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Indianapolis Colts News & Rumors

Jerrell Freeman Retires From NFL

May 2nd, 2018 at 4:55pm CST by Zachary Links

Jerrell Freeman is calling it a career. On Wednesday, Freeman announced his retirement via Twitter. 

“I will be retiring from the NFL today,” Freeman wrote. “My health and my family are my top priorities. . . . Thank you Bears, Colts, Roughriders, and yes, even the Titans (where I only had a cup of coffee, haha). You will always be like family. Its been a long and rewarding journey.”

Freeman, who turned 32 on Wednesday, inked a three-year pact with Chicago prior to the 2016 campaign. Unfortunately, injuries and suspensions limited him to just 13 games over the past two years. Last season, Freeman suffered a torn pectoral in Week 1 and was subsequently banned for 10 games due to his second performance-enhancing drug policy violation. Had he continued playing, the ban would have carried over to the first two games of 2018.

When his suspension was announced last October, Freeman said that he had been suffering from memory loss and other side effects due to head trauma. Hopefully, Freeman will be able to mount a recovery as he steps away from the gridiron.

Freeman’s first NFL came in 2008 when he signed with the Titans as an undrafted free agent. After that, he hooked on with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders and did not return to the NFL until 2012 when he signed on with the Colts. Freeman went on to start in all 70 of his NFL games and tallied nearly 650 tackles in total.

Colts Sign 10 UDFAs

May 1st, 2018 at 2:59pm CST by Zachary Links

The Colts announced the signing of the following ten undrafted free agents:

  • Michael Badgley, K (Miami)
  • Chris Cooper, S (Stony Brook)
  • Lashard Durr, CB (Mississippi State)
  • Steve Ishmael, WR (Syracuse)
  • Robert Jackson, CB (UNLV)
  • Tomasi Laulile, DT (BYU)
  • Skai Moore, LB (South Carolina)
  • George Odum, S (Central Arkansas)
  • William Ossai, LB (San Jose State)
  • Henre’ Toliver, CB (Arkansas)

Moore, who seemed likely to be taken during Day 3 of the draft, is the biggest name in this group. Moore led his team in tackles in all four of his seasons (interrupted by a medical redshirt year to rehab from a herniated disk in 2016), but evaluators worried about his lack of size and speed. The slim 6’2″ linebacker will now try to catch on as a reserve behind starters John Simon, Antonio Morrison, and Najee Goode.

The Colts seem well set at kicker with Adam Vinatieri under contract for another season, but Badgley will try to give him a run for his money. At The U, Badgley connected on 79.4% of his field goal tries, including a career-long 57-yarder in 2015.

To help make room for the UDFAs, the Colts released a number of players on Tuesday morning, including running back Matt Jones.

Saints Sign QB J.T. Barrett

May 1st, 2018 at 1:14pm CST by Zachary Links

J.T. Barrett did not hear his name called during last week’s draft, but at least one team believes highly in his potential. The Saints have signed the former Ohio State quarterback to a three-year deal, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). 

The deal comes with no guarantee, according to Nick Underhill of The Advocate (on Twitter), so the Saints can drop him between now and the fall without fiscal penalty. Before signing with New Orleans, Barrett also had an invite to try out for the Colts and had interest from other clubs, so there was a decent market for three-time First Team All-Big Ten player.

Barrett may have a real chance at making the Saints’ final cut given that Tom Savage and Taysom Hill are the only other QBs behind starter Drew Brees. Savage, a former fourth-round pick out of Pittsburgh, began the 2017 season as the Texans’ starter but quickly lost the job to Deshaun Watson. He regained the starting job when Watson went down, but, unfortunately, his most memorable moment of the year came when he was allowed to continue playing in a game after a scary concussion that left him shaking on the ground. He finished the year with 1,412 yards and five touchdowns against six interceptions.

Barrett completed 63.5% of his passes over four years at Ohio State with 104 touchdowns against 30 picks.

Colts Waive RB Matt Jones

May 1st, 2018 at 10:06am CST by Zachary Links

The Colts announced that they have waived running back Matt Jones. Linebackers Darnell Sankey and Jermaine Grace, wide receiver Justice Liggins, nose tackle Joey Mbu, and defensive end Arthur Miley were also waived while defensive tackle Johnathan Calvin was waived-injured. 

Jones was once primed to be the Redskins’ primary running back, but he slipped down the team’s depth chart over time. The Redskins waived Jones after they were unable find a trade partner for him, leading him to the Colts. He cycled between the Colts’ active roster and practice squad throughout last year, but the team has decided against keeping him on the expanded roster now that the draft has concluded.

The Colts selected NC State’s Nyheim Hines in the fourth round and Mississippi’s Jordan Wilkins in the fifth round, so there was little hope for Jones to make the final cut. Marlon Mack and Robert Turbin project to be the Colts’ lead rushers while Christine Michael and Josh Ferguson will battle alongside the two rookies for a place on the roster.

Jones, a 6’2″, 239-pound athlete, has played in 25 career games with seven starts. All in all, he has averaged 3.9 yards per carry with six rushing touchdowns.

Sankey appeared in six games for the Colts last year and spent time on the team’s practice squad. He wrapped up the year on the Ravens’ taxi squad, but circled back to the Colts for a futures deal in January.

Chubb Chance Would've Induced Colts Debate

April 30th, 2018 at 8:18pm CST by Sam Robinson
  • Chris Ballard said, via Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star, the Colts‘ decision to make Quenton Nelson this year’s No. 6 overall pick was the easiest draft decision he’d made in 19 years (Twitter link). However, if Bradley Chubb would have remained on the board, Ballard admitted (via Holder, on Twitter) it would have been a much tougher call. Had the Broncos and Bills been able to swing a deal, the Colts would have been faced with that decision. But when the Bills contacted the Colts about a trade for No. 6, Ballard appeared to intimate he was fixated on Nelson.

Bills’ Offers Didn’t Include Both First-Round Picks?

April 30th, 2018 at 5:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

Brandon Beane attempted to clarify a few things about his first draft with the Bills, and he offered some detail about what the Bills were and weren’t offering to move up from their No. 12 position.

A report Saturday night indicated the Bills were offering the Broncos both of their 2018 first-round picks in order to move into Denver’s No. 5 spot, but Beane said that wasn’t the case. The second-year GM said Broncos wanted both of the Bills’ first-rounders for the right to move back into the Bills’ No. 12 spot, but he didn’t want to sacrifice both picks to make that move.

However, a report from ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter indicated the Broncos and Bills had a deal in place before the Browns passed on Bradley Chubb. If the Bills didn’t offer Nos. 12 and 22, and reportedly a Round 2 pick as well, to move up, it’s unclear what was the agreed-upon proposal — if, in fact, the sides did have a trade set to transpire if the Browns chose Chubb at No. 4.

Beane also wasn’t willing to part with his 2019 first-rounder. The GM said (via Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News, on Twitter) two teams wanted Buffalo’s 2019 first-round pick, but he did not end up moving it on a night that saw the Bills trade up for Josh Allen without sacrificing the No. 22 pick — which ended up being used to trade back up for Tremaine Edmunds.

The Bills then discussed potential deals with the Colts and Bears before working out a trade package with the Buccaneers.

“Five was the spot I thought we could get a reasonable deal, but 5 was gonna cost us pick 22,” Beane said, via One Bills Live (video link). “I had already checked with Indy and knew they had honed in on a guy. They were like, ‘Unless our guy’s gone, we’re picking.’ Tampa had said, ‘We got a guy, and (a trade is) gonna take a lot.’ And Chicago had a guy.

“So now you’re creeping close to Miami, who’d been scouting quarterbacks, and Arizona was in range for what they could do. So I was getting very fearful they could creep in and get the guy we wanted.”

It turned out the Buccaneers were willing to move out of No. 7, taking Vita Vea at No. 12, after the Colts selected Quenton Nelson. The Bears ended up with Roquan Smith at No. 8.

Colts Notes: Luck, Anderson, Barrett

April 29th, 2018 at 6:00pm CST by Micah Powell

It was reported over the weekend that Colts quarterback Andrew Luck drew trade interest from teams as far back as the 2017 trade deadline. Team owner Jim Irsay addressed those rumors, saying teams were willing to part with a small fortune to acquire the quarterback, Fox 59’s Mike Chappell writes.

“Trust me, there were people who would have given an unprecedented amount of draft picks – all with the No. 1 behind them – for him,’’ Irsay said. “And we wouldn’t even think of even drifting in that direction. He’s our guy. We feel 100 percent confident he’s going to come back and lead this football team with some of the new teammates . . . to great things.”

Though he missed the entire 2017 season and has yet to resume throwing, Luck would still almost assuredly force teams trying to acquire him to give up multiple No. 1s and then some. A franchise quarterback who is just 28 years old rarely if ever pops up on the market. Not that there is a market, as the Colts reportedly laughed off inquiries at the time.

Luck led the Colts to an 11-5 mark and the playoffs in each of his first three seasons before missing half of the 2015 season with an injury. He returned and played 15 games the following campaign, going 8-7 and just missing the postseason. Though he was reportedly close to throwing a ball in January, Luck told reporters in early April that he has yet to throw an NFL-sized ball and is not rushing it.

Here’s more with the Colts:

  • In addition to laughing off trade requests, team general manager Chris Ballard told reporters about trading Andrew Luck — “I’m not putting that on my resume,” Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk writes. Though Irsay notes teams were willing to give up a king’s ransom for the quarterback, Ballard didn’t seem to be interested in the move no matter the cost.
  • On Saturday, the Colts shipped defensive lineman Henry Anderson to the Jets in exchange for a seventh-round pick. Addressing the trade, Ballard said the deal was based on scheme fit, saying Anderson worked better with the Jets than Indy, Chappell tweets.
  • Ballard also added that the team is bringing in former Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett for rookie minicamp and that he is not signed to the team, Chappell tweets. Barrett registered one of the greatest runs as a Buckeye, setting the school record with 38 victories, becoming the team’s only three-time captain and leading the team to a 4-0 record over rival Michigan.

 

Bills Offered Broncos Two First-Rounders?

April 28th, 2018 at 8:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

When the Browns chose Denzel Ward at No. 4 instead of Bradley Chubb, that nixed a Broncos-Bills trade. And Mike Klis of 9News reports Buffalo was set to give up both its No. 12 and No. 22 picks, in addition to a second-round selection, for the right to move up to No. 5.

Instead, the Broncos passed and chose Chubb, whom Klis notes the team had tied with Saquon Barkley as being the top player in the draft. But the Bills were also willing to part with one of their second-rounders — either No. 53 or No. 56 — in a deal that was going to involve Denver sending Buffalo one of its third-round choices (either No. 71 or No. 99).

So, the Broncos valued the N.C. State-honed pass rusher immensely, passing on additional first- and second-round picks in order to stay put.

The Bills’ package sent to the Buccaneers, for the right to draft Josh Allen at No. 7, included both second-rounders and a seventh-round selection. The offer to the Broncos containing the No. 22 choice — which Buffalo used to trade up and select Tremaine Edmunds — runs counter to a report from earlier on Thursday indicating Brandon Beane wasn’t willing to part with both of his first-round picks. But that report surfaced before the draft began; the events of the opening hour Thursday night could have changed things.

The Colts also called the Broncos about moving up to select Chubb, Klis reports, but John Elway elected to stay put and attempt to load up his team’s edge-rushing contingent. As for what was going to transpire if the Browns took Chubb and the Bills suddenly pulled their offer, the Broncos were likely to select either Quenton Nelson or Roquan Smith, per Klis.

Sam Darnold remained the quarterback Elway preferred, with Klis reporting the Broncos had cooled on Baker Mayfield to the point they wouldn’t have taken him at No. 5. While that didn’t end up mattering, it could be notable if Allen or Josh Rosen end up being long-term answers for their respective teams. The Broncos dropped out of the Kirk Cousins derby and signed Case Keenum to a two-year deal, making it less likely they were going to use their top offseason resource on another quarterback, and were not closely linked to either Allen or Rosen late in the pre-draft process.

Teams Contacted Colts About Luck Trade

April 28th, 2018 at 6:33pm CST by Sam Robinson

For the second straight year, the Colts exit draft weekend unsure of exactly when their franchise centerpiece will be ready to throw again. But they did not select a passer and appear confident Andrew Luck will be ready at some point in the coming months.

But that didn’t stop teams from inquiring about the rehabilitating quarterback. Jim Irsay said the Colts received inquiries about what it would take to acquire Luck. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), one of these calls came about a year ago. Rapoport notes the Colts laughed at this potential deal and moved on quickly through a year that was the most disappointing of Luck’s career.

Chris Ballard said some of the Luck trade overtures emerged just before last year’s trade deadline, per Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star (via Twitter).

Irsay insisted Luck will be fully cleared for all football-related activities by training camp. While we’ve heard the owner express confidence regarding his starting quarterback before, only for it to lead to disappointment, the Colts’ actions this weekend and this offseason support Luck being on schedule to begin throwing at some point.

However, considering we’re approaching May and it hasn’t happened yet, the timetable is condensing to where the franchise will likely need to see something fairly soon to remain optimistic Luck will be back in time for this season.

Colts Trade Henry Anderson To Jets

April 28th, 2018 at 2:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

Drafted three years ago to play in a 3-4 scheme for the Colts, Henry Anderson is on the move to a familiar defense.

Now set to use a 4-3 look, the Colts shipped the interior defender to the Jets in exchange for a seventh-round pick, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Indianapolis will receive the No. 235 overall choice.

Anderson served as a starter for most of his time with the Colts, including eight games with the first unit last season. He only played in nine games, however, and has never exceeded 11 in a season. The 2015 third-round pick, who registered a career-high two sacks last season, has one year remaining on his rookie contract.

The Colts took two defensive linemen in this year’s draft in Kemoko Turay and Tyquan Lewis (both in Round 2) and signed Denico Autry from the Raiders in free agency. The Jets released Muhammad Wilkerson and bypassed the D-line class in free agency to this point. They did select Division II dynamo Nathan Shepherd in Round 3 on Friday.

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