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So far, the Indianapolis Colts have been incredibly silent in free agency since Chris Ballard was hired as GM. They haven’t re-signed anybody yet, and the free agent period will start on Thursday (with legal tampering beginning Tuesday).
So what will the Colts do with their own guys? The short answer is that we don’t know. But the Indianapolis Star’s Stephen Holder provided an update today, particularly when it comes to a couple of their restricted free agents. Holder reports that with Zach Kerr, “indications are he won’t be tendered at all.” And then as for Josh McNary, Holder said that the Colts have decided not to extend an RFA tender to him - though that doesn’t mean he couldn’t be brought back as an unrestricted free agent once he hits the market.
The McNary update shouldn’t be surprising whatsoever, as I don’t think many would argue against moving on from him even though he is just an RFA. But with Zach Kerr, it’s much more curious. Kerr is a good rotational defensive lineman and has produced with the Colts. Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2014, Kerr has played in 36 games and has started eight of them, recording 64 tackles, 5.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and two passes defensed. He had a good year last year, playing in 12 games and starting four of them while recording 19 tackles and 2.5 sacks to go along with six quarterback hits and four tackles for loss. It’s not like he’s a great player, but he’s a fine depth and rotational piece who can step in when need be. So why not at least extend an RFA tender to him?
It’s always possible that the Colts could decide to tender Kerr, or they could let him hit the free agent market and then bring him back as an unrestricted free agent too. So they have options, and this doesn’t mean they won’t bring Kerr back. But overall it looks like the Colts aren’t rushing to get their own free agents locked up, which plays into the idea that Chris Ballard isn’t tied down to players from the previous regime.
At the same time, though, there are some players that would be worth bringing back. And Zach Kerr as an RFA would seem to be one of those guys, so we’ll see what the Colts do. So far, it doesn’t sound like much progress has been made.