Colts Could Add Free Agent Running Back
Half of the Colts running backs are currently dealing with some kind of injury, and the organization could be looking to add some reinforcement as the position. Mike Chappell of IndySportsCentral.com tweets that he expects the Colts to sign a free agent running back today.
As of right now, Christine Michael is the only veteran running back on the roster who is considered healthy. While rookies Nyheim Hines and Jordan Wilkins are also at full health, the team still has as many healthy backs as injured backs. Marlon Mack (hamstring), Robert Turbin (ankle), and Josh Ferguson (unknown) are all dealing with their own ailments, and Turbin will be also be sitting out the first four games of the upcoming season due to suspension.
Fortunately for Indy, there are plenty of veteran running backs still on the market. If the team is looking for an actual contributor (as opposed to a warm body), they could eye any of Adrian Peterson, DeMarco Murray, and Jamaal Charles. Our own Sam Robinson detailed some of the available running back options (with a focus on the Redskins) last night.
The Colts might not only be looking to add some reinforcement at running back. The team learned yesterday that rookie wideout Deon Cain was set to miss the entire season with a torn ACL. The injury moves former undrafted free agent Chester Rogers and fifth-round rookie Daurice Fountain towards the top of the depth chart.
Colts Rookie WR Deon Cain Out For Season
Deon Cain generated buzz in Colts camp this summer, but his season will end after merely one preseason game.
The sixth-round rookie tore an ACL in Indianapolis’ preseason opener Thursday night, Frank Reich said Friday. He’ll miss the rest of this season.
Cain turned heads in camp and was likely going to factor into the Colts’ receiver rotation as a rookie, but instead he’ll have the customary long ACL rehab route ahead. The Colts have the former Clemson cog under contract through 2021, but he’ll only have a chance to make an on-field impact during three of those seasons.
The 6-foot-1, 210-pound wideout was a three-year producer for the Tigers, compiling over 700 receiving yards the past two seasons. During Clemson’s national title campaign in 2016, Cain averaged 19.1 yards per catch and scored nine touchdowns. He was not expected to go off the board as late as he did, but the Colts nabbed him in the sixth round.
This does wound a Colts receiving corps that isn’t especially deep. Ryan Grant and Chester Rogers represent T.Y. Hilton‘s most proven supporting-casters. Fifth-round pick Daurice Fountain also factors into this equation.
Colts Rumors: Brissett, Castonzo, Hooker
Colts owner Jim Irsay said earlier this week that he wouldn’t consider trading backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett in exchange for a first-round pick, and it sounds like new head coach Frank Reich agrees, as Mike Wells of ESPN.com writes. “We actually talked right at the beginning of camp, and I just cannot emphasize enough how fortunate we are to have Jacoby,” Reich said. “I think this guy’s one of the top 20 quarterbacks in the NFL, and we have two of them on this team. It will be a different role for him. We talked about that, and Jacoby is a real pro in every sense of the word.” Brissett, who started 15 games for Indianapolis a season ago, will now act as the club’s No. 2 option behind Andrew Luck, who is recovering from a shoulder injury which cost him the entire 2017 campaign.
Here’s more on the Colts:
- Left tackle Anthony Castonzo re-injured his hamstring last week and will now be “miss a little bit of time,” Reich told Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star. Castonzo, who began camp on the physically unable to perform list while dealing with the same injury, has only missed five total games through seven NFL seasons. At this point, it’s unclear if Castonzo is in danger of missing regular season action, but the Colts don’t have much tackle depth behind him. While Indianapolis spent the offseason reinforcing the interior of its offensive line, tackle wasn’t necessarily addressed in the same fashion. Currently, journeyman J’Marcus Webb, who was signed at the end of July, is filling in on the blindside.
- Speaking of Colts injuries, safeties Malik Hooker and Clayton Geathers could both be ready for Week 1 after dealing with their own health questions marks, per Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star. Both Hooker, who is recovering from a torn ACL, and Geathers, working his way back from January knee surgery, opened training camp on the PUP list but have since been moved to the active roster. If Hooker and/or Geathers aren’t available to begin the season, the Colts will turn to Matthias Farley (who started 15 games in 2017) or T.J. Green to carry the load.
- On the Colts’ first unofficial depth chart of the preseason, 2017 second-round pick Quincy Wilson was not listed as a starter at cornerback. Instead, journeyman Pierre Desir and former undrafted free agent Kenny Moore are the current top options in the Indianapolis secondary. In a separate piece, Holder looks at the unlikely ascendance of Moore, whom the Colts picked up via waivers last September.
Irsay: Colts Unlikely To Trade Jacoby Brissett For First-Round Pick
Andrew Luck has not experienced any setbacks in a long-awaited recovery thus far during Colts camp, but his 2017 absence allowed for a one-time third-string quarterback to see nearly a full season’s worth of starts.
And Jim Irsay doesn’t want to part with Jacoby Brissett, regardless of Luck’s status. The Colts rebuffed trade offers during the spring for their current backup quarterback, but it’s unclear what teams proposed. However, the outspoken owner said he has no plans to trade Brissett — even for a first-round pick.
“All of a sudden, we have the best backup quarterback in football,” Irsay said, via Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star. “I don’t think we’d accept a (first-round pick in a trade) for him, we think he’s that good.”
That would seem like a lofty asking price for a former third-round pick, but the Colts obviously have a strong reason to employ a quality backup. Despite being a preseason trade acquisition, Brissett started 15 games last season. While his 39.6 Total QBR ranked 27th last season, the former N.C. State passer did not have an offseason to acclimate to his new offense.
Brissett is under contract through the 2019 season and doesn’t have any $1MM-plus base salaries on his rookie deal. While it would be surprising if the Colts legitimately turned down a first-round pick in this case, teams have been protective in the recent past regarding backups — the Bengals with A.J. McCarron coming to mind. Though, the 49ers acquiring Jimmy Garoppolo — stationed in front of Brissett in 2016 — for a second-rounder may make Irsay’s first-round pledge moot.
Brad Kaaya and Temple-produced UDFA Phillip Walker are the other QBs on the Colts’ roster.
Irsay went on to express confidence in Luck’s health, indicating he has “no doubt” about his starter’s arm strength despite the immense layoff. Irsay admitted Luck’s inability to return to action last season surprised him, but now the Colts have a remarkably better signal-caller situation than they did a year ago at this time.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/2/18
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: LB Cap Capi
- Waived/injured: DE Bryson Albright
Cincinnati Bengals
- Waived: DE Ja’Von Rolland-Jones
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: OL Korren Kirven, DE Joby Saint Fleur
- Waived: DE James Hearns, RB Trey Williams
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: G Nick Callender
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: CB Channing Stribling, WR Marcus Peterson
- Placed on IR: TE Austin Roberts
New England Patriots
- Waived/injured: G Nate Theaker
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: TE Bucky Hodges, OT Kyle Meadows
- Waived: LB Darnell Leslie, TE Ryan Malleck
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed CB Jeremy Boykins, LB Josh Forrest
- Waived: S Alex Carter, TE Je’Ron Hamm
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: RB Dare Ogunbowale
- Waived: RB Dalton Crossan
Colts OL Jack Mewhort Retires
Colts guard/tackle Jack Mewhort has retired from the NFL, according to an announcement from the team. Mewhort was set to enter his age-27 season, but has decided to hang up his cleats instead. 
“I would like to thank the Irsay family and the entire Colts organization for giving me the opportunity to live a childhood dream,” Mewhort said in a statement.
Mewhort entered the league as a second-round pick of the Colts in 2014. Mewhort has been a starter for the Colts throughout his career, but he has been seriously hampered by knee problems as of late.
Mewhort’s season ended in October thanks to a knee injury, marking his second straight incomplete campaign. Over the last two years, Mewhort has missed 17 games out of a possible 32.
Despite his health issues, the Colts re-signed Mewhort to a one-year, $1.5MM deal in March that could have been worth up to $3MM with incentives. However, the Colts did not bank on his health as they added guards Quenton Nelson and Braden Smith in the first two rounds of the draft. The club also has new interior lineman Matt Slauson in the mix for depth, so they won’t necessarily have to go shopping for offensive line health.
Colts Sign OT J’Marcus Webb
The Colts have signed offensive tackle J’Marcus Webb, according to a club announcement. To make room, the Colts waived-injured fellow offensive tackle Jared Machorro. 
Webb, 29, signed a two-year deal worth $6.25MM with the Seahawks prior to the 2016 campaign, a pact that contained nearly $2.5MM in guarantees. Slated to serve as Seattle’s right tackle, Webb made only three starts — and appeared in just eight total games — before being waived in November of ’16. In that half of a season, he earned a substantially below-average grade of 38.2 from Pro Football Focus. He has not seen the field since then.
Webb’s stop in Seattle wasn’t much to write home about, but he does offer 46 games of NFL experience, including 44 starts. With the Colts, he’ll work to become a reserve behind starting tackles Anthony Castonzo and Austin Howard.
Bashaud Breeland Unlikely To Sign With Colts
- Free agent cornerback Bashaud Breeland visited the Colts recently, but the team is unlikely to sign him according to Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). Holder says there’s “no indication that Bashaud Breeland will land in Indianapolis” and that his “sense is they’ll stand pat with the group of corners they have”, adding he’d be “surprised” if the team ends up bringing in Breeland.
Colts To Work Out RB Orleans Darkwa
The Colts plan to audition free agent running back Orleans Darkwa, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
If he were injury-free, Darkwa almost surely would have landed a new contract by now, but a May surgery to remove a plate in his leg likely concerned interested clubs. Darkwa received medical clearance more than a month ago, but still has yet to find a new home.
Thus far, Darkwa has only met with AFC East clubs, as the Patriots, Jets, and Bills have brought in the 26-year-old for a visits (the New York and Buffalo meetings both occurred within the past week). New England doesn’t look like a landing spot any longer after the team added Sony Michel in the first round of the draft, and the Jets also have no “immediate” plans to sign Darkwa, per Rapoport.
Playing for the Giants in 2017, Darkwa posted the best campaign of his NFL tenure in by setting career-highs in starts (11), rushes (171), yards (751), and touchdowns (five). Football Outsiders ranked Darkwa as a top-25 running back in both DYAR and DVOA (meaning he was both effective overall and efficient on a per-play basis), while Pro Football Focus noted his ability to create his own yardage. Per PFF, Darkwa not only managed 67% of his rushing yards after first contact, but performed well in Yards Created, a metric which filters out game situation, score, offensive line performance, and other variables.
At present, the Colts are set to rely on Marlon Mack, Christine Michael, and rookies Nyheim Hines and Jordan Wilkins in their backfield, at least until veteran Robert Turbin returns from a performance-enhancing drug suspension. Darkwa doesn’t represent the first free agent back Indianapolis has looked at, as the club worked out Terrance West in May before he signed with the Saints.
Minor NFL Transactions: 7/25/18
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: DB Terrance Parks
Buffalo Bills
- Released: DL Tenny Palepoi
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: TE Cam Serigne
- Released: DT Drew Iddings
Denver Broncos
- Signed: WR Mark Chapman
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: WR Adonis Jennings, Kyle Lewis
Indianpolis Colts
- Signed: S Shamarko Thomas
- Waived: CB Juante Baldwin
Los Angeles Chargers
- Waived: OL Donavon Clark
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: WR Aaron Lacombe, WR Khadarel Lott, WR JoJo Natson
- Waived: WR LaQuvionte Gonzalez, WR Ricky Jeune
New York Giants
- Signed: DT Izaah Lunsford
- Waived: TE Kyle Carter, P Taylor Symmank
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Waived/injured: DB Trey Johnson
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: S Josh Liddell, T Jerry Ugokwe
- Waived/Injured: DT Channing Ward
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: DE Claude Pelon
Washington Redskins
- Signed: DB Prince Charles Iworah
- Waived/Injured: RB Keith Marshall