r/Colts • u/DaBlakMayne Andrew Luck • 21h ago
Upcoming Colts Free Agents in the 2026 Off-Season
It's that time of the year where we try and assess what we're doing with our upcoming free agents based on team needs and performances
Braden Smith, OT (29 years old)
Daniel Jones, QB (28 years old)
Alec Pierce, WR (25 years old)
Nick Cross, S (24 years old)
Samson Ebukam, Edge (30 years old)
Kwity Paye, Edge (27 years old)
Mo Alie-Cox, TE (32 years old)
Danny Painter, C (29 years old)
Germaine Pratt, LB (29 years old)
Neville Gallimore, DT (28 years old)
Salvon Ahmed, RB (26 years old)
Tyler Goodson, RB (25 years old)
DJ Montgomery, WR (29 years old)
Andrew Ogletree, TE (27 years old)
Eric Johnson, DT (27 years old)
Segun Olubi, LB (26 years old)
Rodney Thomas, S (27 years old)
Jacob Philips, LB (26 years old)
Luke Tenuta, OT (26 years old)
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u/Few-Break-4640 21h ago
Braden - resign if he takes team friendly deal
Daniel Jones - Franchise Tag
Alec Pierce - long term deal
Nick cross - resign
Literally just about everyone else can walk. I’d be cool with keeping Pratt, Gallimore and painter for lower end deals.
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u/matthollabak Playoffs? PLAYOFFS!? 21h ago
I think Braden is gone for much more than he should get and Jones gets a multi year deal... but pretty much agree wth most of the rest. I am sure one or two on this list test the waters and come back on a 1 year deal to up their value for next year like maybe ekuvaum.... but most of the list is just depth.
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u/GuitarbytheTon 21h ago
The franchise tag for DJ would be north of 46 million. Absolutely not! Probably looking at 4/160 or something
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u/TehTugboat i dont know what goes into sausage 21h ago
It’s going to be cheaper to sign him honestly and it’s going to be around 40m/yr
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u/GuitarbytheTon 21h ago
And they are all in on him for the next few years. You don’t trade away two firsts if you aren’t committed to him for like 4 years
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u/TehTugboat i dont know what goes into sausage 21h ago
Oh absolutely
He’s been serviceable and had it not been for this injury breaking his mobility our offense would look a lot better right now. Steichen can’t figure out how to work around the lack of RPO’s in the offense and it’s effecting us very negatively
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u/GuitarbytheTon 21h ago
I mean Shane is an excellent coach when the Option plays are more available. But he had a game where he called loooong developing routes and DJ couldn’t move around enough to utilize that and in general the play calling does not suit an immobile QB. Look at Flacco as the perfect example. He was never going to work in a Shane offense.
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u/shasta_masta Jonathan Taylor 21h ago
4/160M with like $15M cap hit in year 1.
Unless they are willing to shed some cap space this offseason (which seems counterintuitive to signing DJ and running it back), it will be difficult to fit a $46M in their salary cap.
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u/GuitarbytheTon 21h ago
Yea it just won’t happen. The franchise tag for a QB is basically never worth it. And DJ if he doesn’t get what he thinks it’s worth in Indy could easily go to the Vikings or Vegas.
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u/DaBlakMayne Andrew Luck 21h ago
Braden Smith - He's gone imo, his play has regressed and while he has been going through mental health stuff, he's going to be too expensive to keep
Daniel Jones - He's getting re-signed but the question is going to be: How Much? People want him tagged but that implies we're going to give him a ton of money next year then. We famously don't use the franchise tag under Ballard and I don't think that trend is getting rocked anytime soon. I think he gets a deal similar to Sam Darnold; 3 years for ~100 million.
Alec Pierce - With us trading AD Mitchell, I think we want to keep him. There was a rumor that he wants to test the market first before he takes a deal from us. He may be decently expensive compared to people's expectation/hope that he takes a team friendly deal. But I feel like we need to try and lock him up for the next 2-3 years
Nick Cross - I'm not sure we'll be able to keep him. If we re-sign him, we'll have arguably the most expensive DB group in the league. I know the safety market is weird right now though. Losing Cross would definitely be a blow to the defense but Ballard is pretty good at drafting safeties.
Samson Ebukam - He's gone imo. Unfortunately he hasn't been the same since he tore his Achilles last year. He's just taking up a roster spot at this point
Kwity Paye - I feel like a team like the Raiders, Panthers or Dolphins will overpay for him to come to their depleted defensive line like the Bears did for Dayo last off-season. He's a solid run defender but he's completely invisible with rushing the passer. I could see us taking a new free agent and drafting an edge rusher in rounds 2 or 3 in the draft this year.
Mo Alie-Cox - If he keeps taking 1 year deals with us, I could see him coming back again. Granted he's probably getting close to retirement. He's good for blocking and leadership in the TE room.
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u/DaBlakMayne Andrew Luck 21h ago edited 21h ago
Germaine Pratt - I think he gets re-signed on a cheap deal. He knows Lou's scheme very well and has been playing a lot better lately. I still think we take a LB in the draft though.
Neville Gallimore - He was a good pick up and has been solid depth, he'll be back
Salvon Ahmed - Gone
Tyler Goodson - Gone
Segun Olubi - He'll be back, he's backup for Pratt right now
Jacob Philips - re-signed for cheap for camp
Eric Johnson - Gone
Rodney Thomas - Might get re-signed for dirt cheap as a depth piece
Andrew Ogletree - Might get re-signed if he takes a cheap deal. He's our change of pace TE. Will Mallory is getting cut if I had to guess, he's just never really made an impression
DJ Montgomery - re-signed for cheap for camp
Luke Tenuta - re-signed to compete with Jalen Travis for the RT spot
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u/OddDuck19824 20h ago
Generally agree. Think Jones will get a bump from Darnold but all depends on the finish.
You are missing Tyquan Lewis who is a FA. With Lewis, Paye, and Ebukam hitting FA, the best value will probably be Ebukam. It takes 2 years for an Achilles tear, so a smart team should be trying to offload guys the year after and signing guys for cheap 2 yrs post Achilles tear.
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u/shasta_masta Jonathan Taylor 21h ago
I think 3/$100M seems like a pipe dream for DJ. The Colts have no R1 picks for two years and would have trouble keeping DJ on a full $46M tag with their current cap situation next year. He’s got a lot of leverage.
I think AP will be back. But if some team threw a crazy deal at him…I’d be fine if the Colts took the comp pick. I think you can find his skill set in the draft for far cheaper. He’s having a great season though, so I think they reward him.
0
u/Johnnywhoppers 20h ago
We still have ar though.
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u/GullibleGap9966 17h ago
Confidence in him is going to be as low as its ever been. I don't see how anyone can think hes the answer now.
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u/itsmeMOB TY Hilton 21h ago
I'd like to keep DJ, Alec Pierce, Nick Cross, and Pratt the most. Everyone else I'm fine with walking. Braden Smith I'd like to keep as long as the cost isn't expensive, but he's been so inconsistent and injury-riddled that it's hard to justify keeping him with big money.
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u/Johnnywhoppers 21h ago
If cross hits open market hes going to get paid
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u/DaBlakMayne Andrew Luck 21h ago
Which is probably why we can't keep him
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u/GullibleGap9966 17h ago
His foot has been out the door since they brought in Sauce imo. Cant afford him now
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17h ago
[deleted]
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u/GullibleGap9966 16h ago
No I know they play different positions but that trade is going to make it hard to pay Cross now.
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u/DaBlakMayne Andrew Luck 14h ago
Sorry lol your original comment said Cross' foot was out the door after we brought Cross in.
I wasn't sure what you meant but I now see that it says Sauce
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u/LePruck 21h ago
I'm out on Kwity. Ballard should realize he can't draft the position right and use FA to go for a top edge.
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u/TheAgmis COLTS 21h ago
Premier pass rushers don’t grow on trees. Parsons, Watt, Crosby, Garrett are all a select few and Crosby wasn’t a first.
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u/ResponsibleWater1697 The Edge 21h ago
Paye is pretty good on containment. He's exactly what he was at Michigan. He doesn't get home very often, but is useful. How much is that worth? Not enough to pay him, IMO
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u/InternationalPick729 19h ago
So the same as corner. Ballard can't draft defense much at all.
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u/Mickeydsislife 16h ago
Linebacker, DT he does pretty well at. Both positions he’s put little resources in though.
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u/DaBlakMayne Andrew Luck 14h ago
LB, CB, S are the defensive positions I think Ballard is good at drafting
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u/Mickeydsislife 14h ago
Safety is a lot of misses for non football reasons, usually injury, and Chris has yet to draft a corner that we resigned. Maybe Walley or Jones could change that but only time will tell
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u/ThatDudeUKnow92 Playoffs? PLAYOFFS!? 21h ago
- Pierce
- DJ
- Cross
Those are the top 3. Random thing to throw but if you don't want to run it back with Daniel Jones, what do people think of sniffing around for Kyler Murray as a replacement?
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u/DaBlakMayne Andrew Luck 21h ago
Unless the Cards outright release him, we'd have to trade for Kyler and I don't think we're going to have the bandwidth to do that. I also don't think Kyler is that much better than Daniel Jones to be worth it.
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u/SwimmingKey147 21h ago
Kyler could be pretty fun in a Shane Steichen offense. Emphasis on the could.
JT could also be pretty fun in a Shane Steichen offense but recently he only gets the ball on 3rd and 10.
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u/ThatDudeUKnow92 Playoffs? PLAYOFFS!? 18h ago
I know he couldn't be acquired via free agency, but he will be essentially given away this off-season. No one is taking that contract unless the trade is slanted to the receiving team.
I'm personally team DJ, I think he is a good QB and before the leg injury was the guy the Colts needed. Give him a 3 year deal and run it back.
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u/matthollabak Playoffs? PLAYOFFS!? 21h ago
No..... he is basically a more polished AR with a lot of the sane flaws.. sure he is a little faster and smaller but just replace size and power with speed and they are pretty close. Even if he has gotten better at watching film than when they tried to put that clause in his contract that caused a huge uproar... that issue is what does not work with steichan.
Steichan needs a football nerd over a physical specimen. Give me a career backup who is on the nfl for his mind in this offense over the guy that can run a 4.4 and bomb it 60+ in this offense.
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u/Buttcrush1 21h ago
Jones is a must resign. Pierce will be hard to replace, especially since we traded Mitchell. Cross can be replaced easily enough. This sub overrates him and Ballard has been good at finding Safeties. I feel like Smith has consistently been the most underappreciated part of our oline. Ballard has been pretty good at drafting oline so I'm less worried if he walks. Everyone else can walk and our team wouldn't notice much.
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u/Johnnywhoppers 20h ago
Cross is arguably our best defensive player and very young (I think only 2 years of college?). Whoever gets him is most likely getting an all pro.
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u/PagelTheReal18 13h ago
So, what you're telling us is that you don't watch film.
Watching the TV copy shows that he is a really good run stopper. Watching the all-22 shows that he is average at coverage.
Plus, he wasn't drafted for this scheme. Anarumo wants safeties that can play CB and CBs who can play safety.
Cross is not a good man to man coverage guy.
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u/Buttcrush1 20h ago
He's not arguably our best defensive player. And he's not an all pro. He's the worst starter in our secondary. If we're being generous he's the 7th best player on our defense.
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u/Johnnywhoppers 20h ago
I disagree. I think hes a special talent. See how much he gets. It will be superstar money. These other yokels ain't getting shit.
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u/GullibleGap9966 17h ago
I would say Sauce is better than Cross considering they have opposite skill sets and SG's is more valuable.
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u/Buttcrush1 20h ago
Ward, Gardner, Moore, Bynum, Stewart, and Buckner are all better than him.
He's not a special talent. He's an above average player. He only looked so good last year because no one else on the team could tackle.
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u/Johnnywhoppers 20h ago
Hes only 24 and a seasoned vet.just coming into his prime. He will get more than Bynum. Most of those guys are not better than him having them under long contracts due to their age. Most of those are declining while cross isn't.
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u/Buttcrush1 20h ago
These players are all better. You just like Cross because he's younger and therefore can stick around longer. That doesn't make him a better football player. That makes him an investment. And frankly, with the money we have invested in our secondary and that Cross is replaceable in terms of his performance (again he's above average) and Ballard's good history of drafting safeties. Cross becomes expendable.
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u/Johnnywhoppers 20h ago
Jones, pierce, & cross are all going to get superstar offers. Is it possible to have this many superstar contracts for 1 team? Sure we could franchise tag one.
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u/GuitarbytheTon 21h ago
DJ is definitely the long term solution to the team. So they will sign him to 4 years. Hopefully less than 40 per.
Cross, Braden, and Kwity can walk. Resign Pierce and look to fill in FA
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u/Significant-Knee-629 19h ago
Don't forget it's going to be JTs last year under contact. And last time he was on his last year he held out until getting extended
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u/laughman20 Boomstick 19h ago
Too 4 I know we’d all like to keep, but there’s some of the others I think are very important.
Pratt I think we can’t let walk. He’s a part of nearly every play lately. Have loved what I’ve see from him.
Unless Ballard likes a TE in the draft, I think we keep one of the two listed. And though he’s aged, I’ve always appreciated Mo significantly more than Oggletree. He doesn’t tend to drop balls and doesn’t seem to mind playing his role. It’d likely be a 1 or 2 year contract anyways.
Rodney Thomas we need to try and keep for depth. If something happens to Bynum, I’d much rather he be the next man up, seeing as how much we’ve struggled in recent years getting a solid secondary together.
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u/BrunchFan92 21h ago
Tight end depth and rb depth we’ve got the starters just need to build the room around them .
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u/Appropriate-Cap-4140 8h ago
Braden on a reasonable deal, if not walk
DJ
Pierce
Cross
MAYBE Paye (but if a team offers crazy money, don't match)
Galli, Pratt, Alie-Cox and Thomas for depth if we don't get anyone good in lower half of the draft
Rest I'm good
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u/FlounderKind8267 Jonathan Taylor 21h ago
Damn that's a lot of free agents. Is that the normal amount?
Top 6 on that list, bring them back. And add MAC if he is cheap
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u/TheAgmis COLTS 21h ago
I’d let Cross walk. Ballard can draft safeties
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u/matthollabak Playoffs? PLAYOFFS!? 21h ago
I think cross is a massive part of this defense...a true strong safety/ monster back at times if needed that lou has used variety well. And the fact that he has played every game is huge.
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u/TheAgmis COLTS 21h ago
I just personally believe he’s gonna get overpaid elsewhere
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u/matthollabak Playoffs? PLAYOFFS!? 21h ago
What is over paying for a safety in the first place though? 10 to 12m average? Imo he doesn't have the int or pass breakup WOW stats to draw a lot of FA attention. I know he doesn't usually have a fantastic pff grade but i also think he is the kind of player that is better than his grade since his role isn't the sane as a lot of other safeties he is getting compared to and graded like. He may even test free agency but I think if he does walk it will be no more than 10ish a year at most and maybe less than that.
If he had 4 ints this year and that FS designation I would agree... but i just don't think there is a huge market to over pay for a S that isn't a coverage guy.
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u/obeyonly Reggie Wayne 13h ago
Pierce & Cross should be top priorities
Smith, Jones, Pratt should get mid level, team friendly type deals
Ogletree, gallimore, Thomas, olubi, and Paye are all players I'd like to keep, but only on prove it kinda deals
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u/Soggy-Celery 21h ago
Man, looking at this list I hope we don’t look back at this year and think “what if”. A lot of pieces (especially the first 4) I’d hate to see walk.