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The Colts are coming off a rather successful session in which they finished with a winning 11-5 record but they also lost in the first round playoffs to the Buffalo Bills. The Colts are now entering a very pivotal offseason and will be looking for a new starting quarterback for the third season in a row. The Colts under GM Chris Ballard and HC Frank Reich will have to address the quarterback position and the other big question marks on the roster during the offseason. Reports yesterday are that the Indianapolis Colts have traded for Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz. Providing the trade goes through without any hiccups Wentz will become the Colts new starting quarterback.
The Colts have a lot of needs on their roster from left tackle to defensive end and further. There is plenty to delve into and we plan on doing just that. From looking at the Colts overall team needs, profiling Colts free agent to be and discussing whether or not they should be resigned, to looking at potential free agent additions from outside the team and also looking into potential draft fits. The Colts now head into arguably the most important part of the offseason, in terms of roster turnover, which began with the 2021 Reeses Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama late last month.
Colts’ Free Agents
The Colts have fifteen unrestricted free agents heading into the 2021 season:
Jacoby Brissett, quarterback
TY Hilton, wide receiver
Justin Houston, defensive end
Denico Autry, defensive line
Malik Hooker, safety
Xavier Rhodes, cornerback
Le’Raven Clark, offensive tackle
Tavon Wilson, safety
TJ Carrie, cornerback
Trey Burton, tight end
Chaz Green, offensive tackle
Joey Hunt, offensive line
Marlon Mack, running back
Anthony Walker Jr, linebacker
Al-Quadin Muhammad, defensive end
The Colts have three restricted free agents heading into the 2021 season:
Tremon Smith, cornerback
George Odum, safety
Zach Pascal, wide receiver
The Colts have one exclusive rights free agent heading into the 2021 season:
Mo Alie-Cox, tight end
Colts’ Cap Space
According to Over The Cap the Colts will have $68,375,239 in cap space (based on a $187,989,022 projected salary cap, which is subject to change depending on the actual salary cap number). However, providing the Carson Wentz trade goes through the Colts will take on his contract and cap hit taking the cap space to $42,975,239.
With that amount of cap space, the Colts will have enough for General Manager Chris Ballard and Co. to work with.
Colts Top 5 Team Needs
Left Tackle
Defensive End
Cornerback
Wide Receiver
Tight End
Colts’ Draft Picks
Barring any further trades/moves, the Colts will have six draft selections one in each of the seven rounds, apart from the third round which will go to the Philadelphia Eagles as part of the Carson Wentz trade, in the upcoming draft.
Round 1 Pick 21st overall
Round 2 Pick 54th overall
Round 3 85th overall - TRADED TO EAGLES FOR WENTZ
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Important Dates
Looking forward to the upcoming important dates for the Colts this offseason. The next big date on the offseason calendar would have been the 2021 NFL Scouting Combine but this looks highly unlikely to go ahead due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. So here are some important key dates to keep an eye out for during the offseason:
February 23rd - March 9th, Franchise and transition tags - The Colts and rest of the league will be able to apply franchise and transition tags to pending free agents. February 23rd is the first day for teams to designate franchise or transition players to use the tag on. This is a two week period that ends on March 9th.
March 15th - 17th, NFL ““Legal Tampering” Period - The Colts and rest of the league are allowed to enter in contract negotiations with the agents of unrestricted free agents from other teams during this three day period.
March 17th, New League Year & NFL Free Agency - The new NFL league year begins and along with it so does the free agency period in which teams can sign unrestricted free agents from opposing teams.
April 29th - May 1st, NFL Draft - The Colts and the rest of the league will ascend on Cleveland, Ohio and will get to select draft prospects to join there team starting in round 1 on opening night April 29th and ending with round 7 on closing night May 1st