Minor NFL Transactions: 5/14/26
Here are Thursday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: LB Stephen Dix Jr.
Green Bay Packers
- Waived/failed physical: TE Luke Lachey
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: WR Mante’ Morrow
- Waived: LS Peter Bowden
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: WR Terrill Davis
- Waived: OLB Jordan Botelho
New York Giants
- Signed: OLB Khalid Kareem
- Placed on IR: CB Thaddeus Dixon
New York Jets
- Waived: K Will Ferrin
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: WR Rashad Rochelle, WR Trayvon Rudolph
- Waived: OLB Devean Deal
- Waived/failure to disclose physical condition: WR Michael Briscoe
Dixon suffered an Achilles tear during a Wednesday workout with the Giants, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. Dixon was part of New York’s six-man UDFA class, joining the team after a college tenure at North Carolina. Ranked by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler as a top-200 prospect in this year’s class, Dixon will likely miss the season. A return after an injury settlement would be the only way Dixon could play for the Giants this season.
The Jets included Ferrin among their 12-man priority free agent class, but he will not make it far into the offseason with the team. New York still rosters kickers Cade York and Lenny Krieg.
Knee Concerns Led To RB Jonah Coleman Falling To Round 4
This year’s draft only produced three running back selections over the first three rounds. Notre Dame produced two first-round picks (Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price), while an Indiana back not invited to the Combine (Kaelon Black) went to the 49ers in Round 3.
Jonah Coleman may well have joined Black as a Day 2 draftee had he been healthy throughout the 2025 season, but a knee injury limited the compact Washington prospect last year. Teams held concerns about Coleman’s knee entering the draft, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, who notes this issue was a “major” factor in the former Arizona recruit falling to the fourth round.
The Broncos chose Coleman 108th overall, preparing to develop him as a presumptive long-term option alongside 2025 second-round pick RJ Harvey. Coleman’s “30” visit allowed the Broncos to examine his knee, and while Breer adds team doctors viewed it as a risk, Denver’s regime deemed it one worth taking.
Denver re-signed J.K. Dobbins in March, giving him a substantial raise ($8MM guaranteed), but the former Ravens second-rounder is a chronic injury risk. Dobbins has missed 57 career games; Coleman could be needed early if/when Dobbins — whose 2025 season ended due to a November Lisfranc injury — misses time in 2026. The Broncos, who also re-signed Jaleel McLaughlin this offseason, will hope Coleman shakes his recent knee setback.
As Coleman attempts to develop behind the Dobbins-Harvey duo, he is coming off a season that included a strained knee ligament sustained Nov. 9. The 5-foot-8 ballcarrier missed the Huskies’ following game but opted to play hurt the rest of the way. Coleman struggled in his first two games back, gaining six yards on four carries against UCLA and 22 on nine totes against Oregon. He closed the season on a higher note, totaling 85 yards on 12 handoffs against Boise State. That came in a bowl game two weeks after Washington’s regular season wrapped. Coleman finished the ’25 season with 758 rushing yards.
Despite the injury-limited section of his season, Coleman led the Big Ten with 17 touchdowns. His two 100-yard rushing performances came against nonconference competition last September, but the 2024 season featured 1,053 Coleman rushing yards in 13 games (Coleman gained 871 rushing yards in 13 Arizona games in 2023.) Weight issues also affected Coleman in college, though Sean Payton said the fourth-round rookie was in “good shape” at the team’s rookie minicamp. Coleman weighed 220 pounds at the Combine but played heavier at points with the Huskies.
The Chiefs, Seahawks and Vikings showed interest in Coleman but each ended up drafting different RBs. Seattle viewed the local product as an option in the event it completed a first-round trade-down move, but the defending Super Bowl champions chose Price at No. 32. Coleman will now get to work as an intriguing option in Denver.
Falcons Sign Round 2 CB Avieon Terrell To Fully Guaranteed Deal
Second-round draft signings annually drag on longest during the offseason. Even as the 2011 CBA implemented a slot system for rookie deals, guaranteed money represents a variable — and the second round has brought a battleground of sorts on this front for several years.
Last year saw a slew of second-rounders receive fully guaranteed contracts, as the Saints’ decision to give No. 40 overall pick Tyler Shough four guaranteed years forced the hands of a few teams. The line of demarcation for fully guaranteed rookie contracts is moving well beyond No. 40 this year, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reporting the Falcons’ agreement with second-round cornerback Avieon Terrell will be fully guaranteed.
Atlanta announced Terrell’s signing earlier this afternoon, but the guarantee component is certainly the most notable takeaway here. The Falcons chose Terrell 48th overall. By striking a fully guaranteed agreement with the Clemson product in mid-May, the Falcons will box in a handful of teams who made picks between Nos. 41 and 47. The agents for those players will have clear paths to ensure their clients land fully guaranteed rookie contracts.
The Falcons have also signed fourth-round defensive linemen Anterio Thompson to his rookie contract, per a team announcement. This completes Atlanta’s rookie-class signings. The team did not hold a first-round pick in this year’s draft, but it will set an interesting precedent for a player with a close connection to a former Falcons first-rounder. Avieon enters the NFL six years after brother AJ did. The Terrells will headline Atlanta’s CB room moving forward.
Trading their 2026 first-rounder to the Rams to move up 20 spots (for James Pearce Jr.) in the 2025 first round, the Falcons made Avieon Terrell the centerpiece of their ’26 draft. The younger Terrell has a path to starting alongside his brother, who has been Atlanta’s No. 1 corner for many years. Viewed as a player who may fit best in the slot, Avieon Terrell earned second-team All-American acclaim at Clemson last season. The first Tigers All-American CB in nine years, Terrell earned this accolade without notching an interception. He did, however, force five fumbles to bring his career total to eight.
Avieon, 21, is nearly seven years younger than AJ. The younger Terrell CB sibling is also an Atlanta native. Expectations will be relatively high for the younger Terrell, though with the Falcons rostering AJ and other vets at the position, an onramp exists here. Atlanta has Mike Hughes as a starter option opposite AJ Terrell, while 2025 draftee Billy Bowman saw extensive slot time during an injury-plagued rookie season.
When the 2011 CBA reshaped rookie-scale deals, that year’s first-round group did not all receive fully guaranteed pacts. As recently as 2024, no second-rounder secured one. The Saints’ Shough decision has become transformative, as after eight second-rounders received fully guaranteed accords in 2025, the Terrell contract positions this year’s second round on track to have at least 16 such players.
The prospects chosen between Nos. 41 and 47 (Bengals EDGE Cashius Howell, Saints DT Christen Miller, Dolphins LB Jacob Rodriguez, Lions EDGE Derrick Moore, Ravens EDGE Zion Young, Buccaneers LB Josiah Trotter and Steelers WR Germie Bernard) will have Terrell’s camp to thank for favorable terms soon.
Giants’ Malik Nabers Undergoes Second Knee Surgery
MAY 14: ESPN’s Jordan Raanan confirms this second surgery still has Nabers on course for a return closer to the end of training camp. Week 1 participation will be a question mark for a few more months as a result, although Raanan adds the Giants are still “hopeful” Nabers will be available by that point.
MAY 13: The subject of follow-up surgeries surfaced recently when it was revealed Bo Nix underwent one to address his ankle issue. Malik Nabers is now in the same boat.
Nabers, who suffered an ACL tear in Week 4 of last season, has undergone a second surgery during his knee rehab. This procedure removed scar tissue that had caused stiffness, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan reports. Like Nix’s, this is being described as a cleanup operation.
This procedure occurred multiple weeks ago, Duggan adds. Although it is certainly not ideal to need a second surgery, this mid-offseason development is not viewed as one that will alter Nabers’ recovery timeline. That said, Nabers is not expected to be ready for training camp on time. Considering when Nabers went down (Sept. 28), it is notable he is unlikely to avoid the active/PUP list come late July.
The active/PUP list is a camp-only designation that came up involving a key Giant last summer. Andrew Thomas, who went down with a Lisfranc injury in October 2024, was not moved off the active/PUP list until August 19 of last year. While that meant a stay on the reserve/PUP list (and a four-game absence) was off the table, the All-Pro left tackle did not debut until Week 3. Nabers, who needed rehab time on an injured toe during the Giants’ 2025 offseason program, will be a player to monitor with regards to practice participation once pads come on this summer.
During the pre-draft process, the Giants were connected to using one of their top-10 picks on a receiver; Carnell Tate and Jordyn Tyson came up during Big Blue’s complex runup to the first round. The Titans took Tate fourth overall, and the Giants scooped up a falling Arvell Reese at No. 5. The decision to add yet another pass rusher with a top-10 pick left Tyson on the board, and he went eighth to the Saints. The Giants did address the receiver position by making a 31-spot jump (via the Browns) for Notre Dame’s Malachi Fields in Round 3.
A rumor indicating the Giants’ receiver interest may be partially due to Nabers not expected to be 100% by Week 1 surfaced. While I contended at the time such a protection measure would be a misguided use of a top-10 pick, Nabers’ timeline will be one to follow in the coming months. The Giants still roster Darius Slayton and Jalin Hyatt, though the latter has disappointed after being a 2024 third-round pick. The team signed Darnell Mooney and Calvin Austin in March. Slayton is also recovering from offseason surgery.
Iowa Adds Tom Moore To Coaching Staff
Tom Moore left the Buccaneers’ staff after seven seasons in January. This was classified as a retirement at the time, but the long-running assistant coach is not leaving the profession.
An interesting reunion is coming to pass, with Iowa announcing the former NFL offensive coordinator will join the staff as a senior consultant to the head coach and offensive advisor. This will bring Moore back to his alma mater 66 years after his Hawkeyes playing career concluded. Moore has not worked at the college level since serving on the Minnesota staff in the mid-1970s.
Now 87, Moore began his coaching career at Iowa as well. After his playing career wrapped in 1960, Moore entered a six-plus-decade coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater. Moore, who played and coached under Jerry Burns during his previous Iowa tenure, followed in Burns’ path to a lengthy (putting it mildly) NFL career. He has been on NFL staffs in all but one season since 1977.
The Bucs employed Moore as a senior offensive consultant. He collected a fourth Super Bowl ring during this tenure, helping Tampa Bay’s first Tom Brady-led squad to a Super Bowl LV win under Bruce Arians. Moore said in 2021 he wanted to coach as long as he was physically able. He will join Kirk Ferentz’s staff ahead of the Iowa City mainstay’s 28th season leading the program.
Winning his first Super Bowls as a Chuck Noll assistant in Pittsburgh, Moore added a third ring while serving as Colts OC in 2006. He has been on the consultant/advisory level since 2010. He stepped down after 12 seasons running the Colts’ offense that year and later moved to the Jets, Titans, Cardinals and Bucs’ staffs. Todd Bowles fired OC Byron Leftwich after the 2022 season and went through three different OCs from 2023-25, but Bowles retained Moore throughout that period. Previously the OC for the Steelers and Lions, Moore helped with Baker Mayfield‘s rebound in Tampa. He will now work with a Hawkeyes team coming off a 9-4 season.
Draft Rumors: Bucs, Raiders, Waller, Dolphins, Cowboys, Colts, Allen, Giants
Exiting a season without an eight-sack player for the fourth straight year, the Buccaneers attempted to take a big swing in free agency by being part of the Trey Hendrickson chase. The Ravens, after their Maxx Crosby about-face, ended up closing that market. Baltimore reneging on that agreement may have helped Tampa Bay land Rueben Bain Jr., with Jason Licht indicating during a Pat McAfee Show appearance the Raiders obtaining the No. 14 overall pick probably took an EDGE suitor out of the mix.
“Spytek, he and I are very close. He was taunting me a little bit, ‘Hey, we’re sitting right in front of you; I know what you need,’” Licht said of his former Bucs lieutenant-turned-Raiders GM (h/t the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin). “We’re all trying to help each other out here, especially the people that are good friends, so thanks, Spytek.”
Spytek worked under Licht before being hired as Raiders GM in 2025. The Raiders were all set to move Crosby’s $35.5MM-per-year contract off their payroll, and although the team signed Kwity Paye during the period where Crosby was all but certain to relocate to Baltimore, the team could have used more help at the premier position. (If nothing else, Spytek certainly appears to have needled his former boss about needing to trade up for a pass rusher.) Instead, Paye joins Crosby and Malcolm Koonce — re-signed before the Ravens’ seismic decision — in headlining the Raiders’ EDGE corps.
Keeping No. 14, the Ravens were connected to Penn State guard Vega Ioane. Ely Allen’s PFR mock draft delivered a direct hit there, and the move allowed the Bucs access to Bain. Tampa Bay viewed the Miami EDGE as a top-five player on its board and was eyeing ex-Bain Hurricanes teammate Akheem Mesidor in the event Bain was off the board. The Ravens keeping their pick after signing Hendrickson may well have helped keep Bain in Florida. Here is the latest draft fallout:
- The Cowboys and Dolphins agreed to a first-round trade that allowed Dallas to climb up one spot for Caleb Downs. That swap was agreed to late during Miami’s time on the clock, and ESPN’s The Pick Is In special (h/t David Furones of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel) included a note about the Dolphins initially declining the Cowboys’ offer to move from No. 12 to No. 11. Dallas initially offered a fifth-round pick to climb one spot; this did not move the needle for new Miami GM Jon-Eric Sullivan. As the clock wound down, the Cowboys offered a second fifth-rounder and potentially another pick to seal the deal. Jerry Jones did not view the Dolphins as a threat to draft Downs but worried another team could jump the Cowboys for the Ohio State safety, leading to Nos. 177 and 180 going to Miami for No. 11. Jeff Hafley said during an interview with Richard Sherman (via Yahoo.com) the Dolphins would have drafted Kadyn Proctor at 11 had no trade occurred.
- Staying with the Dolphins, they will obtain an additional 2027 draft choice. The 2025 Darren Waller trade sent a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Giants after the tight end unretired; a conditional 2027 seventh went back to Miami. The conditions were ultimately satisfied, per the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, and the Dolphins will hold an extra 2027 seventh-rounder from the Waller swap. Although Waller began the season late due to injury before being placed on IR twice last season, he caught 24 passes for 283 yards and six touchdowns in nine games played. Waller is not expected to return to Miami.
- The draft signing process annually moves slowest with second-round picks, with guarantees providing the holdup. Round 2 draftees continue to make inroads on that front. Last year, a host of second-round talents — due in no small part to Tyler Shough going 40th overall — secured fully guaranteed deals. This year continues that growth, with KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson noting No. 53 overall pick C.J. Allen received 83.7% of his contract guaranteed from the Colts. That is up from 75.4% at No. 53 last year (Buccaneers CB Benjamin Morrison). The bar for fully guaranteed Round 2 deals will undoubtedly move past No. 40 this year, and Allen receiving this mostly guaranteed pact will have an impact on players drafted shortly before him this year.
Former All-Pro TE Charle Young Passes Away
Former Pro Bowl tight end Charle Young, who played for four NFL teams over a 13-year career, passed away. He was 75. The 49ers revealed they were informed of Young’s death by his wife, according to the Associated Press; no cause of death has been provided.
Spending his career with the Eagles, Rams, 49ers and Seahawks, Young was selected to three Pro Bowls; a hot start to his career in Philadelphia brought those invites, and the former top-10 pick became a long-term NFL starter who enjoyed a memorable second act.
The Eagles used the No. 6 overall pick on Young in 1973, acquiring the selection from the Chargers in a trade for linebacker Tim Rossovich. Philly deployed Young, a USC product, as an immediate starter. Even with the mid-1970s known as a low-octane passing era, Young shined as a receiving tight end.
He earned first-team All-Pro honors as a rookie, helping trade acquisition Roman Gabriel to his final Pro Bowl nod. The Gabriel-Young connection hooked up for six touchdowns, Young’s career-high mark, as the 6-foot-4 target amassed a career-best 854 receiving yards. Gabriel, acquired from the Rams, led the NFL with 23 TD passes that season.
Young then strung together 696- and 653-yard seasons in 1974 and ’75, earning second-team All-Pro acclaim each year, but the Eagles struggled during a down period in their franchise history. Gabriel did not sustain the momentum his 1973 season brought, and the Eagles lacked a quarterback answer. In 1977, they used Young to land one. In Dick Vermeil‘s second offseason in charge, the Eagles traded Young to the Rams for Ron Jaworski. That turned out to be a trade that benefited Philly more than L.A., as Jaworski — mostly a backup with the Rams early in his career — was the NFC East team’s starter for nearly a decade.
The Rams did not see much from Young, who totaled just 35 receiving yards in 14 games during his first Los Angeles season. Young only started three games in three Rams seasons, but an intra-NFC West trade allowed for a resurgence. The Rams traded Young to the 49ers in 1980, receiving two third-round picks in a pick-swap deal that saw L.A. third- and fourth-round choices go to San Francisco. This trade came as Bill Walsh, in Year 2 at the helm in San Francisco, was crafting a seminal turnaround.
In Young’s second 49ers campaign, he totaled 400 receiving yards and five touchdowns. The 49ers deployed the veteran as a 16-game starter as they zoomed to a surprising 13-3 season in Joe Montana‘s first year as a full-time starter. Young then caught Montana’s first playoff touchdown pass, during a divisional-round win over the Giants, and added four receptions for 45 yards in the 49ers’ storied NFC championship game win over the Cowboys before collecting a Super Bowl ring.
The 49ers, however, sent first- and fourth-round picks to the Patriots for retired TE Russ Francis‘ rights in 1982. This preceded a 1983 Young release, but he landed a prominent role with the Seahawks soon after. Chuck Knox, Young’s coach during his first Rams season, was at the controls in Seattle when the Seahawks signed Young. The July addition made a difference in Seattle’s first playoff season, catching 36 passes for 529 yards and two scores. The Seahawks voyaged to the AFC championship game that season. Young finished his career after two more Seahawks slates, continuing to work as a regular starter.
Young finished his career with 142 career starts — that remains 30th among TEs in NFL history — to go with 418 catches and 5,106 receiving yards. Among pure tight ends at the time of Young’s retirement, those totals ranked seventh and 11th in NFL annals.
Giants To Sign DT D.J. Reader
MAY 9: Reader’s contract includes $5.25MM in guaranteed money, comprised of a $3.5MM signing bonus and his $1.75MM salary this season, per OverTheCap. He can also receive up to $1MM in per game roster bonuses in 2026, creating a cap hit of $4.5MM. That will set up what is essentially a team option for 2027, in which Reader will be owed $5.15MM in base salary and $1MM in per game roster bonuses with a $1.75MM dead cap hit if released.
MAY 5: The Giants-D.J. Reader buzz is expected to produce a deal. The sides are finalizing an agreement that will move the veteran to a fourth NFL team, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo report.
Reader visited with the Giants days before they decided to trade Dexter Lawrence, and the parties stayed in contact in the period after the blockbuster swap. With Lawrence sent to Cincinnati for the No. 10 overall pick, Reader will have an opportunity to play a big role in New York.
Although we are past the draft — when the bulk of the signings are one-year pacts — Reader will fetch another multiyear agreement. He is signing a two-year, $12.5MM accord, veteran insider Jordan Schultz tweets. Incentives could push the value higher as well. Reader’s incentive package covers $3MM, Rapoport adds.
John Harbaugh spent four seasons coaching against Reader in the AFC North, as the Bengals rostered the run-stuffing D-lineman from 2020-23. Reader, 31, spent the past two years with the Lions. The Giants have now added Reader and fellow ex-AFC North 30-something Shelby Harris to their post-Lawrence D-tackle group since the draft. Harris, 34, signed a one-year deal worth $3MM. His contract brings $2.66MM guaranteed, per OverTheCap.
Reader (128 career starts) will be expected to be the Giants’ first-string nose tackle, the New York Post’s Paul Schwartz notes. The contract certainly points to such a role being commandeered, as does the 10-year veteran’s body of work. This year’s D-tackle class was considered weak behind John Franklin-Myers, who benefited from both a shallow DT veteran crop and a draft not flooded with high-level options either. This landscape led to Vikings 30-something cap casualties Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave landing on their feet — with two-year deals worth $25MM and $23MM, respectively — soon after releases. The Giants’ changing DT complexion undoubtedly boosted Reader’s value.
Lawrence requested a trade and, despite a Giants attempt to keep him on a revised contract, received one days before the draft. The Giants then focused on other areas in the draft, adding a linebacker, offensive lineman, cornerback and wide receiver in the first three rounds. New York did not address its suddenly glaring DT need until Round 5, when Bobby Jamison-Travis arrived. The team used a third-round pick on DT Darius Alexander last year. He will now see vets Reader, Harris and Leki Fotu represent a quantity-based approach to replacing an All-Pro.
Tied to a two-year, $22MM Lions deal previously, Reader started all 32 games he played with the NFC North club. Pro Football Focus graded Reader 36th and 32nd, respectively, among interior D-linemen in those seasons. He logged a 53% defensive snap rate in each Detroit campaign. Although Reader displayed durability in New York, he suffered two quadricep tears while with Cincinnati. The second one came during his contract year, though it speaks to how Reader is viewed around the league he scored an $11MM-AAV deal coming off that injury.
Reader, whose first quad tear sidelined him five games into the 2020 slate, also missed seven games during the 2022 season. An MCL issue sidelined Reader that year, coming after his key contributions during Cincy’s Super Bowl LVI season. The former Texans draftee played out a four-year, $53MM Bengals contract before heading to Detroit.
The Ravens met with Reader in free agency, before they added Calais Campbell, but the veteran nose will meet up with a host of ex-Ravens under Harbaugh soon. The Giants will hope the 330-pound defender has enough gas in the tank to make an impact on a defense that ranked 31st against the run with Lawrence playing 17 games. This situation may not inspire confidence, given Lawrence’s talent level, but the Giants are bringing in some proven vets after using the Lawrence-generated pick to bolster their O-line (via Francis Mauigoa).
Pro Football Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat: 5/8/26
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Colts Release CB Kenny Moore
Coming up in trade rumors before the draft, Kenny Moore had asked to be moved. Following draft weekend, the veteran Colts slot cornerback asked the team for a release. The Colts have granted it, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
A former Pro Bowler, Moore has been in place in Indianapolis since Chris Ballard‘s first offseason as GM (2017). As pricey Colts DB contracts have emerged over the past 1 1/2 years, Moore’s $10MM-per-year deal will be coming off the books. The Colts have since announced the separation. This came after Moore was absent for the start of voluntary workouts last month.
Ballard had stuck by his core for many years, with Moore being a central component in the GM’s nucleus. Moore joined defensive tackle Grover Stewart, tight end Mo Alie-Cox and long snapper Luke Rhodes as the only Colts left from Ballard’s first offseason in charge (Rhodes arrived under Ryan Grigson in 2016). Now, the veteran cornerback follows longtime Colts Braden Smith, Zaire Franklin and Michael Pittman Jr. out the door this offseason.
We covered in this space last fall how the Colts had been tied to their core longer than any other team, and Ballard’s enduring presence certainly has plenty to do with that. Moore was in place since the Andrew Luck era, having been a waiver claim (from the Patriots) in 2017. Moore, 30, quickly became a dependable slot presence. As the Colts struggled to identify long-term boundary options at the position, they could count on their slot ace. Moore signed an Indianapolis extension in 2019 and then re-signed with the team as a free agent in 2024.
The Colts and Moore mutually agreed to part ways in early April, with a trade being Indy’s preferred exit strategy here. Moore was due a $9.49MM base salary in 2026, the final year of his three-year, $30MM contract. None of the money was guaranteed, but that number undoubtedly affected a trade aim. It is unclear if the Colts passed on a potential low-level deal — along the lines of what the Bills landed for slot staple Taron Johnson in March — to accommodate a cornerstone veteran, but the team is moving on without compensation. The Colts will add $7.1MM in cap space, though three void years being in place on this deal will produce a dead cap hit of $6.1MM.
Upon arrival in Indiana nine years ago, Moore quickly became one of best slot corners in the game. Indianapolis shuffled through pieces on the perimeter but rewarded Moore twice with market-setting deals. The team signed the former UDFA to a four-year, $33.3MM extension in his third offseason and gave him the 3/30 pact ahead of his age-29 campaign.
The Colts re-signed several key players in 2024, including Pittman and Stewart, in an attempt to build around Anthony Richardson‘s rookie contract. That plan did not work out, and Indy is back in the high-priced QB game after giving Daniel Jones a two-year, $88MM extension. The team offloaded Pittman’s contract — in a late-round pick-swap agreement with Pittsburgh — to afford the Jones transition tag and Alec Pierce‘s second contract (the team had traded Franklin to the Packers days before). Moore will follow Smith, an eight-year right tackle starter, in departing; Smith joined the Texans in free agency.
Indy’s secondary blueprint changed considerably in 2025, when Ballard indicated a willingness to deviate from a roster-building tenet by handing out some free agency dollars for outside help. Safety Camryn Bynum and cornerback Charvarius Ward joined the team last March, and as the Colts were chasing their first playoff berth since 2020 at the trade deadline, the team sent the Jets two first-round picks and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell for Sauce Gardner.
The team now has Gardner’s $30.1MM-per-year extension on the books to go with Bynum and Ward’s pacts — both north of $15MM AAV. This moved the Colts to stand down on re-signing Nick Cross, and they will now part with Moore while moving forward with the pricey Gardner-Ward-Bynum trio.
Moore has 21 career interceptions, notching four-INT seasons in 2020 and ’21. The latter season brought the 5-foot-9 cover man’s only Pro Bowl invite. Moore returned two of his three 2023 picks for TDs in 2023 and graded as a top-20 corner (in the view of Pro Football Focus) three times. PFF ranked Moore 37th among 112 qualified corners last season, when he allowed a career-best 62% completion rate as the closest defender. As Lou Anarumo took over as DC, though, the Colts reduced Moore’s playing time. He went from playing at least 92% of Indy’s defensive plays from 2018-24 to a 76% snap share in 2025.
Although Moore is entering an age-31 season, he stands to generate interest in free agency. He is unlikely to command a $10MM-per-year salary, but contenders eyeing slot help will surely look into the proven option now that he’s on the market.