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The Colts have been busy in the early days of NFL free agency. Mostly, bringing back their own. They extended the likes of Zaire Franklin and Michael Pittman Jr. Once the negotiating window for free agents got underway, the Colts made sure to bring back a good portion of their in-house free agents as Grover Stewart, Tyquan Lewis and Rigoberto Sanchez all agreed to new deals. Meanwhile, Gardner Minshew and Zach Moss found new homes with Minshew heading to the Raiders and Moss landing in Bengals.
The big questions remaining are what will the Colts do with Kenny Moore and Julian Blackmon? Both are free agents and the Colts could easily justify brining both guys back into the fold. If they let them walk then that means they need to do an even deeper dive into free agency and the secondary market. There’s a ton of talent out there but it’ll cost a pretty penny to bring some of those guys in. How realistic is a trade for the Chiefs’ L’Jarius Sneed? Would the Colts be willing to part with a significant draft pick or two to land him?
Another pair of big questions is who fills the roles vacated by Gardner Minshew and Zach Moss? Both were backups on the depth chart at the start of last season but played significantly bigger roles than expected and kept the team afloat in the AFC playoff picture. Both the backup QB and running back markets have been some of the busiest in the early window of free agency so it would behoove the Colts to make decisions on those positions quickly before they are stuck at the kids table when it comes to options.
Those decisions, specifically running back, could wait until the draft, but that’s a lot of pressure to be putting on a rookie. For quarterback, the Colts should be looking for a veteran who knows the assignment and help along with Anthony Richardson’s development and one who, if called upon, can step in and help when needed.
If Richardson is healthy, he’ll be given every opportunity to start and be successful. It’ll be up to the Colts to decide if they want a guy who has a similar playing style like Richardson or one that can adapt to Shane Steichen’s offense with relative ease.
The Colts aren’t blowing up social media with big splashes in free agency but so far, they’re making sound decisions on guys they already know and want in their locker room.
