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Blake Freeland

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/18/25

August 18th, 2025 at 9:00pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Here are the latest minor moves from around the NFL:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

  • Waived from IR with injury settlement: CB Ameer Speed

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

  • Signed: DL Devonte O’Malley, DB Jaylin Simpson
  • Waived: CB Garnett Hollis Jr.
  • Waived/injured: DL Keith Randolph

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

  • Signed: WR Phil Lutz
  • Waived/injured: DT Isaiah Iton

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Ojemudia is returning to the NFL after playing for the UFL’s DC Defenders in the spring, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. After starting 11 games for the Broncos as a rookie in 2020, he struggled with injuries and hasn’t played in the regular season since 2022.. The 27-year-old will add depth to a Cowboys cornerback room that isn’t expecting Trevon Diggs or Shavon Revel back until September. Second-year corner Caelen Carson is also dealing with a knee injury, so Ojemudia could get some snaps in Dallas’ last preseason game on Friday. A 53-man roster spot is unlikely given how late he signed with the team, but a strong first week could keep him in contention for the practice squad.

Winfree, a five-year veteran, will land with his fourth NFL team after a workout in Houston. The Texans also worked out former Chiefs wideout Cornell Powell, according to KRPC2’s Aaron Wilson.

Freeland, a 2023 fourth-round pick, started nine games as a rookie and spent 2024 as the Colts’ swing tackle. He will be out for the season with a fractured leg, per Colts.com writer JJ Stankevitz, as will Phillips (bicep), who hasn’t played in the regular season since 2022. Wohler sustained a Lisfranc injury, according to Joel Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. The seventh-round safety will miss his rookie year after appearing to carve out a role in the Colts defense with an impressive preseason.

Colts Wrap Up Draft Class Signings

July 24th, 2023 at 3:06pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Colts entered Monday with three members of their rookie class unsigned, but that is no longer the case. The team announced the signings of second-round corner Julius Brents and fourth-round offensive lineman Blake Freeland, while NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets that quarterback Anthony Richardson has also agreed to terms on his initial pro contract.

The latter will earn a fully-guaranteed $33.99MM, including a $21.72MM signing bonus. As the Texans have done with No. 2 pick C.J. Stroud, Richardson will receive all of his bonus upfront. With the financial business taken care off, the Colts can look ahead to training camp, during which Richardson in particular will be at the center of attention.

The Florida product was long seen as the x-factor in this year’s quarterback class. Richardson spent three years with the Gators, but he only logged one full campaign as the team’s starter. During the 2022 season, he posted an underwhelming 17:9 touchdown-to-interception ratio while completing just under 54% of his passes. Those figures led to understandable questions about his abilities as a passer at the NFL level.

The 6-4, 232-pounder ran for 654 yards and nine touchdowns, however, and delivered a highly impressive Combine performance. That helped convince Indianapolis to select him fourth overall, making him the third signal-caller to hear his name called. Owner Jim Irsay recently spoke about the timeline along which Richardson could overtake veteran signing Gardner Minshew as the team’s starter under new head coach Shane Steichen (who was hired in no small part based on his success in developing young QBs).

Brents was likely in line for a notable rookie role even before Isaiah Rodgers was let go by the Colts in the wake of his gambling suspension. Especially now that the team’s corner depth has been weakened by that move, the Kansas State product will compete for a starting role on a Colts team which, after trading away Stephon Gilmore, is generally lacking in proven commodities at the position. Freeland, who spent three years at BYU, will look to provide depth to an offensive front which significantly underperformed in 2022.

Here is the complete Colts’ draft class:

Round 1, No. 4: Anthony Richardson, QB (Florida) (signed)
Round 2, No. 44 (from Falcons): Julius Brents, CB (Kansas State) (signed)
Round 3, No. 79 (from Commanders): Josh Downs, WR (North Carolina) (signed)
Round 4, No. 106: Blake Freeland, OT (BYU) (signed)
Round 4, No. 110 (from Falcons): Adetomiwa Adebawore, DE (Northwestern) (signed)
Round 5, No. 138: Darius Rush, CB (South Carolina) (signed)
Round 5, No. 158 (from Vikings): Daniel Scott, S (California) (signed)
Round 5, No. 162 (from Bills): Will Mallory, TE (Miami) (signed)
Round 5, No. 176 (from Cowboys): Evan Hull, RB (Northwestern) (signed)
Round 6, No. 211 (from Vikings): Titus Leo, DE (Wagner) (signed)
Round 7, No. 221: Jaylon Jones, CB (Texas A&M) (signed)
Round 7, No. 236 (from Buccaneers): Jake Witt, OT (Northern Michigan) (signed)

Latest On Colts’ OL Situation

July 8th, 2023 at 2:02pm CST by Ely Allen

After years of dominant offensive line play, the last season of offensive line coach Chris Strausser‘s tenure saw an uncharacteristically down year for the team’s position group up front. With Strausser now coaching for rival Houston, the Colts are hoping that Tony Sparano can get the line back on track.

After the spring, it appears that the team has no plans to switch up the starting lineup with which they ended the 2022 season, according to Mike Chappell of FOX 59. Left tackle Bernhard Raimann, left guard Quenton Nelson, center Ryan Kelly, right guard Will Fries, and right tackle Braden Smith all return to start in 2023.

After starting his career in an elite manner, Nelson’s play has dropped slightly in the past two years. He’s still a Pro Bowl talent who is in no danger of losing his starting job, but after an extension that would make him the league’s highest paid guard at the time became inevitable, he’s gone from a top-three guard in the NFL to top-20, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Fries, a seventh-round pick from 2021, was asked to step up as a starter for the second-half of last season. It took him a bit to find his footing, but he displayed a few strong performances to end the season, and he’ll start the year opposite Nelson.

At center, Kelly has shown flashes of talent that have made him a top-10 center in the past. He bounced back after a dismal 2021 season but still didn’t quite reach the top-form we saw from him just a few years ago. His job should continue to be safe as backups Wesley French and Dakoda Shepley have a combined zero starts.

On the outside ends of the line, the team will aim to get Raimann and Smith a full year together. Raimann stepped up a few games into the season last year and performed admirably as a rookie at what is widely considered the toughest job on the line. Now, with 11 starts under his belt, Raimann is ready to not only perform but excel on the blindside in Year 2. Smith continues to be a bright spot on the line, even in a down year for the group. The only challenge with Smith seems to be keeping him on the field. Smith has missed nine games since the start of the 2020 season, and keeping him healthy throughout the year could be big for the integrity of the line.

The roster consistency gave Indianapolis the luxury of not needing to do much to address the position group this offseason. No big men were added in free agency, but the team added two rookies in the draft in fourth-round pick Blake Freeland out of BYU and seventh-round pick Jake Witt out of Northern Michigan. While Witt has an NFL frame that could help him contribute as a rookie depth piece if needed, he’s likely a project that needs a bit of time to develop. Freeland, on the other hand, looks a bit more NFL-ready and is expected to stand in as the team’s swing tackle as a rookie. If Smith does end up missing any time or Raimann experiences a bit of a sophomore slump, Freeland should be the first name off the bench to fill in.

So, that’s the situation heading into 2023. There’s a little concern over the lack of personnel adjustments after a disappointing performance in 2022, but there’s hope that consistency and a new face in the coaching staff will help push this group to its usual dominance. They also inserted that fresh blood that has potential to energize the line, if necessary.