HEADLINES

Indianapolis Colts News & Rumors

Colts Place Charvarius Ward On IR

October 18th, 2025 at 4:16pm CST by Connor Byrne

After he suffered a concussion in pregame warmups last week, the Colts will go without cornerback Charvarius Ward for the foreseeable future. The team has placed Ward on injured reserve, requiring him to sit out at least four games. With a bye after that stretch, Ward will be eligible to return in Week 12.

A former Chief and 49er, Ward joined the Colts on a three-year deal worth up to $60MM last March. Alarmingly, the 29-year-old has already dealt with two concussions in 2025. He returned quickly after missing a Week 2 win over the Broncos with a head injury, but that won’t be the case this time.

When healthy, Ward has started in all four appearances and tallied 13 tackles and three passes defensed. Pro Football Focus has been enamored of Ward’s play, ranking his early season performance second among 107 qualifying corners.

Ward’s injury is a major blow at corner, where the Colts are now dangerously thin behind Mekhi Blackmon and slot CB Kenny Moore.

While Moore is likely to return Sunday after missing three straight games with an Achilles injury, the Colts are still lacking at the position. Undrafted rookie Johnathan Edwards and the veteran duo of Chris Lammons and Cameron Mitchell have combined for just 199 defensive snaps this season. For now, they’re next in line as a result of Ward’s injury. They’re in for a significant challenge in Week 7 against Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert.

Along with Ward’s IR placement, the Colts announced the elevations of Mitchell and wide receiver Laquon Treadwell from the practice squad on Saturday. They also signed running back Ameer Abdullah from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. Treadwell will serve as depth with receivers Josh Downs (concussion) and Ashton Dulin (chest) out on Sunday. Running back Tyler Goodson (knee) won’t play either, creating room for Abdullah behind starter Jonathan Taylor.

49ers, Colts, Eagles, Cowboys Among Potential Suitors For Trey Hendrickson

October 16th, 2025 at 10:59pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

All-Pro edge rusher Trey Hendrickson has emerged as a popular name in trade talks following an offseason contract saga with the Bengals and their subsequent 2-4 start to the season.

The 49ers are among the teams interested in trading for Hendrickson, though Cincinnati is reportedly not interested in moving him. Other expected suitors include the Colts, Eagles, and Cowboys, per Sportskeeda’s Tony Pauline. Hendrickson is owed $9.8MM for the rest of the season if traded after Week 8 ($8.9MM if after Week 9, per OverTheCap), and the Bengals will likely want an acquiring team to pick up all of his remaining salary.

We noted when the Colts restructured Kenny Moore‘s contract earlier this month that general manager Chris Ballard could be clearing space for a big swing ahead of the trade deadline to take advantage of a surprising 5-1 start. Going after Hendrickson, one of the league’s premier edge rushers, would certainly fall into that category. Indianapolis does not necessarily need the pass rush help – their 16 sacks are tied for seventh-most in the NFL – but no individual player has more than 3.0 sacks. Instead, they have 11 defenders who have contributed to a sack this year; adding Hendrickson to that group would give them an elite individual sack-getter on top of a well-schemed pass rush.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has a reputation of being a big-name hunter on the trade market, but most of his higher-profile deals have come during the offseason. However, Philadelphia has a bottom-10 pass rush with only nine sacks as a team and no player with more than two. Nolan Smith and Ogbo Okoronkwo are already on injured reserve, and Za’Darius Smith just retired, so the Eagles defense could definitely use reinforcements on the edge. Roseman’s aggressive cap management has given the team enough room to absorb’s Hendrickson’s contract, though it would tighten their budget for the rest of the season.

The Cowboys pass rush has predictably struggled following the departures of Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, leading to one of the worst defensive units in the NFL. Jerry Jones recently hinted that he could be active ahead of the trade deadline, and he acknowledge that every asset would be on the table, including the picks acquired from Green Bay in the Parsons trade. The Cowboys could certainly use a player of Hendrickson’s caliber, as they currently have the ninth-fewest sacks in the NFL (11).

We heard recently that the 49ers see Hendrickson as “an ideal fit for their defense.” The team lost star pass rusher Nick Bosa to a season-ending ACL tear in Week 3, and 49ers general manager John Lynch has made it known that he’s looking for help on the edge. That front office hasn’t been afraid to take in-season swings, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the team acquired a player of Hendrickson’s talent as they look to maximize their current core.

As mentioned, the Bengals have resisted any trade inquires for their star pass rusher. However, if the team doesn’t improve as the trade deadline inches closer, there’s a chance the team starts fielding offers.

Ben Levine contributed to this post.

NFL Minor Transactions: 10/15/25

October 15th, 2025 at 6:32pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are today’s midweek minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

New York Giants

As injuries and suspensions thin out the Lions’ secondary, Detroit is bringing in Robinson, who signed to the Chiefs’ taxi squad in the days leading up to the regular season and has yet to see any gametime this year.

With Arizona losing tight end Travis Vokolek for the rest of the season with a neck injury, Deguara gets the call to fill out the room off the practice squad.

Dimukeje has been working his way back from a torn pectoral muscle suffered in offseason workouts back in May, shortly after joining the team. He’ll have 21 days to get activated off the PUP list and debut in New York.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/14/25

October 14th, 2025 at 7:55pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

  • Signed: G Karsen Barnhart, LB Garrett Nelson

Green Bay Packers

  • Released: K Mark McNamee

Indianapolis Colts

  • Signed: OT Bayron Matos, QB Brett Rypien
  • Released: OT Marcellus Johnson

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

  • Signed: TE Marshall Lang
  • Released: DB Tyron Herring, TE Gee Scott Jr.

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

  • Released: G Tyler Cooper

With Anthony Richardson heading to injured reserve with an eye injury, the Colts are set to add some QB depth in veteran Brett Rypien, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The 29-year-old brings four games of starting experience to Indy, with his most recent start coming with the Rams in 2023. In total, Rypien has completed 58.3 percent of his career passes for 950 yards, four touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Riley Leonard will temporarily be the QB2 behind Daniel Jones, but there’s a chance Rypien eventually works his way up to the active roster.

The Chargers moved on from a notable edge defender today in Clelin Ferrell. The former Raiders first-round pick started all 17 games for the 49ers just two years ago, with the edge rusher finishing that campaign with 3.5 sacks and 13 QB hits. He started 10 of his 14 appearances with the Commanders in 2024, adding another 3.5 sacks to his resume. After being among Washington’s final preseason cuts, Ferrell caught on with the Chargers practice squad and ended up getting into one game with the big-league club.

The Eagles moved on from a pair of skill players today. Audric Estime was a fifth-round pick by the Broncos last year, with the running back compiling 337 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns on 81 touches. He was waived by Denver back in August and landed on Philly’s practice squad. Javon Baker was a fourth-round pick by the Patriots in last year’s draft, but he was limited to a single catch in 11 games.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/13/25

October 13th, 2025 at 7:29pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Here are the latest moves from around the NFL,including practice squad elevations for all four teams playing on Monday Night Football:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

  • Signed off Ravens’ practice squad: S J.T. Gray

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

  • Waived: OL Isaac Alarcon

Washington Commanders

The Bears elevated Moody to kick in their Monday night matchup with the Commanders with Cairo Santos sidelined by a quad injury.

Colts Place QB Anthony Richardson On IR

October 13th, 2025 at 3:58pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Colts will be without Anthony Richardson for an extended period. Following the pregame injury suffered by the team’s backup quarterback on Sunday, he is set for an extended absence.

Richardson has been placed on injured reserve, per a team announcement. As a result, he will be unavailable for at least the next four games. Richardson suffered an orbital bone fracture during warmups yesterday. It was initially unclear how much time he would miss, but testing on his eye has obviously led to the Colts shutting him down for the foreseeable future.

Daniel Jones has thrived in his stead atop the Colts’ depth chart so far this season. Indianapolis leads the AFC with a record of 5-1, and the former Giants draftee will be tasked with maintaining his current level of play as the Colts look to remain hot. Depth behind Jones will be a question, however. Richardson has not developed as hoped in his NFL career, but he would have been a familiar option for head coach Shane Steichen and Co. if called upon.

With Richardson now out of the picture for the time being, sixth-round rookie Riley Leonard is currently the Colts’ QB2. Leonard has yet to make a regular season appearance, but he could find himself dressing as the backup for at least a brief period. Of course, that would change if Indianapolis were to make a free agent or trade acquisition at the quarterback spot. The team has roughly $6MM in cap space.

Richardson is no stranger to missed time after he was limited to four games as a rookie and 11 contests last season. This absence is different since it was not caused by an on-field injury, but the former No. 4 pick is now guaranteed to be available for less than a full slate in each of his first three NFL campaigns. Irrespective of Jones’ strong play, Richardson’s future with the Colts will no doubt be influenced by his injury history moving forward.

Indianapolis still has seven IR activations available at this point. Bringing Richardson back into the fold will use up one of them, but not until a notable period of time is spent recovering from the injury.

Colts QB Anthony Richardson Suffers Orbital Fracture

October 13th, 2025 at 12:43pm CST by Ely Allen

OCTOBER 13: It is unclear at this point how long Richardson will be out for, but ESPN’s Stephen Holder reports he will be sidelined for “a while.” The Colts could find themselves in the market for a short-term quarterback addition as a result, but decisions on that front will of course depend on Richardson’s prognosis. At least for the time being, Leonard is now second on the depth chart.

OCTOBER 12: The Colts saw a pair of uncanny pregame injuries take out a player on each side of the ball today before they were even suited up in pads. The more serious of the two injuries saw backup quarterback Anthony Richardson suffer an orbital fracture when an elastic band injured his eye, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Claims were that the injury was the result of a malfunction of the elastic band while Richardson was doing band work. In each of his first two years in the NFL, the Colts have repeatedly tried to establish Richardson as the team’s next big starting quarterback, usually just for injuries to derail any chances for success. A concussion and shoulder surgery caused him to miss all but four games of his rookie season, and he missed three separate two-week stretches for the Colts last year due to injury.

The Colts apparently couldn’t even keep Richardson healthy as a backup. The 23-year-old spent today’s game at the hospital dealing with the injury as sixth-round rookie passer Riley Leonard was elevated into the QB2 role behind starter Daniel Jones. Luckily, nothing happened to Jones, who played every offensive snap for the team, but the AFC’s current No. 1 seed was a play away from being down to their QB3 due to a freak accident in pregame warmups.

The other player who was injured in an unusual manner during pregame activities today was cornerback Charvarius Ward. While running drills in pregame warmups, Ward collided with a tight end and was left concussed and unavailable for the game. This hurt an already thin cornerbacks group that featured Jaylon Jones and Kenny Moore as existing inactives. It will be interesting to see just how Ward and Richardson progress through their injuries this week and how it will affect the team going forward.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/11/25

October 11th, 2025 at 8:31pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are the minor moves and standard gameday practice squad elevations heading into the sixth Sunday of the NFL season:

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Manu was ruled out for this week with a knee injury after making the first start of his career with Detroit. Unfortunately, he’ll miss the team’s next three games, as well, after being placed on injured reserve.

Wright will fill in as placekicker for the Titans in Week 6. Regular kicker Joey Slye has been ruled out with a calf injury after missing practice all week.

Avery in Cleveland and Walton in Carolina are both being called up as standard gameday practice squad elevations for the third time this year. If either of their respective teams want them to be active for another game, they will need to sign them to the 53-man roster.

Colts Restructure Kenny Moore’s Contract

October 9th, 2025 at 5:30pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Colts restructured Kenny Moore‘s contract this week to create $3.8MM in cap room, per OverTheCap.

$4.75MM of the veteran cornerback’s 2025 salary was converted into a signing bonus. Since Moore’s contract expired after the 2026 season, the Colts added three void years to the deal to prorate his new bonus across five years instead of two. As a result, Moore’s cap hit rose by $950k in each of the remaining years. This type of restructure is known as a maximum restructure because it uses void years to create more cap space in the current year of the contract.

This particular restructure is notable because the Colts rarely use void years or maximum restructures despite their recent rise in popularity around the league. It could be an indicator that general manager Chris Ballard is looking to capitalize on a surprising 4-1 start with Daniel Jones under center with an aggressive move before the trade deadline. The team now has $7.63MM in cap space, which could be enough to make an addition in the coming weeks.

The Colts have been dealing with a number of injuries in their secondary since training camp and have been middling against opposing passing games to start the regular season. They are reportedly interested in free agent cornerback Tre Hawkins and could pursue a higher-profile defensive back on the trade market.

However, Ballard may also have been considering the team’s in-season expenses – i.e. practice squad elevations, signing injury replacements to the 53-man roster – when he completed the restructure. The Colts did not reduce Moore’s 2025 salary to the veteran minimum to create the the most space they could have. If Ballard was going shopping before the deadline, it would stand to reason that he would want as much cap space as possible to facilitate a deal.

Moore has been sidelined for multiple weeks with a hamstring injury, but it is not considered a major injury.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/8/25

October 8th, 2025 at 6:49pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

San Francisco 49ers

Khalil Dorsey was recently nursing a wrist injury, and that issue will now sideline him for at least the next four games, as the cornerback landed on injured reserve today. After getting into the first four games of the season for the Lions, Dorsey didn’t see the field for Week 5. The majority of his playing time has come on special teams this season.

Kevin Givens is back at practice after landing on IR before the season even started. The defensive tackle has been working his way back from a pectoral injury that wiped out the first month of his 2025 campaign. According to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, the defensive lineman will be evaluated throughout the week to determine his availability for Week 6. Givens is coming off a 2024 season where he compiled a career-high 3.5 sacks.

Load More Posts