Colts Waive Tevaun Smith
- The Texans have promoted offensive lineman Josh Walker to their active roster, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Walker went undrafted out of Middle Tennessee State in 2014 and spent the first two years of his career with the Colts and Packers. He suited up for 13 of Green Bay’s games last year, though the team cut him in September. Walker then signed with Houston’s practice squad last month.
- The Colts waived rookie wide receiver Tevaun Smith, an undrafted free agent from Iowa. Smith was on the Colts’ active roster for two games.
Colts Work Out Three Defenders
- The Colts worked out a trio of defenders today, according to Caplan (via Twitter): defensive tackle Jordan Hill, inside linebacker Nate Irving, and linebacker Danny Lansanah.
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Colts Promote Frankie Williams, Release Chase Coffman
- The Colts have elevated cornerback Frankie Williams to the 53-man roster from the practice squad and released tight end Chase Coffman, as ESPN.com’s Mike Wells tweets. Williams will provide depth as Vontae Davis goes through the league’s concussion protocol. The release of Coffman, meanwhile, could be a sign that tight end Dwayne Allen is getting close to returning from his ankle injury.
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Opinion: Colts A Fit For Joe Thomas
With the league’s trading deadline less than 24 hours away, Mike Sando of ESPN Insider and Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com try to guess where certain players might end up in the coming days. The Seahawks would make a perfect fit for Browns left tackle Joe Thomas, opines Sando, who also suggests the Packers try to acquire Torrey Smith and the Bears attempt to find a taker for Alshon Jeffery. Meanwhile, La Canfora focuses solely on Thomas, laying out the case for clubs such as the Cardinals, Broncos, and Colts to go after the future Hall of Famer.
Andre Johnson To Retire
Andre Johnson told his Titans teammates this morning that he plans to retire, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Johnson, 35, won’t finish out his 14th season in the NFL and will instead hang up his cleats, and the Titans have confirmed his decision.
Johnson, of course, spent the entirety of his career in the AFC South, and will be most remembered for his 12 years with the Texans, during which he was consistently overlooked as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. With more than 13,000 yards receiving for Houston, he’s the club’s leader in yards by nearly 9,000, and his 64 touchdowns are more than double that of any other Texans receiver. But because Houston was on the fringes of playoff contention for most of Johnson’s career, he isn’t typically mentioned on the short list of the era’s best pass-catchers.
Johnson, however, will have a strong case for Hall of Fame enshrinement as soon as he’s eligible. His 1,062 career receptions places him eighth all-time (just behind Reggie Wayne), while he currently ranks ninth in receiving yards with 14,185. And Johnson was just as exceptional on a rate basis, as his 73.5 yards per game places him ninth in league history.
While Johnson put up tremendous seasons with the Texans, and twice lead the league in yardage, the last two seasons were not kind to him, as he sputtered with two other AFC South clubs. After signing a three-year deal with the Colts prior to 2015, Johnson had the worst year of his career, and was released after only a single campaign in Indianapolis. Johnson then accepted the veteran’s minimum to latch on with Tennessee for 2016, but had received only 22 targets on the year.
Johnson is the second Texans legend to announce his retirement in as many weeks, as running back Arian Foster also called it a career last Monday.
Doyle Primed For Big Payday; Langford To Miss Time
- Kevin Bowen of Colts.com believes that Colts TE Jack Doyle has established himself as a starting-caliber tight end, and that his free agent platform year has come at a perfect time for him. Bowen says Doyle will be one of Indianapolis’ most important free agents this offseason and that he could pull down a contract with a $5MM average annual value.
- Colts DE Kendall Langford, who has the the longest active games-played streak among all NFL defensive linemen (135), will see that streak come to an end, according to Andrew Walker of Colts.com. Langford continues to deal with a right knee issue that required minor surgery during training camp, and he will sit out an indeterminate amount of time to give that knee a chance to fully heal.
Donte Moncrief To Return Sunday
- Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link) has injury updates on a number of key players. Colts receiver Donte Moncrief will play, but Falcons running back Tevin Coleman won’t. Neither will Redskins rusher Matt Jones, whose teammate, tight end Jordan Reed, is questionable.
Vikings, Colts, Seahawks Seeking O-line Help
With Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline approaching, the Vikings, Colts and Seahawks are looking to bolster their offensive lines for potential playoff runs, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). It’s unclear if any of those teams will offer enough for either of the best offensive tackles potentially on the move – the Browns’ Joe Thomas or the 49ers’ Joe Staley – says Cole, who adds that it would likely take at least a second-round pick to land one of them.
Despite his Hall of Fame-caliber resume, interest in the 31-year-old Thomas is limited, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported Friday. Browns head coach Hue Jackson has shot down rumors that the team is shopping the nine-time Pro Bowler, and Thomas has made it clear that he doesn’t want to leave Cleveland, but general managers around the league expect a deal to materialize by the deadline. Any team that trades for Thomas would be on the hook for the cap charges remaining on the seven-year, $84MM extension he signed in 2011. Thomas has a $9.5MM cap number for this year and a $10MM figure in each of the next two seasons, though there’s no dead money left on his deal.
Staley, 32, hasn’t achieved Thomas’ level of success, but the 10th-year man has nonetheless been a terrific and durable lineman throughout his career. Now, there are conflicting stories on whether the five-time Pro Bowler is on the block. Staley’s contract isn’t nearly as club-friendly as Thomas’, with a combined $13.2MM in dead money remaining from 2017-19 and individual cap holds of $8.3MM, $11.15MM, and $7.7MM in both 2018 and ’19.
At 5-1, Minnesota is in a tie with Dallas for the best record in the NFC, but the Vikings’ offensive line has been problematic from a run-blocking standpoint. The group ranks last in the NFL in Football Outsiders’ adjusted line yards metrics, and the Adrian Peterson-less running back corps is looking up at the rest of the league with a paltry 2.6 yards per carry. Further, after the team’s 21-10 loss to the Eagles last week, head coach Mike Zimmer called the O-line “soft.” Quarterback Sam Bradford, in whom the Vikings invested a significant amount after Teddy Bridgewater‘s catastrophic injury, took six sacks in Philadelphia, though the Vikings have only allowed 14 this year.
Without left tackle Matt Kalil, who went on injured reserve after Week 2, the Vikings have turned to T.J. Clemmings and Jake Long and received underwhelming results. Either Thomas or Staley would provide a major boost on Bradford’s blind side, but the Vikings are already without a first-round pick in 2017 because of the Bradford trade. Losing another high selection wouldn’t be optimal, as general manager Rick Spielman said earlier this month.
“We’re still going to always build through the draft. You can’t do that without having the draft picks,” he stated.
Unlike the Vikings’, the Colts’ pass blocking has been disastrous. Quarterback Andrew Luck has taken a league-worst 25 sacks this year, and FO ranks the team’s line 30th in adjusted sack rate. Acquiring Thomas or Staley would enable the Colts to shift left tackle Anthony Castonzo to the right side, thereby sending fifth-round rookie Joe Haeg to the bench. However, the 3-4 Colts don’t look like a team that should be parting with valuable draft choices, and picking up Thomas or Staley would add another sizable contract to the ledger on the offensive side of the ball. GM Ryan Grigson said three weeks ago that the Colts are at a disadvantage in building a defense because of Luck’s deal, so it’s difficult to envision them racking up another big-money offensive cog.
The 4-1-1 Seahawks are above average in adjusted sack rate (13th) and sacks surrendered (fifth), but they might have incentive to further strengthen their line with quarterback Russell Wilson playing through multiple injuries and left tackle Bradley Sowell on the shelf with a knee sprain. Plus, unlike in years past, Seattle has struggled to run the ball, ranking 28th in adjusted line yards and 31st in YPC (3.1).
With each of these teams set to play another game before the deadline, this week’s outcomes could affect whether they make a late push for Thomas or Staley. The same goes for the league’s other playoff contenders, as an injury to a left tackle could send a GM scrambling to the phone to call Cleveland’s Sashi Brown or San Francisco’s Trent Baalke about their O-line stalwarts.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Colts’ Donte Moncrief Returning To Practice
Colts wide receiver Donte Moncrief is returning to practice this week after missing the past six games, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Moncrief fractured his scapula in late September and has been sidelined ever since.
[RELATED: Indianapolis Colts Depth Chart]
It’s unclear if Moncrief will be able to return to game action immediately, but the mere fact that he’s returning to the practice field means he should be available to play in due time. Without Moncrief in the lineup, the Colts have ranked near the middle of the pack on offense — Football Outsiders places Indianapolis 10th in rushing DVOA, 16th in passing DVOA, and 14th in total offensive DVOA.
T.Y. Hilton has maintained his status as Indy’s No. 1 wide receiver, but Phillip Dorsett missed Week 7 with foot and hamstring injuries. As such, Chester Rogers, Devin Street, and Tevaun Smith make up the rest of the Colts’ wide receiver depth chart. Another pass-catcher, tight end Dwayne Allen, is week-to-week as he deals with a sprained ankle.
Moncrief, 23, caught 64 passes for 733 yards and six touchdowns last season. In two games (really, one game and change) this year, Moncrief had seven receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown.
Colts Audition Four
- Cornerbacks Greg Ducre and Shakiel Randolph, as well as linebackers Khairi Fortt and John Lotulelei, tried out for the Colts today, reports Balzer (Twitter link).