Colts Promote Ed Dodds To Assistant General Manager
Colts GM Chris Ballard‘s staff is rounding into form. The organization announced a number of changes to their football operations staff earlier today, including the promotion of Ed Dodds to assistant general manager.
Dodds has spent 16 years in the NFL, including a decade with the Seahawks, where he served as the team’s senior personnel executive. In this role, Dodds was responsible for scouting both college and professional players. The team earned five division titles and a Super Bowl title during his tenure. He was hired last season as Indy’s vice president of player personnel, and he’s also spent time with the Raiders organization.
The Colts front office has seen plenty of turnover this offseason. The team had fired former general manager Ryan Grigson back in January, and they quickly replaced him with Ballard, who previously served as the Chiefs’ director of football operations.
The Colts’ other notable personnel changes include:
- Brian Decker promoted to director of player development
- Jon Shaw promoted to assistant director of pro scouting
- Mike Lacy promoted to player personnel scout
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/14/18
Today’s minor moves:
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: K Ross Martin
- Waived: LB DeMarquis Gates
Detroit Lions
- Signed: TE Sean McGrath
- Cut: TE Wes Saxton
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: DB Michael Cirino
- Waived: DB Channing Stribling
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: WR Brandon Shippen, CB Jarell Carter
- Waived: WR Zach Pascal, CB Jeremy Boykins
Andrew Luck Updates: Wednesday
After many months of bad news on the Andrew Luck front, the Colts’ centerpiece player has been making significant progress this week. A day after throwing lighter footballs at Colts minicamp, Luck was tossing the standard NFL football.
Luck began his Wednesday workout with the high school-sized footballs, but Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star tweets he progressed to the elusive NFL ball upon working with pass-catchers. This step came in the routes-vs.-air portion of the practice, Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star notes. He adds Luck took about 15 or 20 throws with the NFL ball, and the tosses weren’t showing a drastic lack of zip compared to his pre-shoulder surgery form.
Luck will take Thursday off, per Keefer, but will continue to ramp up his throwing regimen in the six weeks between minicamp and training camp.
While these would be unremarkable developments in most injury-rehab cases, they aren’t for Luck, who had not thrown an NFL-sized football at a workout since last season. Luck admitted he tried to come back too soon last fall, leading to an IR placement and a lost 2017 season. He may be working toward being on the field when the Colts debut this season.
It’d been a slow process after that setback. Luck had not resumed throwing as of OTAs. But he’s now on course to presumably throw regularly at training camp. And the setback watch will intensify considerably at that point. For now, Indianapolis’ quarterback is moving in the right direction again.
Colts Try Out Keenan Lewis, Jacquies Smith
The Colts have eight tryout players on hand this week, including cornerback Keenan Lewis and defensive end Jacquies Smith (Twitter link via George Bremer of The Herald Bulletin). Wide receiver Paul McRoberts, cornerback Juante Baldwin, running back Jordan Huff, safety Tim Scott, defensive end Evan Panfil, and defensive end Christian French are also among those looking to hook on in Indy. 
Lewis, 32, has not played since the 2015 season when he suffered a leg injury. In 2016, the Saints released him as he was slow to recover from a hip malady. He nearly rejoined the Steelers in 2017, but a medical red flag kept him from signing. Pittsburgh doctors reportedly found that Lewis had undergone a “failed surgery” and he filed a grievance against the Saints this year to recoup some of his lost salary.
Lewis, a 2009 third-round pick of the Steelers, spent the first four seasons of his career in Pittsburgh. After serving as a reserve through his first few seasons, he started all 16 games for the Steelers in 2012, compiling 71 tackles and one forced fumble. He ended up signing a five-year, $26.3MM deal with New Orleans during the 2013 offseason, and he started all 32 games for the Saints in 2013 and 2014. However, he suited up just six times in 2015.
Smith, 28, established himself as a serviceable edge rusher for the Bucs (13.5 sacks from 2014-15) before a torn ACL ended his 2016 campaign after only one game. After working his way back to full health, Smith had played in his first contest of the year during Week 4 last year, but saw action on only seven snaps. Smith wound up signing with the Lions during their bye week in 2017, but did not play in any games for them. A second stint with Detroit later in the year resulted in two appearances for Smith, but he recorded only one tackle.
Seahawks Hire Ryan Grigson
Former Colts GM Ryan Grigson is back in the NFL. The Seahawks have hired him to join their front office, according to an announcement from his agent. 
[RELATED: Cowboys “Holding Out Hope” Of Acquiring Earl Thomas?]
Grigson, 46, was the Colts’ GM for five years until he was fired after the 2016 season. Outside of landing Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton, Coby Fleener, and Dwayne Allen his first draft, the rest of Grigson’s draft record was rather spotty. Meanwhile, his trade of a first-round pick for Browns draft bust Trent Richardson in 2013 probably stands as his most infamous move.
Grigson hooked on with the Browns in 2017, but he was let go by John Dorsey‘s regime. It’s not immediately clear what he’ll be doing in Seattle under GM John Schneider, but it’s likely to be scouting-focused. Officially, Grigson will serve as a consultant, Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times (Twitter link) hears.
Latest On Colts QB Andrew Luck
Colts quarterback Andrew Luck has still not thrown a regulation-size football since October — while he resumed throwing today, Luck tossed a high school football during practice, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
This isn’t the first time Luck has used smaller-sized football as part of his rehabilitation process, tweets Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star, who notes Luck previously threw kiddie-sized footballs in April. Luck, who missed the entirety of the 2017 campaign with a shoulder injury, will be on a scaled-back schedule during training camp, per Holder, although Schefter reports Luck won’t have any physical limitations.
The story of Luck’s rehab, of course, is filled with stops and starts, and Colts management maintained at various points in 2017 that Luck was in no danger of missing the season. So while it’s fair to take today’s news with a grain of salt, Luck himself does appear to have a more optimistic view of his own health than he’d held previously. “Absolutely,” Luck said when asked if he’ll be ready for Week 1, tweets Kevin Bowen of Colts.com. “No knock on wood. I believe it in my bones.”
When healthy, Luck is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL: he posted more than 70 combined touchdowns in 2014 and 2016, and the 28-year-old is a three-time Pro Bowler. But Luck was limited to only seven total games in 2015 and 2017, and it’s fair to wonder whether his shoulder will hold up for a full season.
Colts Waive WR Kolby Listenbee
Kolby Listenbee is looking for a job. ESPN’s Field Yates reports (via Twitter) that the Colts have waived wideout Kolby Listenbee from the IR. The receiver will become a free agent if he goes unclaimed.
The TCU product was originally projected to be a third- or fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft, but he ended up falling to the Bills in the sixth round. Listenbee was unable to stay healthy during his lone season in Buffalo, and he was released by the team last offseason. He eventually caught on with the Dolphins practice squad before signing with the Colts. He inked a futures deal with Indy back in January, and he was waived/injured last month before ultimately landing on the injured reserve.
With Listenbee out of the picture, that means there’s one less receiver competing for one of the final roster spots. Kasen Williams, Deon Cain, Krishawn Hogan, and Seantavius Jones are currently listed at the bottom of the team’s depth chart.
Chuck Pagano Wants To Coach Again
Chuck Pagano wants to get back in the game. Pagano says that he hopes to return to the NFL sidelines, one year after going 4-12 in his final year with the Colts. 
[RELATED: Colts DE Chris McCain Arrested]
“Absolutely. I’m young. I’m 57 years old,” Pagano said (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). “I’ve got a couple years left in me. I’ve got unfinished business. I’d love to have another opportunity, I just love being around the guys, being on grass and competing.”
Things didn’t go as planned for Pagano and the Colts in 2017 (particularly since they were without the services of Andrew Luck), but he did coach the team to three consecutive 11-5 campaigns from 2012-2014. In 2014, the Colts advanced to the AFC Championship game but were defeated by the eventual Super Bowl-champion Patriots.
All in all, Pagano owns a career 53-43 regular season record as an NFL head coach. Before the Luck-less ’17 season, Pagano was 49-31 over five years.
Colts DE Chris McCain Arrested
[UPDATE: The Colts have issued a statement regarding McCain.]
Colts defensive end Chris McCain was charged with battery stemming from an incident that occurred in January, according to TMZ. McCain is accused of spitting on a woman and “forcefully grabbing her neck.” The incident happened in Los Angeles.
Details on the situation are scarce, but McCain certainly could be looking at a suspension here. If he’s punished under the league’s new domestic violence policy, it would be for a minimum of six games. It could help explain the puzzling situation earlier this offseason when the Chargers tendered McCain, who was a restricted free agent of theirs, and then mysteriously rescinded the offer without much explanation. It was odd at the time because McCain was coming off a productive season, but perhaps the Chargers learned about the incident.
McCain was then on the open market for a couple of weeks and drew little known interest before he was eventually picked up by the Colts. Pass-rush was a weakness for the Colts last season, and they were certainly counting on McCain to help them there.
Initially signed by the Dolphins as an undrafted free agent back in 2014, McCain spent the past two seasons with the Chargers. He got the first real meaningful playing time of his career last year and played well, racking up 17 tackles and five sacks with two forced fumbles in a limited rotational role behind Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram.
Could Colts Cut John Simon?
- The Colts could conceivably cut John Simon this summer, Stephen Holder of the Indy Star writes. Simon performed well in an injury-shortened 2017, but new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is looking to play him at defensive end rather than middle or strong-side linebacker. Simon, listed at (a perhaps inflated) 6’2″and 260 pounds, is undersized for DE and may not have the speed needed to get around pass blockers. Given that Simon is now battling with edge rushers like Jabaal Sheard, Tarell Basham, Kemoko Turay, Chris McCain, Tyquan Lewis, it’s possible that he might not make the final cut. Simon, who signed a three-year, $14MM deal with the Colts just last year, has no guaranteed money remaining on his deal. The Colts would save $3.28MM against the cap by releasing Simon.