Your source for the Colts 2024 free agency updates: signings, rumors, and pre-draft trades.
In past years the Indianapolis Colts, under general manager Chris Ballard, have been very quiet during the early stages of Free Agency, but 2024 could prove to be different.
Actions > words, but this qualifies for a bold statement from Chris Ballard:
“We’re not paying the QB big money anymore. And, so, we’re going to have some more flexibility and we’ll always be prudent, but we’ll be as aggressive as we need to be in free agency.”
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) January 11, 2024
The fact that I agree with Stephen Holder and his assertion that this was a bold Ballard statement might say more about Ballard than it does about how bold his actual approach to free agency will be. That said, free agency officially kicks off on Wednesday March 13th at 4:00 PM Eastern. Each year we see a flurry of activity, seemingly seconds after free agency begins. Which is made possible by the “legal tampering” period which begins on Monday March 11th at 12:00 PM Eastern. So on Monday teams will officially be able to begin negotiations with unrestricted free agents.
Important Upcoming Dates to Know:
- March 11th- Legal Tampering begins at noon
- March 13th- Free agents are free to sign with new teams at 4 PM
- April 15th- The earliest date the Colts can begin offseason workouts
- April 25-27th- The 2024 NFL Draft
Re-Signings
- WR Michael Pittman Jr- given the non-exclusive franchise tag
- G Jack Anderson- Re-signed to a 1 year $1.055 million contract
Colts Free Agents
- CB Kenny Moore
- S Julian Blackmon
- DT Grover Stewart
- RB Zack Moss
- QB Gardner Minshew
- C/G Danny Pinter
- P Rigoberto Sanchez
- DE Tyquan Lewis
- LB/S Ronnie Harrison
- WR Isaiah McKenzie
- DT Taven Bryan
- DE Jake Martin
Rumors
- Kansas City Chiefs CB L’Jarius Sneed- Stephen Holder and Tyler Dragon report Colts interest in trading for Sneed
- Colts CB Kenny Moore- Jay Robins reports that a long term deal is in the works
- Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr- Jay Robins reports that a long term deal is in the works
Speculation
- Buffalo Bills CB Tre’Davious White- CBS Sports listed the Colts as a landing spot
- Miami Dolphins S Brandon James- PFF lists the Colts as a potential landing spot
- New England Patriots DE Josh Uche- Listed as potential fit for Colts
- Houston Texans CB Steven Nelson- Listed as a Free Agent to keep an eye on by Zach Hicks
- Washington Commanders CB Kendall Fuller- Listed as a Free Agent to keep an eye on by Zach Hicks
- Arizona Cardinals WR Marquise Brown- Listed as an option to improve Colts WR room
- Kansas City Chiefs RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire- Listed as potential fit for Colts
- Philadelphia Eagles DE Haasan Reddick- Shaad McGinnis Tweet about potential trade
- Edge Rushers- ESPN’s Dan Graziano expects the Colts to add pass rush help in free agency
- Carolina Panthers S Jeremy Chinn- Listed as potential fit for Colts
- Buffalo Bills WR Gabe Davis- Listed as an option to improve Colts WR room
- New York Giants RG Mark Glowinsky- Luke Schultheis asks if Glow would be a good fit back in Indy
- New York Giants QB Tyrod Taylor- Listed as a Free Agent to keep an eye on by Zach Hicks
- Kenny Moore- ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler says Moore re-signing with the Colts feels possible
Final Thoughts Before Free Agency
At the time of this writing (well before the start of either the Legal Tampering or Free Agency periods) it feels important to point out that while this year could be more active than years past, Chris Ballard is who he is. Colts fans shouldn’t expect the team to mortgage the future and sign a bunch of top-of-the-market deals complete with contracts containing a lot of “voidable years”. Zach Hicks summed it up well:
Reminder when you are predicting offseason signings for the Colts:
Chris Ballard typically only hands out 1-2 year contract in free agency, and when he goes longer than that, his contracts have outs after 1-2 years
I doubt he’d give out a 5 year deal to a top outside free agent
— Zach Hicks (@ZachHicks2) March 7, 2024
Chris Ballard had the following to say about his free agency strategy at the 2024 Scouting Combine (from Colts.com’s JJ Stankevitz):
“Everybody gets excited for that (first) week (of free agency) and stamps a future Super Bowl winner off of that,” Ballard said last week at the combine. “But what you’re seeing is, alright, you got the A-level players, well what happens with them, they get tagged. So now you got the next level ones that you end up paying A money. If there’s one on the market that we think fits us — and look, it takes two sides here. There’s times you’ll make an offer, a big offer, to a player and you just don’t get him and he goes somewhere else. That’s part of it. We’ll be as aggressive as we need to be when we think we need to be.”
It seems that Ballard isn’t closing the door as tightly on making a bigger than normal splash in free agency this year, but he is tempering expectations a bit. But the possibility remains that this will be a more exciting free agency year than in the past, the Colts are coming off of a winning season with a young and exciting Quarterback and head coach duo, it’s possible that some of those players the Colts may have missed out on in years past decide to take a chance on Indy, when they wouldn’t have in the past. With that in mind, make sure you bookmark this page and check back in frequently for ongoing updates.
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