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Indianapolis Colts News & Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/6/21

May 6th, 2021 at 3:52pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: WR Juwan Green

Indianapolis Colts

  • Waived: CB Will Sunderland

Las Vegas Raiders

  • Signed: G Marquel Harrell

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Claimed (from Cowboys): DB Kemon Hall

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

  • Claimed (from Cowboys): CB Saivion Smith
  • Signed: TE Nick Guggemos

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Claimed (from Cowboys): LB Ladarius Hamilton
  • Signed: CB Nate Brooks

Tennessee Titans

Colts Sign Kwity Paye, 4 Other Draft Picks

May 6th, 2021 at 3:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Colts have jumped out to an early lead in draft pick signings. They agreed to terms with five draftees Thursday, including their top two picks — defensive linemen Kwity Paye and Dayo Odeyingbo.

Chosen 21st overall, Paye will be expected to play a key role for the Colts as a rookie. The team entered the draft with a significant edge rusher need, and the Michigan product was viewed as one of the top outside pressure artists available. Paye ranked as Scouts Inc.’s top pass-rushing prospect in this year’s draft, and for good reason. This was thanks in part to a 2019 campaign where the Michigan product finished with 6.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss.

While this was not viewed as a strong D-line draft class, the Colts have not re-signed Justin Houston and did not have a steady edge presence opposite him in 2020. The team doubled up at this position group to start the weekend. Chosen 54th overall out of Vanderbilt, Odeyingbo may profile as a player who operates both outside and inside — perhaps similar to Denico Autry, who departed for Tennessee in free agency. Odeyingbo, however, qualifies as a project. He may miss his rookie season, having suffered an Achilles’ tendon tear in January while training for the draft.

Only fourth-round pick Kylen Granson, a tight end, and former Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger (Round 6) are unsigned from Indianapolis’ draft class. Here are the Colts’ rookie signees thus far:

  • Kwity Paye, DE (Michigan, Round 1)
  • Dayo Odeyingbo, DL (Vanderbilt, Round 2)
  • Shawn Davis, S (Florida, Round 5)
  • Mike Strachan, WR (Charleston, W.V., Round 7)
  • Will Fries, OL (Penn State)

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/5/21

May 5th, 2021 at 3:40pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Dallas Cowboys

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Signed: WR Chris Finke

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

  • Claimed (from Jaguars): LB Nate Evans

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Vikings Sign Shane Zylstra

May 4th, 2021 at 9:02pm CST by Rory Parks

The Vikings have signed Shane Zylstra, according to his agent, Jaymeson Moten (via Twitter). Zylstra, who starred as a wide receiver at Minnesota State, will convert to tight end, as Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets.

If the last name sounds familiar, it’s because Zylstra’s older brother, Brandon Zylstra, signed with the Vikings in 2018 after a terrific couple of years in the Canadian Football League. He has been with the Panthers in each of the past two seasons, and while the CFL’s 2017 receiving yards leader has just 12 catches in his NFL career, he has served as a significant special teams contributor for both Minnesota and Carolina.

The younger Zylstra set Minnesota State records with 81 receptions for 1,676 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2019 — he was basically the D-II version of Ja’Marr Chase — but went undrafted last year. He will hope to follow in the footsteps of fellow Minnesota State alumnus and new teammate Adam Thielen.

Zylstra has put on 15 pounds of muscle for his position switch and is now up to 230 pounds, per Tomasson (Twitter link). The Vikings’ TE depth chart is currently topped by Irv Smith Jr., but beyond that, the club is rostering unproven talents Tyler Conklin, Brandon Dillon, and fifth-round rookie Zach Davidson. So Zylstra has a shot to make the team with a strong summer.

Tomasson notes that Zylstra also attracted interest from the Colts and 49ers (Twitter link).

Colts To Host Eric Fisher On Visit

May 4th, 2021 at 5:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Colts passed on adding a starter-level left tackle in the draft. They did not view potential first-round options as sufficient value picks and saw some later-round candidates scooped up ahead of their selections. But Indianapolis still has tackles in mind.

Eric Fisher is set to visit the Colts later this week, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The eight-year Chiefs starter popped up on the radar last month, and the Colts are now confirmed as one of the teams monitoring him.

A key connection exists here. Colts GM Chris Ballard was part of the Chiefs’ front office when they selected Fisher first overall in 2013. Ballard was still with the organization when it extended Fisher in 2016. Should Fisher prove healthy or on a reasonable track to full strength, he would stand to fill the Colts’ top need.

Anthony Castonzo‘s retirement made left tackle a Colts need for the first time in 10 years. Indy re-signed its left-edge stalwart last year, but the former first-round pick opted to walk away after the 2020 season. Fisher saw his team cut bait after the season. The Chiefs dropped the two-time Pro Bowler after he suffered a torn Achilles’ tendon in the AFC championship game. While Fisher’s absence helped doom Kansas City in Super Bowl LV, the Chiefs moved on with an expansive O-line overhaul — one that features trade acquisition Orlando Brown Jr. in Fisher’s left tackle spot.

The Colts have added possible Castonzo replacements this offseason, in ex-Chargers starter Sam Tevi and former Texans and Dolphins first-stringer Julie’n Davenport. However, Fisher laps both in accomplishments and experience. The 30-year-old blocker did not miss a start due to injury from 2014-18 and proved instrumental upon return from core muscle surgery in 2019; his re-emergence coincided with the Chiefs’ late-season win streak that ended with a Super Bowl LIV victory.

Fisher suited up for 17 Chiefs games last season, making the Pro Bowl and missing only the Super Bowl due to injury. But the Achilles malady certainly cost him, with the Chiefs shedding his eight-figure salary. With the compensatory pick deadline having passed, the Colts will look into giving Fisher another chance.

Colts Audition K Eddy Pineiro

May 4th, 2021 at 10:15am CST by Zachary Links

The Colts are working out former Bears kicker Eddy Pineiro today (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). If signed, Piniero will compete with Rodrigo Blankenship over the summer for the Colts’ kicking job.

Blankenship joined the Colts last year after nailing 27 of 33 field goals in his final season at Georgia. His 82.5% make rate over four years ranked as the best in program history and he went 200-for-200 on all of his extra point tries. He wasn’t quite as sharp from long range as a pro, missing four kicks from beyond the 40-yard mark. Still, he finished his rookie year with a 86.5% FG rate.

Pineiro, meanwhile, made just 82% of his field goals for the Bears in 2019. Then, he missed all of 2020 due to a groin injury and ceded the job to Cairo Santos.

Colts Notes: Tevi, Hines, Eason

May 2nd, 2021 at 11:48am CST by Rory Parks

One of the biggest winners of this year’s draft was Colts LT Sam Tevi. Signed to a modest one-year pact in March, Tevi has been atop Indy’s left tackle depth chart in the wake of Anthony Castonzo‘s retirement, but it was widely expected that the team would draft a potential Castonzo replacement.

Even though Virginia Tech’s Christian Darrisaw was available for the Colts with the No. 21 overall pick, GM Chris Ballard elected to further bolster his defense by selecting Michigan DE Kwity Paye. And while this year’s draft was said to be deep in tackle talent, Ballard did not use a Day 2 or Day 3 choice on a tackle either.

It doesn’t sound like Colts brass was particularly high on the top-shelf LT prospects. “It just didn’t match up,” Ballard said (Twitter link via Stephen Holder of The Athletic). “How many true left tackles were in the draft? We’ll see. … If you’re gonna draft a guy that high, and you’re drafting him to be a left tackle, you’d like to know that he’s going to be that his whole career.”

Now for more out of Indianapolis, starting with additional notes on the team’s LT situation:

  • Even though the Colts valued Paye and second-round choice Dayo Odeyingbo over any LTs that were available at the time, owner Jim Irsay did concede that there were several tackles in the fourth and fifth rounds that they would have drafted but missed out on (Twitter links via Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star).
  • Irsay suggested that the team is comfortable with Tevi as the starting LT, though he left the door open for another acquisition. “We feel that Tevi can do a solid job there next to that line that he is joining,” he said. “There are other options that can come down the line” (Twitter link via Holder).
  • Irsay has previously indicated that the team would prefer to keep Quenton Nelson at left guard instead of moving him to LT, and perhaps one of the “options that can come down the line” that he referred to is former Chiefs LT Eric Fisher, who is still on the market.
  • We recently heard that the Colts are hoping to extend LB Darius Leonard and OT Braden Smith, and you can add RB Nyheim Hines to that mix. As Mike Chappell of Fox 59 writes, Irsay said he wants his team to explore a re-up with the NC State product, who is eligible for free agency next year. Hines is a terrific receiver out of the backfield and has developed into a quality punt returner, but the team does have second-year pro Jonathan Taylor as its RB1, and Marlon Mack is back in the fold as well. As Irsay observed, “it just depends on what the numbers are.”
  • The Colts just drafted Texas signal-caller Sam Ehlinger, adding him to a quarterback room that also includes 2020 UDFA Jalen Morton and 2020 fourth-round pick Jacob Eason. All three players will be vying to serve as Carson Wentz‘s top backup, though head coach Frank Reich said Eason will be penciled in as the QB2 for now (Twitter link via Erickson). Reich was clear that Morton and Ehlinger will get a fair shake, however.

2021 NFL Draft Results By Round

May 1st, 2021 at 5:57pm CST by Zachary Links

The 2021 NFL Draft is here! We’ll be keeping tabs here, from pick No. 1 through No. 259:

Round 1

1) Jacksonville Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence, QB (Clemson)
2) New York Jets: Zach Wilson, QB (BYU)
3) San Francisco 49ers (from Texans via Dolphins): Trey Lance, QB (North Dakota State)
4) Atlanta Falcons: Kyle Pitts, TE (Florida)
5) Cincinnati Bengals: Ja’Marr Chase, WR (LSU)
6) Miami Dolphins (from Eagles): Jaylen Waddle, WR (Alabama)
7) Detroit Lions: Penei Sewell, OT (Oregon)
8) Carolina Panthers: Jaycee Horn, CB (South Carolina)
9) Denver Broncos: Patrick Surtain II, CB (Alabama)
10) Philadelphia Eagles (from Cowboys): DeVonta Smith, WR (Alabama)
11) Chicago Bears (from Giants): Justin Fields, QB (Ohio State)
12) Dallas Cowboys (from 49ers via Dolphins via Eagles): Micah Parsons, LB (Penn State)
13) Los Angeles Chargers: Rashawn Slater, OT (Northwestern)
14) New York Jets (from Vikings): Alijah Vera-Tucker, OL (USC)
15) New England Patriots: Mac Jones, QB (Alabama)
16) Arizona Cardinals: Zaven Collins, LB (Tulsa)
17) Las Vegas Raiders: Alex Leatherwood, OL (Alabama)
18) Miami Dolphins: Jaelan Phillips, DL (Miami)
19) Washington Football Team: Jamin Davis, LB (Kentucky)
20) New York Giants (from Bears): Kadarius Toney, WR (Florida)
21) Indianapolis Colts: Kwity Paye, DL (Michigan)
22) Tennessee Titans: Caleb Farley, CB (Virginia Tech)
23) Minnesota Vikings (from Seahawks via Jets): Christian Darrisaw, OT (Virginia Tech)
24) Pittsburgh Steelers: Najee Harris, RB (Alabama)
25) Jacksonville Jaguars (from Rams): Travis Etienne, RB (Clemson)
26) Cleveland Browns: Greg Newsome II, CB (Northwestern)
27) Baltimore Ravens: Rashod Bateman, WR (Minnes0ta)
28) New Orleans Saints: Payton Turner, DE (Houston)
29) Green Bay Packers: Eric Stokes, CB (Georgia)
30) Buffalo Bills: Gregory Rousseau, DL (Miami)
31) Baltimore Ravens (from Chiefs): Jayson Oweh, DE (Penn State)
32) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Joe Tryon, LB (Washington)

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2021 NFL Draft Results: Team By Team

May 1st, 2021 at 4:49pm CST by Zachary Links

The 2021 NFL Draft has arrived! As the picks come in, we’ll keep track of each team’s haul right here:

[RELATED: 2021 NFL Draft Order By Round]

Arizona Cardinals

Round 1: No. 16 Zaven Collins, LB (Tulsa) (signed)
Round 2: No. 49 Rondale Moore, WR (Purdue) (signed)
Round 4: No. 136 (from Ravens) Marco Wilson, CB (Florida) (signed)
Round 6: No. 210 (from Ravens) Victor Dimukeje, LB (Duke) (signed)
Round 6: No. 223 (from Vikings) Tay Gowan, CB (Central Florida) (signed)
Round 7: No. 243 James Wiggins, S (Cincinnati) (signed)
Round 7: No. 247 (from Bears through Raiders) Michal Menet, C (Penn State) (signed)

Atlanta Falcons

Round 1: No. 4 Kyle Pitts, TE (Florida) (signed)
Round 2: No. 40 (from Broncos) S Richie Grant (Central Florida)
Round 3: No. 68 Jalen Mayfield, OT (Michigan) (signed)
Round 4: No. 108: Darren Hall, CB (SDSU) (signed)
Round 4: No. 114 (from Broncos) Drew Dalman, C (Stanford) (signed)
Round 5: No. 148 Ta’Quon Graham, DT (Texas) (signed)
Round 5: No. 182 Adetokunbo Ogundeji, DE (Notre Dame) (signed)
Round 5: No. 183 Avery Williams, CB (Boise State) (signed)
Round 6: No. 187 Frank Darby, WR (Arizona State) (signed)

Baltimore Ravens

Round 1: No. 27 Rashod Bateman, WR (Minnesota) (signed)
Round 1: No. 31 (from Chiefs) Jayson Oweh, DE (Penn State)
Round 3: No. 94 (from Chiefs) Ben Cleveland, G (Georgia)
Round 3: No. 104 Brandon Stephens, CB (SMU)
Round 4: No. 131 Tylan Wallace, WR (Oklahoma State) (signed)
Round 5: No. 160 (from Cardinals) Shaun Wade, CB (Ohio State) (signed)
Round 5: No. 171 Daelin Hayes, LB (Notre Dame) (signed)
Round 5: No. 184 Ben Mason, FB (Michigan) (signed)

Buffalo Bills

Round 1: No. 30 Gregory Rousseau, DL (Miami) (signed)
Round 2: No. 61 Carlos Basham Jr., DE (Wake Forest) (signed)
Round 3: No. 93 Spencer Brown, OT (Northern Iowa)
Round 5: No. 161 (from Raiders) Tommy Doyle, OT (Miami (Ohio) (signed)
Round 6: No. 203 Marquez Stevenson, WR (Houston) (signed)
Round 6: No. 212 (from Saints via Texans) Damar Hamlin, S (Pittsburgh) (signed)
Round 6: No. 213 Rachad Wildgoose, CB (Wisconsin) (signed)
Round 7: No. 236 (from Panthers) Jack Anderson, G (Texas Tech) (signed)

Carolina Panthers

Round 1: No. 8 Jaycee Horn, CB (South Carolina) (signed)
Round 2: No. 59 (from Browns) Terrace Marshall Jr., WR (LSU)
Round 3: No. 70 (from Eagles) Brady Christensen, OT (BYU) (signed)
Round 3: No. 83 (from Bears) Tommy Tremble, TE (Notre Dame) (signed)
Round 4: No. 113 Chuba Hubbard, RB (Oklahoma State) (signed)
Round 5: No. 158 Daviyon Nixon, DT (Iowa) (signed)
Round 5: No. 166 (from Titans) Keith Taylor, CB (Washington) (signed)
Round 6: No. 204 (from Bears) Shi Smith, WR (South Carolina) (signed)
Round 6: No. 222 Thomas Fletcher, LS (Alabama) (signed)
Round 7: No. 232 (from Titans) Phil Hoskins, DT (Kentucky) (signed)

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