Colts’ 2017 preseason schedule will be announced on Monday

You know the NFL is quite dominant when news of the release date for the preseason schedule becomes noteworthy.

NFL Network yesterday announced that the league will unveil the 2017 preseason schedules on Monday, April 10, at 5:00 p.m. ET. So stay tuned for the Colts’ preseason schedule to be announced then.

Last year, the Colts were scheduled to play five preseason games but had their first one, the Hall of Fame game, cancelled. They wound up playing a normal four-game preseason slate like every other team, and that’ll once again be the case this year, since they won’t be playing in the Hall of Fame game (it’ll be the Cardinals versus the Cowboys).

We don’t yet know who the Colts will play in those four preseason games, however, though we have a pretty good clue about the last one: the Colts have played the Bengals in the preseason finale for nearly the last decade and a half, and this year’s game would likely be in Indianapolis. So it should absolutely be expected that the Colts will again face the Bengals in the preseason finale, but the first three opponents are unknown.

The first preseason game is always somewhat interesting because it’s our first chance to see this year’s team in live-game action, while the third game is also interesting because it’s the game in which the starters play the entire first half (or close to it) and sometimes into the third quarter. But the fourth preseason game? That’s when backups are trying to earn the final few depth spots.

The preseason might seem quite far away still, but on Monday we’ll at least know who the Colts are playing in their four exhibition games. Huge news, I know.