games from 2024-25 and will be poised to land a nice second contract.
That said, this is a crowded safety market. Big money will not be available for the full lot of starter-level FAs. Jaquan Brisker, Bryan Cook, Alohi Gilman, Jalen Thompson, Kamren Curl, Coby Bryant, Jaylinn Hawkins and Andre Cisco are all 20-something starters unsigned. Veterans Kevin Byard, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Kyle Dugger and Donovan Wilson are among the older starter-caliber cogs headed to the market. Some teams in need of safety help will benefit from this glut, which presents a buyer’s market. Though, Cross (25 in September) being on the young end will benefit him.
Age may be working against one of Indianapolis’ core defenders. Ballard did not ensure Zaire Franklin would be back with the Colts for a ninth season. Franklin (30 in July) is tied to a three-year, $31.26MM contract. The Colts would save $9MM by cutting their top tackler, who is due an $8.24MM base salary in 2026 — the final year of his deal.
“I think you guys all know my feelings for Zaire Franklin,” Ballard said, via Brown. “We have a very close relationship. I thought he played good football, and the addition of Pratt, when we got him into the mix, he ended up adding a much needed will that we needed. The future, we’ll see. Pratt’s up. Zaire’s under contract, so we’ll see how that ends up playing out.”
When injuries slowed Shaquille Leonard, the Colts received a boost from another member of their deep 2018 draft class. A seventh-rounder out of Syracuse, Franklin has been a regular starter since the 2021 season. Primarily a special-teamer prior to that, Franklin became a late-blooming LB who landed three Colts contracts. He has two 170-plus-tackle seasons under his belt. After a 179-tackle 2023, Franklin led the NFL with 173 in 2024 en route to second-team All-Pro acclaim.
The Colts made a change at linebacker last year by letting E.J. Speed walk. They added ex-Lou Anarumo charge Germaine Pratt in-season. Pro Football Focus did not like the Franklin-Anarumo fit, ranking him as the NFL’s second-worst linebacker regular in 2025. Franklin, 29, would still generate considerable FA interest if released. With money perhaps needed for a franchise tag, veteran defenders like Franklin and perhaps Grover Stewart will be places to look for cap space.