Pagano In Need Of Good Start To Keep Job?
Orr’s Lions visit concluded Friday, and he subsequently made the trip to Indianapolis to meet with the Colts. The fourth-year linebacker’s Jets powwow will occur after the Colts summit ends.
- The Colts‘ early-season schedule and Chris Ballard‘s presence make Chuck Pagano a hot-seat candidate if the sixth-year Indianapolis leader doesn’t get the team off to a strong start, ESPN.com’s AFC South reporters posit. The Colts have started three straight seasons 0-2 but this year have the Rams, Browns, 49ers and Jaguars in their first seven games. Pagano not being Ballard’s handpicked coach figures to have him as a lame-duck candidate if the Colts are unable to return to the playoffs, however.
Colts Meeting With LB Zach Orr
The Zach Orr free agent tour continues. Today, the linebacker is meeting with the Colts, (Twitter link via Alex Marvez of SiriusXM). 
[RELATED: Jets, Zach Orr To Meet On Saturday]
The Colts visit is sandwiched between his Lions visit on Thursday and his upcoming powwow with the Jets on Saturday. Orr tells Marvez that he expects to hear back from the Lions later today and his agent (Twitter links via Josina Anderson of ESPN.com) indicated that everything went well in Detroit. It’s not uncommon for scheduled visits to get canceled when a player reaches a deal with another team, but since Orr has interest from roughly half of the teams in the NFL, it stands to reason that he will get together with at least a handful of them before making a decision.
The Colts have already made major renovations to their linebacker group this offseason. Adding Orr would give GM Chris Ballard‘s team an embarrassment of riches, but no team has ever complained about having too much talent in the front seven.
The Colts project to start three free agent additions – John Simon, Sean Spence, and Jabaal Sheard – as linebackers in the 3-4 scheme, along with the returning Edwin Jackson. The reserve group also new faces in rookies Tarell Basham and Anthony Walker Jr. plus free agents Barkevious Mingo and Jonathan Bostic. An Orr signing would be the Colts’ sixth major free agent linebacker pickup of the offseason.
Colts Still Not Worried About Luck's Week 1 Availability
- We heard earlier this week that Andrew Luck may not be ready for training camp, leading some to wonder if he is also in danger of missing the start of the regular season. Kevin Bowen of Colts.com, however, does not believe that’s the case. Bowen says that if the team was really concerned about Luck’s availability for Week 1, the team would have brought in a veteran QB to compete with backup Scott Tolzien.
Colts Place Christine Michael On IR
Christine Michael‘s stay on the Colts’ active roster was short, as the veteran running back has been placed on injured reserve, the club announced today. Indianapolis has signed fellow running back Troymaine Pope to fill its empty roster spot.
It’s unclear exactly what type of injury forced Michael onto IR, but Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star tweets that Michael went down hard in practice yesterday following a collision. Depending on the severity of Michael’s health issue, he could conceivably be released with an injury settlement, allowing him to once again the free agent market after he recovers.
Michael, 26, had just signed on earlier this month to serve as a reserve for the Colts behind starting running back Frank Gore. After averaging 3.9 yards per carry and scoring seven touchdowns with the Seahawks and Packers a year ago, Michael had been set to compete for playing time alongside fellow backups Robert Turbin and rookie Marlon Mack.
Now, that opportunity will go to Pope, who like Michael is a former member of the Seahawks. The 23-year-old Pope appeared in three games for Seattle in 2016, rushing 11 times for 43 yards.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/15/17
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: OL Marquis Lucas
- Waived: LB Christian Tago
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: WR Harvey Binford, WR Fred Brown, LB Jeremiah George
- Waived: WR Marcus Leak, WR Al-Damion Riles, DT Kristjan Sokoli
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Claimed off waivers: CB Taurean Nixon (Twitter link via Mike Klis of 9News)
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: CB Trevon Hartfield, T Donald Hawkins
- Waived: OL Corin Brooks, CB Stanley Jean-Baptiste
Los Angeles Rams
- Waived: QB Dylan Thompson
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: LS Thomas Gafford (Twitter link via Joel Erickson of the Advocate)
- Waived: OL Cameron Lee (Twitter link via Erickson), LS Jesse Schmitt (Twitter link via Herbie Teope of NOLA.com)
- Waived/injured: WR Dan Arnold
Andrew Luck Could Miss Start Of Training Camp
- Colts quarterback Andrew Luck underwent offseason shoulder surgery, and ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that he may not be ready for training camp in July. “To be honest, I have not thought about it,” Luck told Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star. “If I’m ready for it, then great. If I’m not, then that’s the way it is. I’m certainly hopeful for it. In my mind all I can do — and I truly feel this way — with this rehab, with my shoulder, I can’t look five months down the road, three months down the road, a week down the road. To me it’s about the next rehab session, the next day. That’s where my focus is and that’s where I think it needs to be to truly get back to 100 percent.” If Luck was forced to miss any time, Scott Tolzien would presumably take starters reps.
- Former NFL quarterback Josh Freeman worked out with the Montreal Alouettes today, reports Herb Zurkowsky of the Montreal Gazette (via Twitter). The former first-rounder’s last NFL appearance came in 2015, when he threw for 149 yards and one touchdown in a start for the Colts. Between 2010 and 2012, Freeman started 47 games for the Buccaneers.
[SOURCE LINK]
Colts Work Out TE Larry Donnell
The Colts have invited a number of tryout players to minicamp, including cornerback Phillip Adams and former Giants tight end Larry Donnell (Twitter link via Mike Chappell of CBS4). 
At this stage of the offseason, Donnell stands as one of the most notable tight ends remaining on the open market. The Grambling State product first made a name for himself in 2014 when he had a breakout season with the Giants, catching 63 passes for 623 yards and six scores. Since then, however, he has been hampered by injuries and has been unable to reprise that performance. He missed half of the 2015 season and found himself with a lesser role in the offense in 2016. Donnell is coming off of a season with just 15 catches (22 targets) for 92 yards and one score.
Adams, 29 in July, has played for six different teams across six NFL seasons. In 2016, he was out of a job, but he’s hoping to hook on with someone for the upcoming year.
Colts Claim Tyvis Powell
The Colts claimed safety Tyvis Powell off waivers from the Browns, according to a team announcement. To make room on the roster, Indianapolis has waived cornerback Reggie Porter. 
Powell appeared in eight games as rookie with Seattle last season and recorded three tackles. He did not make it into the postseason with the Seahawks, however, as Seattle dropped him from the roster just prior to the playoffs in order to clear a spot for Devin Hester. In February, Cleveland picked him up off of waivers. Roughly four months later, it’s a familiar scene for the Ohio State product. He’ll be starting over with a new team and hoping to make it through the fall.
With an 8-8 record last season, the Colts were roughly in the middle of the pack in terms of waiver priority. Powell will now look to hook on as a reserve behind Clayton Geathers and rookie Malik Hooker, a fellow former Buckeye.
Colts Waive Ken Griffey Jr.’s Son, Trey Griffey
Trey Griffey, the son of baseball legend Ken Griffey Jr. was waived/injured by the Colts on Monday morning, per a club announcement. The move will make room for the addition of fellow wide receiver Chris Briggs.
Griffey, a 6’3″, 209 pound athlete, had 23 catches for 382 yards and two touchdowns in his final season at Arizona. The team did not disclose his ailment, but it seems that he suffered a somewhat serious injury in practice. If he clears waivers – the typical outcome for less-heralded players who are waived/injured – then he will revert to the Colts’ injured reserve.
It was a short stay for Griffey in Indianapolis as he was signed just five weeks ago. This is a disappointing outcome for him, but the unfortunate reality is that Griffey was facing long odds of making the roster to begin with. Teams, of course, are currently working with a 90-man roster capacity. Griffey was one of twelve receivers pushing to make the final 53-man cut and the Colts are unlikely to carry more than six WRs into September. At least four of those spots are effectively spoken for with T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief, Phillip Dorsett, and offseason pickup Kamar Aiken leading the way.
Jim Irsay: Colts Offensive Line "Fixed"
Jim Irsay is generally unafraid to make bold statements, and the longtime Colts owner made another recently by proclaiming the team’s embattled offensive line as “fixed.” Andrew Luck took the second-most hits of any quarterback last season at 128 despite missing a game due to a concussion. The team also allowed the fifth-most sacks with 46. Luck missed nine games in 2015 with a shoulder injury and absorbed plenty of hits before that season-ending malady. And the Colts did not make any big additions this offseason, former Titans starter Brian Schwenke‘s one-year deal notwithstanding.
“Let me say this: The offensive line is fixed,” Irsay said, via Mike Wells of ESPN.com. “I’m telling you guys, the offensive line is fixed. The reason I’ll tell you it’s fixed is because (former Colts offensive line coach) Howard Mudd told me it’s fixed. If Howard Mudd tells you it’s fixed, trust me, it’s fixed.”
The Colts do return an entrenched left side of the line in Anthony Castonzo, Jack Mewhort and Ryan Kelly. Wells projects Joe Haeg to start at right guard and Le’Raven Clark to man right tackle. Irsay added the team may be ready to run more in 2017. Indianapolis did add fourth-round running back Marlon Mack and UFA Christine Michael to join Frank Gore. The Colts ranked 16th with 25.6 rushing attempts per game last season.