2026 Colts Free Agent Watch: Samson Ebukam
INDIANAPOLIS – If you look at the Chris Ballard focus wanting to get “younger, faster” on defense this offseason, then a 30-year-old Samson Ebukam would appear unlikely to return.
But Ballard singled out Ebukam specifically during his season-ending press conference.
The Colts GM was pleased with how Ebukam looked in 2025, prior to a knee injury knocking him out for 3 games during the middle of the season.
Another potentially positive angle to Ebukam coming back to the Colts would be surrounding a second year post Achilles tear.
Back during the 2024 training camp, Ebukam tore his Achilles. After putting up 9.5 sacks and 17 quarterback hits during the 2023 season, his first with the Colts, Ebukam’s ’24 campaign ended in July.
He returned last season, putting up 2.0 sacks and 8 quarterback hits in 14 games.
While those numbers aren’t too eye-popping, is Ebukam another case study in which a second year post-Achilles injury leads to being much closer to a player’s normal self?
At defensive end, the Colts have free agents in Ebukam, Kwity Paye and Tyquan Lewis.
Ebukam is the oldest, but might have the strongest case to return.
Although, is it time to turn overhaul a room that has routinely underperformed?
