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Indianapolis Colts News & Rumors

Contract Details: Smith, Lowery, Moore

April 8th, 2015 at 6:29pm CST by Ben Levine

Here are details on some of the NFL’s most recently-signed contracts, all via the Baltimore Sun’s Aaron Wilson on Twitter. We’ll make sure to update you on any other contract details as they become available…

AFC Notes: Draft, Jags, Titans, Browns

April 7th, 2015 at 2:41pm CST by Luke Adams

While there has been plenty of speculation about the top two picks in this year’s draft – and specifically whether the top two quarterbacks will be picked in those spots – the Jaguars‘ third overall selection hasn’t been discussed nearly as much. In the view of Florida pass rusher Dante Fowler Jr., there won’t be much intrigue or surprise when it comes to that No. 3 pick — Fowler said today that he thinks he fits the Jags’ scheme perfectly, and would be surprised if the team doesn’t draft him (Twitter link via John Oehser of Jaguars.com).

While we wait to see whether Fowler’s prediction turns out to be right, let’s check out a few more items from around the AFC….

  • Fowler is one candidate to be the top defensive player to come off the board later this month, but USC defensive lineman Leonard Williams figures to be in that mix as well. Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean reports (via Twitter) that Williams is making a pre-draft visit to the Titans this week.
  • Andre Holmes is signing his RFA tender with the Raiders, meaning he’ll officially come off the market. Per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the Browns had some interest in Holmes, but nothing materialized there, particularly after the club added Dwayne Bowe.
  • Pointing out that Alex Mack‘s contract has an opt-out clause after the 2015 season, Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com wonders if that will affect the Browns‘ draft plans. Fellow lineman Joe Thomas tells Grossi that he thinks Mack will probably opt out next year, even if it’s just to sign a new deal with the Browns.
  • We previously heard that South Carolina running back Mike Davis would visit the Patriots, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com adds (via Twitter) that Davis will also meet with the Colts this week.
  • According to Rapoport (via Twitter), the Patriots are working out linebackers Denzel Perryman (Miami) and Paul Dawson (TCU).
  • Florida running back Matt Jones, who is expected to be a second- or third-day pick, had dinner with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and GM Kevin Colbert, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.
  • Wilson provides another draft update, tweeting that the Ravens have a private workout on their schedule for Florida interior offensive lineman Max Garcia.

Sunday Roundup: Manziel, Broncos, Cowboys

April 5th, 2015 at 10:13pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Some notes from around the NFL:

  • This offseason has been one to forget for Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, who has spent time in rehab and seen his future in Cleveland come into question since his rookie year ended. The latest blow comes from one of the Browns’ most respected players, offensive tackle Joe Thomas. The eight-time Pro Bowler said that Manziel “lost a lot of trust last year by the way he handled himself,” according to Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com (via Twitter).
  • With the hiring of Gary Kubiak as their head coach, the Broncos’ offense will feature a fullback for the first time since 2012, writes Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. “My thing is that to be really effective in the running game, you have to run the fullback,” said general manager John Elway, per Renck. “We will have people in the fullback position.” As of now, the leading candidates for the job are Juwan Thompson and Joe Don Duncan.
  • The Dallas Morning News’ Bob Sturm profiled Utah defensive back Eric Rowe. Sturm sees Rowe a potential fit for the Cowboys in the upcoming draft, possibly as early as the first round. The Cowboys hold the 27th overall pick.
  • The Colts, Buccaneers, Packers and 49ers are the only four teams in the league with fewer than three quarterbacks, according to Mike Wilkening of Pro Football Talk. The Bucs are the sole member of the group without an established starter, which is likely to change in the draft. Tampa has the No. 1 overall pick, with which it could select either Florida State’s Jameis Winston or Oregon’s Marcus Mariota. The other three squads are also candidates to draft QBs, albeit not in the first round.

South Notes: Panthers, Williams, Bucs, Jaguars

April 5th, 2015 at 1:27pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Panthers have added several role players to one-year deals recently, and David Newton of ESPN.com provides the contract details. Linebacker Jason Trusnik will earn $950K ($80K guaranteed), running back Jordan Todman will get $765K ($20K guaranteed), and receiver Jarrett Boykin will receive $700K ($20K guaranteed). All three will earn slightly more than the minimum required for their respective years of service time.

Here’s more from the NFL’s two South divisions…

  • Receiver/return man Chris Williams has worked out for the Colts, Buccaneers, and Bengals, league sources tell Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post. The 27-year-old Williams spent the 2014 season with the Bears, appearing in six games, and returned one kickoff for a touchdown.
  • In his latest draft diary entry for the Baltimore Sun, Penn State safety Adrian Amos reveals that he worked out for Buccaneers safeties coach Mikal Smith, and also notes that he worked out for an AFC team, though that club asked Amos not to mention them by name in the piece.
  • The Buccaneers picked up the $4MM guaranteed in Dashon Goldson‘s 2015 base salary when they traded him to Washington on Friday, and the Jaguars could employ a similar tactic if they want to deal tight end Marcedes Lewis, suggests Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. If Jacksonville converts some of Lewis’ 2015 base salary into a signing bonus, O’Halloran writes, the market for the tight end could grow. We heard last month that the 30-year-old was drawing trade interest.

Colts Notes: O-Line, Carter, Mathis

April 4th, 2015 at 10:18pm CST by Sam Robinson

Let’s touch on some Colts news as the week winds down.

  • When the Colts reconvene in just more than two weeks for OTAs, Khaled Holmes will get the first crack at the starting center spot, writes Kevin Bowen for Colts.com. Holmes started the Colts’ final two regular-season games and each of their three playoff contests despite only seeing action in five regular-season games last year, with the fourth-rounder holding his own in his crunch-time cameos. Indianapolis, which went through three centers last year and lost one in A.Q. Shipley to the Cardinals, will use Jonotthan Harrison (10 games as a starter last season) as the primary competition for Holmes — a 2013 fourth-rounder.
  • Bowen does not see CFL signee Duron Carter pushing potential breakout performer Donte Moncrief for snaps this season despite the southbound prospect’s 6-foot-5, 209-pound frame and solid Canadian numbers. But Bowen adds Carter is a prospect that could play a role down the line, although Andre Johnson‘s arrival will make it difficult for regular snaps in 2015.
  • Robert Mathis conceded his rehab from the season-ending Achilles ailment isn’t going as well as he’d hoped, per an interview with Alex Marvez and Bill Polian on SiriusXM Radio (audio link).
  • The free agency exits of Cory Redding and Ricky Jean-Francois vacate spots for younger talents, with Montori Hughes and Zach Kerr looking like the primary beneficiaries as of now, reports Bowen. Although with Kendall Langford (112 straight starts) signing and Arthur Jones due back from injury, the duo may still be relegated to backup responsibilities but could serve as key depth pieces.

AFC Mailbags: Chiefs, Jags, Raiders, Colts

April 4th, 2015 at 9:45am CST by Ben Levine

It’s Saturday morning, and that means ESPN.com’s NFL writers are opening their mailbags and answering questions from readers. Let’s start off the morning with some notes from the AFC…

  • Center is probably the Chiefs biggest need, but Adam Teicher says that doesn’t mean the organization will select an offensive lineman with their first-round pick. The team could instead pursue a veteran, and then address that future of the position in next year’s draft.
  • If the Jaguars don’t select Amari Cooper or Kevin White with their first pick, Mike DiRocco believes the team will hold off on selecting a receiver until the middle rounds. The writer suggests Tyler Lockett, Phillip Dorsett, and Jamison Crowder as potential targets.
  • Meanwhile, DiRocco lists running back, interior offensive line, free safety and linebacker as other positions of need for the Jaguars.
  • The Raiders brought in some new faces via free agency, including center Rodney Hudson, safety Nate Allen, middle linebacker Curtis Lofton and defensive tackle Dan Williams. Despite this, Bill Williamson writes that he wishes the organization took “full advantage” of having the second-most cap room in the league.
  • The Colts are fans of the running back depth in the draft, and Mike Wells says it’s “a necessity” for the organization to select a young player to pair with veteran Frank Gore.

Colts To Sign Dwight Lowery

April 3rd, 2015 at 7:31pm CST by Rob DiRe

The Colts have agreed to terms of a contract with safety Dwight Lowery, reports Mike Wells of ESPN (via Twitter).

Lowery had visited with the Colts earlier this week. He played in 2014 with the Falcons, recording a career high 85 tackles and intercepting two passes in 15 starts, writes Mike Chappell of RTV6 (via Twitter).

Lowery also spent time with the Jaguars and Jets, playing both safety and corner during his career. He had been effective more often than not in both of his first two stops, although experienced limited playing time, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). He still graded out slightly positive in his first full year as a starter in 2014.

Draft Notes: Crowder, Gurley, Thompson

April 3rd, 2015 at 5:51pm CST by Zachary Links

A look at the latest draft news..

  • Duke wide receiver Jamison Crowder worked out for the Texans today, a source told Rand Getlin of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
  • A number of teams think former University of Georgia running back Todd Gurley will be selected before Melvin Gordon if his knee checks out, Rand Getlin of Yahoo Sports tweets. While some teams believe Gordon is likely to have a more significant immediate impact, they believe Gurley may be better in the long-term (link).
  • A respected evaluator told Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter) that he sees Gurley as the best tailback in the draft since Adrian Peterson.
  • Nine clubs have scheduled workouts or visits with University of Washington outside linebacker/safety Shaq Thompson, Rob Rang of CBSSports.com tweets. The Chargers, Falcons, Browns, Cowboys, Texans, Colts, Vikings, Eagles, and Panthers will all meet with the UW standout.
  • Possible first-round pick P.J. Williams is set up for a pre-draft visit with the Ravens despite recent legal troubles, write Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. The Florida State cornerback was arrested early this morning for driving under the influence.

Reggie Wayne On Interest, Colts, Health

April 2nd, 2015 at 9:08pm CST by Zachary Links

Back in March, the Colts announced that they would not be re-signing veteran wide receiver Reggie Wayne. No. 87 racked up 1,070 total receptions, 14,345 yards, and 82 touchdowns during his 14 seasons with the team, but the Colts ultimately decided to go younger at the position. The 36-year-old, meanwhile, told Mike Chappell of RTV6 that he still has plenty of football left in him. In fact, he says that he’s gotten “damned good” interest from teams, but declined to name them. Here’s a look at some of the highlights from Wayne’s interview..

On his health in 2014:

I was never 100 percent last year. That wasn’t me (in 2014), you know that. In hindsight, Wayne said he probably should have spent the rest of the season on the injured reserve list after tearing his triceps…But I wanted to be out there with my brothers. I felt like I could do something, even if I wasn’t the No. 2 guy. I wanted to help the team even though in some ways I was probably hurting the team.

On not being able to finish his career in Indy:

You want to have that storybook ending, you really do. I wanted to have that here. I wanted it to last one more year, then I was going to shut it down. That’s what I told them, but they told me they were going in a different direction.

On whether he was surprised by the team’s decision:

Was I disappointed? Yeah. But did it surprise me? I’m never surprised in this league. When they get rid of Peyton Manning, you know you ain’t nothing. When you see them get rid of Marvin Harrison, who am I? They got rid of Edgerrin James. But yeah, I was disappointed. Who isn’t disappointed when they’re told their credit card has been declined when they know they’ve got money in the bank. That was me. I knew I still could play, but I had been declined.

FA Notes: Wisniewski, Lowery, Housler, Sam

April 1st, 2015 at 5:00pm CST by Luke Adams

One of the last of our top 50 free agents who is still without a deal, center Stefen Wisniewski has seen his market move slowly in part because he underwent shoulder surgery this offseason to repair a torn labrum. However, things may be picking up for the former Raider.

According to Albert Breer of the NFL Network (via Twitter), Wisniewski visited the Patriots earlier this week, and Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets that the center visited the Jaguars today. There’s no deal with either team in place yet, but it could just be a matter of time until Wisniewski find a new home.

Here’s more on Wisniewski and a few other free agents:

  • The Vikings could use an interior lineman like Wisniewski, but Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities says (via Twitter) that Minnesota hasn’t expressed any interest in the veteran free agent.
  • According to Breer (via Twitter), free agent safety Dwight Lowery visited the Colts this week. The last update on the Lowery front came two weeks ago, when he admitted the Falcons hadn’t shown a ton of interest in re-signing him.
  • The Bengals are hosting tight end Rob Housler for a free agent visit on Thursday, writes Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Tyler Eifert figures to take on a bigger role for Cincinnati in 2015 if he’s back to full health, but with Jermaine Gresham unlikely to return, the Bengals could use another tight end. Housler has also visited Atlanta and Baltimore, and received a contract offer from the Ravens.
  • Tight end Emmanuel Ogbuehi, who spent time on the Browns‘ and Ravens‘ practice squads in 2014, is visiting the Vikings and Buccaneers this week, according to Wilson.
  • The Montreal Alouettes hold Michael Sam‘s CFL rights, and general manager Jim Popp told Herb Zurkowsky of the Montreal Gazette this week that he believes his team has a “50/50” shot at signing the former Rams draftee.
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