Indianapolis Colts News & Rumors

Injury Notes: Fisher, Cannon, Wagner

The Colts were hoping for a Week 1 return for new LT Eric Fisher, who has been rehabbing from the torn Achilles tendon he suffered as a member of the Chiefs in January. According to Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star, Fisher had a real chance to suit up for the September 12 opener against Seattle, but his recent positive test for COVID-19 has seriously complicated matters.

Fisher’s positive result has forced him to quarantine for 10 days — which suggests he is not vaccinated — so he is unable to continue his rehab at the team facility. As such, there is no way for the Colts to comment on his availability until he is activated off the reserve/COVID-19 list. Until he is ready to go, Indy will roll with Julie’n Davenport at left tackle.

Let’s take a look at several other injury-related items:

  • Texans OL Marcus Cannon was recently activated off the PUP list, and as veteran NFL reporter Aaron Wilson tweets, there is optimism that Cannon could be ready for Week 1. Houston acquired Cannon in a March trade with the Patriots, but the 33-year-old underwent knee surgery in June and had been recovering ever since. For now, Houston is set to deploy second-year pro Charlie Heck at RT, but Cannon could push Heck for that job while also providing valuable depth at multiple spots along the O-line.
  • The Seahawks have been without LB Bobby Wagner for the past few practices, but there is no cause for alarm. Per head coach Pete Carroll (via Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk), Wagner is simply recovering from a minor knee procedure similar to those he has undergone in recent preseasons. The future Hall-of-Famer has missed just two games over the past six years.
  • The fact that Broncos OL Brett Jones landed on IR prior to final cutdown day suggested that his season was over, and that turned out to be the case. Mike Klis of 9News.com recently tweeted that Jones suffered a torn biceps in the team’s second preseason game and required season-ending surgery. Jones, who appeared in 61 games (19 starts) with the Giants and Vikings over the past five seasons, just signed with Denver in July.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/3/21

Here are Friday’s practice squad moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Football Team

Colts Revise Ryan Kelly’s Contract

The Colts have converted $9MM of Ryan Kelly‘s salary into a signing bonus (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com). As a result, they’ll have an additional $6.75MM in cap room to work with. 

[RELATED: Colts Place Hilton On IR]

Kelly, who was recently activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list, signed a four-year, $50MM re-up with the Colts exactly one year ago. The former first-round pick received $34MM in guaranteed cash as a part of the deal, making him the highest-paid center in the league at the time of signing. He’s since been leapfrogged by Frank Ragnow (Lions; $13.5MM) and Corey Linsley (Chargers; $12.5MM).

The Colts drafted Kelly No. 18 overall in 2016. The Alabama product made his first Pro Bowl in 2019 as the Colts placed third in Pro Football Focus’ O-line rankings. He earned Pro Bowl nod N0. 2 last year and the Colts are hoping for more of the same, especially with star guard Quenton Nelson at less than 100%.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/2/21

Here are Thursday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

  • Placed on IR: WR Aaron Parker

Cincinnati Bengals

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

  • Released from IR with injury settlement: LB Asmar Bial

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Released from IR with injury settlement: DT Chris Okoye, OL Tyree St. Louis

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

  • Released from IR with injury settlement: RB Brian Hill

Washington Football Team

  • Released from IR with injury settlement: OT Rick Leonard

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC South

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These ColtsJaguarsTexans and Titans moves are noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s AFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Houston Texans

Signed to practice squad: 

Indianapolis Colts

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Jacksonville Jaguars

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Tennessee Titans

Claimed:

Released:

Signed to practice squad: 

Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list:

Colts To Place T.Y. Hilton On IR

T.Y. Hilton recently underwent surgery, according to GM Chris Ballard. As a result, the Colts will be forced to move the wide receiver to injured reserve to start the year (Twitter link via Stephen Holder of the Indy Star). 

Hilton suffered an undisclosed upper back/neck injury in practice recently. It’s a frustrating setback with lousy timing, but Ballard says that Hilton is already starting to feel better.

Hilton, of course, is a team icon who currently ranks third on the Colts’ all-time receiving yards list. He has spent his entire career in Indianapolis since being selected in the third round of the 2012 draft. The two sides avoided divorce this year, even after allowing Hilton to reach the open market.

While Hilton is out, the Colts will turn to Michael Pittman, Parris Campbell, and Zach Pascal for offensive firepower. They might be able to get by for now, but they’ll surely miss Hilton’s deep threat potential and experience in the coming weeks.

Eagles Cut 20+ Players, Down To 53

The Eagles are ready to fly into Week 1. On Tuesday, they made a series of moves to get down to the 53-man roster max. Here’s the full rundown:

Released

Waived

Placed on IR

Placed on Reserve/COVID List

The Birds also freed up a spot earlier today by trading offensive lineman Matt Pryor (and a 2022 seventh-round pick) to the Colts for a sixth-round choice.

The release of wide receiver Travis Fulgham was one of today’s more notable moves. Fulgham played a big role for the Eagles last year as the team was decimated by WR injuries. However, they didn’t see enough this summer to keep him on the 53-man roster. With Fulgham gone, the Eagles are left with J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Jalen ReagorDeVonta SmithGreg Ward, and Quez Watkins as their Week 1 receivers.

Colts Down To 53

The Colts have reached the 53-man limit. On Tuesday, Indy formally:

Waived

Released

Waived/Injured

Placed on Reserve/NFI

  • DE Dayo Odeyingbo

Hundley’s release signals that the Colts aren’t all that concernedabout Carson Wentz‘s foot, or his vaccination status. The move comes even after sixth-round rookie Sam Ehlinger suffered a knee injury that will sideline him for a good chunk of time. The real takeaway is that they’re comfortable with 2020 fourth-round pick Jacob Eason, — he’s now the only other healthy quarterback behind Wentz on the initial roster.

Colts To Cut Brett Hundley

The Colts clearly aren’t too concerned about Carson Wentz‘s foot, or his vaccination status. Indianapolis is waiving fellow quarterback Brett Hundley, a source told Jim Ayello of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link).

The move comes even after sixth-round rookie Sam Ehlinger suffered a knee injury that will sideline him for at least the early part of the season, so they must really not be concerned. It also suggests the team is pretty comfortable with 2020 fourth-round pick Jacob Eason, since he’ll be the only other healthy quarterback behind Wentz on the initial 53-man roster.

This suggests that Wentz’s foot will be all healed up and ready to go by Week 1. After Wentz’s injury originally had a harsher prognosis, the team signed Hundley just to give them some semblance of a veteran presence. A fifth-round pick of the Packers out of UCLA back in 2015, Hundley had some serious buzz around him for a while after some strong preseason performances.

But when he was forced to start nine games in 2017 in place of an injured Aaron Rodgers, he fell flat on his face, ruining his stock. He spent the past few seasons as a backup with the Seahawks and Cardinals. Considering he was unsigned until the last day of July, his phone won’t be ringing off the hook now that he’s a free agent again.

Colts Waive TE Kahale Warring

Kahale Warring has racked up quite the jersey collection. The Colts waived the tight end on Tuesday (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo), just days after picking him up from the Patriots.

Scouts loved his potential coming out of San Diego State, but Warring has yet to produce as a pro. He had just three catches across two seasons for the Texans, most of which were spent on IR. Houston dropped the 2019 third-rounder earlier this month. He was then claimed by the Patriots, only to be dropped and picked up by the Colts this past weekend. Now, Indy has also dropped him from the roster.

The Saints also submitted a claim for Warring when the Texas waived him, so they might have some interest. Warring is still just 24, but it appears that he still hasn’t put it all together. Without Warring, the Colts will move forward with Jack Doyle, Mo Alie-Cox, and fourth-round pick Kylen Granson as their TEs.