Colts will soon be able to sign free agents without affecting compensatory pick formula

The Indianapolis Colts were pretty quiet in free agency this year, choosing instead to focus on just a few outside free agents. Patrick Robinson was the most notable, but the Colts also signed running backs Robert Turbin and Jordan Todman, as well as quarterback Scott Tolzien.

We know from what the Colts have said this offseason that they have had the compensatory pick game in the back of their minds as they approached their moves, willing to take a step back in free agency in order to gain picks. Currently, Over the Cap projects them to pick up a fourth round pick to compensate for the loss of tight end Coby Fleener.

We know for a fact that the compensatory pick process has impacted the Colts' decision-making in free agency, but soon it won't have to. As Cincy Jungle pointed out, free agents signed after May 12 don't affect the compensatory pick formula. It's unlikely a free agent signed this late in the process would negate the team's compensatory pick for Fleener, but the point remains that any free agent signed after the deadline doesn't affect the formula, which could give free agency a bit of a boost once again.

According to Over the Cap, the Colts currently have just over $16 million in cap space remaining this year. A significant portion of that will go towards Andrew Luck's extension of course, but there would still be room to sign one or two of the remaining free agents (depending upon how much the Colts want to frontload Luck's deal).

This doesn't mean that the Colts will in fact sign any notable remaining free agents, but they have taken advantage of the post-compensatory period signing before - like, for example, with Mike Adams. In recent days, Colts fans have been talking about potentially bringing back Dwight Freeney (who is still a free agent) to help the pass rush, and while whether or not that actually will happen is another discussion entirely (I highly doubt it would happen), it's signings like those that teams could be waiting to make until May 12. Either way, it's certainly worth noting that the deadline is coming up and realizing that we could see some of the remaining free agents signed in the coming weeks as a result.