Colts waive four players, including center Khaled Holmes

Roster cuts are happening around the NFL as teams make room for undrafted free agent signings, and as a result the Indianapolis Colts waived four players today.  The team announced that they have waived tight end Cameron Clear, long snapper Forrest Hill, center/guard Khaled Holmes, and offensive tackle Mitchell Van Dyk.

The most notable of those players is obviously Khaled Holmes, who was drafted by the Colts in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft to hopefully be an eventual answer at center.  That never happened, though he was given several chances at it.  He was the team's starting center entering the 2014 season, but an injury in preseason led to others taking over the job.  At the end of the season, however, Holmes was inserted into the starting lineup and started the final five games at center, including the three playoff games.  Entering the 2015 season, the Colts hoped that Holmes would be the answer and he was their starter all along, and he started the first seven games.  Then, due to both injury and performance, he was benched.  In total, he started nine games (plus three playoff games) at guard and center.  With the team drafting Ryan Kelly in the first round and Austin Blythe in the seventh, it was clear that both Holmes and Jonotthan Harrison were in danger of losing their jobs, and Holmes has already been cut.  It's likely that Harrison (who took over for Holmes as the starting center last year) and Blythe will compete this offseason and in training camp for the backup center spot behind Kelly, which means that the Colts likely didn't want Holmes taking snaps away from those two if they knew he wasn't going to be in their plans.

Clear (February 17), Hill (March 8), and Van Dyk (April 20) all were signed by the Colts this offseason to provide depth at areas and perhaps compete for spots.  With some of the draft picks and undrafted signings, however, their roles have been replaced by others.  The Colts have reportedly added a couple of undrafted tight ends and also an undrafted long snapper, taking the place of Clear and Hill.  The team also drafted two tackles and reportedly added a couple of others in undrafted free agency, so Van Dyk's roster spot was also taken.  That's the unfortunate reality for many on the bubble of the 90-man roster around this time of year: with teams wanting to sign several undrafted free agents for rookie mini-camp this weekend, some of the bubble guys on the roster get cut.  That's what happened to four Colts players today, with the most notable cut obviously being Khaled Holmes.