Stampede Blue
With his back against the wall, this might finally be the offseason where Ballard takes somes risks in free agency.
I don’t think the general manager’s seat has ever been hotter, as it is playoffs or clean-house for the Colts going into next year. This is not only the final chance for Chris Ballard to finally put together a winning football team, but as is usually the case in the NFL, a new GM would want a fresh start with a new head-coach, which means Steichen is also coaching for his job, and most likely a new franchise quarterback at the helm, which means this Anthony Richardson’s last chance in a Colts’ uniform. From this information it would be fair to presume that CB will change his modus operandi of staying away from free-agency, especially the first wave, and the Colts will finally be active in this front. With that in mind, here are several free-agents that could immediately help the team plug some holes.
Disclaimer: All the players mentioned in the list might still be re-signed by their own teams, so I am mostly going with players that seem more likely to hit the market than not. There will be a follow up article later in the offseason with the players that hit the market.
Trey Sermon is not a productive running back, and Jonathan Taylor has suffered his fair share of minor injuries in the past, and has a glaring weakness in the pass-catching department. Enter Javonte Williams, who is still young at 25 years old, and has 158 receptions through his first four seasons in the NFL, which is 17 more than JT in one less season. He was the starter last year for Denver, eventually splitting the backfield with Jaleel McLaughlin, so it is not so certain that he will hit the open market, but if he does he would be the perfect complement to JT in the backfield, and some decent insurance in case the Colts’ star running back misses some time.
Yes, Ertz is 34 going on 35-years of age, and there is not much left in the tank, even though tight end has historically been a position with a late age of regression. To put things into context, Ertz finished last year with 66 catches for 654 yards and 7 scores. Combine all Colts’ tight ends and you have 39 catches for 467 yards and 2 touchdowns. So basically Ertz had twice the production of all the team’s tight ends combined by himself. That is more a testament to how so terribly bad the Colts’ tight end room was last year than Ertz’ abilities, but the point remains: The team needs a lot of help at the position.
Kinlaw was drafted by the 49ers with the first-round pick traded by the Colts to acquire defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, and what better way to come full...
