Colts Notes: Jones, Pierce, Buckner
A few months after his Giants tenure went up in flames, the Colts took a one-year, $14MM flier on quarterback Daniel Jones in March 2025. The move could not have worked out much better until Jones tore his Achilles in early December.
A little over four months after suffering a major injury, Jones is progressing well in his recovery, general manager Chris Ballard said (via James Palmer of The Athletic). Jones has resumed throwing and performing dropbacks, according to head coach Shane Steichen (per Stephen Holder of ESPN). The Colts are hopeful he will be ready for Week 1 .
If Indianapolis had serious concerns over Jones’ Achilles, it could have let him walk in free agency. Instead, the team retained Jones on a two-year, $88MM contract with a fully guaranteed $50MM. While Jones has mostly disappointed since the Giants drafted him sixth overall in 2019, the 28-year-old has flashed enough to rake in two significant extensions. The Giants gave him a four-year, $160MM payday in March 2023, but the decision proved disastrous. They wound up cutting Jones in November 2024. He finished the season as a Vikings backup before his trip to the open market led him to Indianapolis.
Jones flopped on his big Giants contract, but the Colts are banking on him building on a career-best showing in 2025. Over 13 starts, he threw 19 touchdowns against eight interceptions and ranked top 10 in the NFL in yards per attempt (8.1; fourth), completion percentage (68.0; sixth), QBR (63.0; eighth) and passer rating (100.2; ninth).
Thanks in part to Jones’ first-half heater, the Colts surged to an AFC-leading 7-1 start. The shine began wearing off from there, though, as the team dropped its third straight the day Jones’ season ended and fell to 8-5. With Jones and injury-prone backup Anthony Richardson out for the season, the desperate Colts brought 44-year-old Philip Rivers out of retirement. As entertaining as Rivers’ comeback was, it didn’t yield a miraculous late-season run for the Colts. They lost out and finished 8-9 for the second year in a row.
Wide receiver Alec Pierce, one of Jones’ favorite targets last year, joined his QB as a pending free agent entering the offseason. The Colts also paid up to prevent the deep threat from leaving. Although he has never hit the 50-catch mark in a season, Pierce landed a four-year, $114MM pact with $60MM fully guaranteed right as the legal tampering period opened on March 9. The Colts traded Michael Pittman Jr. to the Steelers the same day, leaving Pierce as their No. 1 receiver. Pierce is now sidelined after undergoing ankle surgery, but with a three-month recovery timeline, there is no concern he will miss any regular-season action (via Holder).
Turning to the other side of the ball, cornerstone defensive tackle DeForest Buckner was among several key Colts who logged multiple absences last year. Buckner sat out seven games as a result of a neck injury, but he is “making good progress,” Mike Chappell of Fox 59 writes. The same goes for kicker Spencer Shrader (ACL), cornerback Justin Walley (ACL) and safety Hunter Wohler (foot). The Colts spent a third-rounder on Walley last year, but a torn ACL cost him his entire rookie season. With slot corner Kenny Moore potentially on the outs via trade or release, Walley could take on an important role in 2026.
Colts Aiming For Jalen Travis To Replace Braden Smith; Latest On Indianapolis S Situation
Braden Smith absences became an issue in Indianapolis in recent years, but the Colts had used the same primary right tackle for the past eight seasons. As they did when Ryan Kelly left as a 2025 free agent, the Colts will need to replace a long-running O-line starter.
Indianapolis promoted from within to fill Kelly’s post, inserting Tanor Bortolini into their lineup to start his second season. A similar plan exists post-Smith. The Texans gave Smith a two-year, $20MM contract that includes $13.5MM guaranteed at signing. The Colts are not looking to, as of now at least, to add a veteran. Instead, Fox59’s Mike Chappell notes second-year blocker Jalen Travis moving into the lineup at RT will be the goal.
The Colts drafted Travis in the 2025 fourth round, furthering the similarities between the Kelly succession plan and the one hatched to replace Smith. Indy added Bortolini in the 2024 fourth round and turned to him as a starter during Kelly injury absences that year. Travis played sparingly as a rookie before starting the final four Colts games, bringing a near-21-year age gap between center and quarterback when he snapped to Philip Rivers in three of those contests.
Transferring from Princeton to Iowa State, Travis played left tackle during his season with the Cyclones. He also worked on the blind side in his final season at the Ivy League program. Travis logged 61 LT snaps and 247 RT snaps as a Colts rookie. While he did not play enough to qualify as a regular, Pro Football Focus viewed the Day 3 draftee’s work favorably (via 72.2 grade that would have been good enough for 32nd among tackles).
Indy turned to two second-year blockers in 2025 — Bortolini and Matt Goncalves — as Will Fries also departed in free agency. Goncalves is a converted tackle, and Chappell adds he could be shifted back to the outside in the event Travis is not ready. That would leave a hole at right guard, where Goncalves played 949 snaps last season. For now, however, the Colts are planning to go with a rather tall right side of the O-line by aligning the 6-foot-6 Goncalves and the 6-8 Travis alongside one another.
The Colts also lost safety starter Nick Cross in free agency. This was to be expected, as the AFC South club has devoted considerable resources to strengthening its secondary in recent years. After authorizing a $10MM-per-year deal for Kenny Moore, the Colts won bidding wars for Charvarius Ward (three years, $54MM) and Camryn Bynum (4/60) in free agency last year. They then agreed on a trade that sent Sauce Gardner‘s four-year, $120.4MM extension over from New York. This spree of investments made it unrealistic Cross — a two-year starter — would stay. The Commanders signed Cross to a two-year, $13MM pact.
Indianapolis gave Jonathan Owens and Juanyeh Thomas low-cost deals, with Chappell indicating a competition is coming to fill Cross’ role. But each of the Colts’ top three decisionmakers — Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Chris Ballard, Shane Steichen — brought up 2025 seventh-round pick Hunter Wohler recently, per the Indianapolis Star’s Joel Erickson, pointing to the Wisconsin alum having a real shot to make a big leap. Wohler joined fellow Colts 2025 DB draftee Justin Walley in missing all of last season due to a summer injury; Wohler went down with a Lisfranc issue, landing on IR in mid-August.
Wohler earned first-team All-Big Ten acclaim in 2023, making 120 tackles (5.5 for loss) and snaring two interceptions. Known a bit more for his Simone Biles marriage, Owens has been a spot starter for a while. The 30-year-old safety has made 35 career starts, including 17 for the Texans in 2022 and 16 for the Packers and Bears over the ensuing two seasons. Thomas, 25, has made four career starts. Dallas nontendered him as an RFA in March.
It would stand to reason the Colts would prefer Wohler, drafted to develop in Lou Anarumo‘s scheme last year, to commandeer the starting role. But this year’s draft will obviously be a place to monitor with regards to a Cross replacement as well.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/18/25
Here are the latest minor moves from around the NFL:
Atlanta Falcons
- Waived/injured: QB Emory Jones
- Signed: LB Ronnie Perkins
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: CB Thomas Graham
Carolina Panthers
- Placed on IR: TE Tyler Mabry
Chicago Bears
- Waived from IR with injury settlement: CB Ameer Speed
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: CB Michael Ojemudia
- Waived/injured: CB Bruce Harmon
Detroit Lions
- Activated from active/PUP list: CB Khalil Dorsey
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: DL Devonte O’Malley, DB Jaylin Simpson
- Waived: CB Garnett Hollis Jr.
- Waived/injured: DL Keith Randolph
Houston Texans
- Signed: WR Juwann Winfree
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: LB Jake Chaney, LB Joseph Vaughn
- Placed on IR: OT Blake Freeland, LB Jacob Phillips, S Hunter Wohler
Los Angeles Chargers
- Activated from active/PUP: LB Del’Shawn Phillips
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: OL Mason Brooks
- Placed on IR: OL Yodny Cajuste
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: RB Xazavian Valladay
New England Patriots
- Signed: WR Phil Lutz
- Waived/injured: DT Isaiah Iton
New York Jets
- Placed on IR: DB Kris Boyd
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: DB Kam Alexander, OT Julian Pearl
- Released: DL Breiden Fehoko, WR Roc Taylor, LB Devin Harper
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: S Will Brooks
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: DT T.J. Smith
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 Sign TE Tyler Warren, Six Other Draft Picks
Seven of the Colts’ nine draft picks are on the books. First-round tight end Tyler Warren is among the draftees who are officially under contract, the team announced on Friday. 
Warren’s four-year pact is worth $20.96MM, as noted by Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz. That figure is guaranteed in full and it includes an $11.88MM signing bonus. Like all Day 1 selections, Warren will be eligible to have his 2029 fifth-year option picked up.
The Penn State product entered the 2024 campaign ranked by many behind Colston Loveland as the top tight end in this year’s draft class. Warren made a strong push to change that perspective over the course of the campaign, though, finding success in a number of capacities on offense. During the pre-draft process, a number of evaluators saw him as TE1 as a result.
Just like Loveland, Warren was regularly connected to the Colts. Indianapolis has long struggled to find a productive contributor at the tight end position, and the No. 14 pick represented a prime opportunity to make an addition at that spot. Loveland came off the board 10th overall, but Warren was available when the Colts were on the clock. The team had the opportunity to trade down but chose to stay in place and add the Mackey Award winner. Warren will be counted on to contribute in the run and pass games right away, and if he develops as hoped he will serve a key role for years to come.
Indianapolis has also agreed to terms with cornerback Justin Walley (third round, Minnesota), offensive tackle Jalen Travis (fourth round, Iowa State), running back DJ Giddens (fifth round, Kansas State), quarterback Riley Leonard (sixth round, Notre Dame), defensive tackle Tim Smith (sixth round, Alabama) and safety Hunter Wohler (seventh round, Wisconsin). As a result, only second-round edge rusher J.T. Tuimoloau and sixth-round quarterback Graham Mertz remain unsigned.
Colts Notes: Warren, Leonard, Carlies, Wohler
Colts general manager Chris Ballard has established an affinity for trading back in the draft, particularly in the second round.
He moved back in the second round in the last three drafts, adding extra picks to select Bernhard Raimann and Andrew Ogletree in 2022, Adetomiwa Adebawore in 2023, and Anthony Gould in 2024.
This year, however, the Colts declined multiple opportunities to trade back in the first two days of the draft, per Joel Erickson of The Indianapolis Star.
“We were really convicted about who was on the board at the time,” said Ballard, explaining that the team felt they’d be risking a significant drop in talent by moving back. The Colts were enamored with their targets across the first three rounds, selecting Penn State tight end Tyler Warren at No. 14, Ohio State defensive end JT Tuimuoloau at No. 45, and Minnesota cornerback Justin Walley at No. 80.
Indianapolis later traded their fourth-round pick, moving back 10 slots to pick up an extra sixth-rounder that was used on Alabama defensive tackle Tim Smith.
- Warren was one of the least surprising picks in the first round after persistent links to the Colts since the start of the pre-draft process. The team’s lack of production from their tight ends over the last five years made it clear that they were looking to upgrade the position in the offseason, and Warren was an obvious fit after his stellar career in State College. He had private workouts scheduled with multiple teams before the draft, but the Colts were his only official top-30 visit, per ESPN’s Stephen Holder, a further indication of Indy’s interest.
- Former Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard is staying in Indiana after being selected by the Colts in the sixth round (No. 189). Head coach Shane Steichen coveted Leonard for his size, leadership, and rushing ability, according to Nate Atkins of The Indianapolis Star. Those traits make him a solid fit in Steichen’s offense, which is most effective with a mobile quarterback.
- Colts linebacker Jaylon Carlies is expected to be ready for training camp after undergoing shoulder surgery this offseason, according to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. The 2024 fifth-rounder missed seven games with a leg injury as a rookie amid his transition from college safety to NFL linebacker.
- Indianapolis is planning to convert another Day 3 safety into a linebacker in the pros with former Wisconsin Badger Hunter Wohler, according to Holder. The seventh-round pick (No. 232) played 50.7% of his snaps in the box or along the defensive line across his last two years in college, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), giving him a strong foundation for the positional change.
- After releasing veteran kicker Matt Gay, the Colts are planning to bring in competition for Spencer Shrader, according to Erickson. Shrader replaced an injured Gay in Week 1 last year and later kicked for the Chiefs and the Jets before re-signing with the Colts during the offseason.