Colts Sign Jeris Pendleton

The Indianapolis Colts today made a roster move to bring their offseason roster back up to 90 players, as they signed defensive tackle Jeris Pendleton.

Pendleton is familiar with the Colts, as he spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons with the team.  In 2013, Pendleton spent time on the Colts practice squad before being signed to the active roster for one regular season game, a game in which he made four tackles.  He also played in the two playoff games that year.  In 2014, Pendleton spent the entire season on injured reserve with a knee injury suffered in the first preseason game last year.  He played well in 2013 and stood a solid shot at making the 53-man roster last year, but unfortunately his season was ended with an injury in preseason.  He was a restricted free agent this offseason and the Colts choose not to tender him, making him a free agent.  It is possible that they were waiting to see how his injury progress was going, but either way they have signed him now.

Pendleton is an interesting player along the defensive line for the Colts because, although he hasn't played much at all for the Colts, he looked good in the limited time that he did see and could compete for a depth spot along the defensive line.  He'll be competing with the likes of Montori Hughes, David Parry, and Kelcy Quarles, who are all listed at defensive tackle (along with Arthur Jones).  Pendleton might be able to bring versatility to the line, and if he does that would be a big help in his chances at making the roster.  Ultimately, we don't know what to expect from Pendleton after a year away from football, and even before that he was a borderline guy to make the roster, but he is at least a player to keep an eye on in training camp for a team that could use help along their defensive line.  Pendleton will likely face an uphill battle to make the roster over some of the other guys on the team, but he's worth paying attention to at least.

The Colts' offseason roster is now at 90 players.  They had an open roster spot ever since releasing kicker Taylor Pontius at the beginning of the month, and now they've filled it.  They still have two players that they need to get under contract in draft picks Henry Anderson and D'Joun Smith, but since it's pretty much a given that those two will sign, they're just included in the offseason roster number.  Therefore, the Colts have 88 players under contract and the two draft picks yet to have signed.  With the signing of Pendleton, the offseason roster is now full once again.