NFL Offseason Previews: Indianapolis Colts

March 8, 2023, by Patrick K. Flowers NFL

The NFL offseason is upon us, and teams will begin working to craft their 2023 rosters in the coming months. In this series of offseason previews, we will look at what each team has to work with and their biggest needs. Today we continue with the Indianapolis Colts offseason preview.

As a reminder, here are dates to keep in mind for the 2023 NFL offseason:

March 7: deadline for teams to use the franchise tag
March 13: legal tampering period opens
March 15: NFL free agency begins, and the new league year starts
April 21: deadline for restricted free agents to sign offer sheets
April 27-29: NFL draft
May 1: deadline for teams to exercise 5th-year options on 2020 first-round draft picks
July 15: deadline for franchise tag players to sign an extension

2022 Summary

The Colts opened the 2022 season 3-5-1. Jim Irsay and company had seen enough and fire head coach Frank Reich. Irsay picked former Colts player Jeff Saturday to be the interim head coach of his franchise.

Saturday went 1-7 down the stretch, and the Colts finished 4-12-1. Indianapolis ranked 30th in scoring offense and 28th in points allowed, and they were again playing musical chairs under center. A yearly tradition in Indianapolis since Andrew Luck retired.

The trio of Matt Ryan, Sam Ehlinhger, and Nick Foles seems to have been the final straw for Irsay and Chris Ballard when it comes to the stop-gap solutions at quarterback in Indianapolis.

Key Positional Needs

Here’s where the Colts need to find help this offseason:

QB
OT
WR
EDGE
TE

Key Free Agents

Here’s a look at the Colts upcoming key free agents:

Parris Campbell (WR)
Ahston Dulin (WR)
Tony Brown (CB)
Dennis Kelly (OT)
Yannick Ngakoue (DE)
Bobby Okereke (LB)
Armani Watts (S)
Matt Pryor (G)

Salary Cap & Draft Capital

Here’s a look at the salary cap room and draft capital that the Colts have to work with this offseason:

Current draft picks: 4 (1), 35 (2), 79 (3), 106 (4), 140 (5), 205 (6), 223 (7), 238 (7)
Cap space: $11.9M

Offseason Outlook

Shane Steichen is the new head coach in Indianapolis. He brings his experience with quarterbacks, namely Jalen Hurts, to Indianapolis. The Colts will look for Steichen to develop their next franchise quarterback, one that they will presumably take in the NFL Draft next month.

Outside of the quarterback position, the Colts need to add a wide receiver and tight end on the offensive side of the ball. They’ll also need to retain or replace a few offensive linemen and fill some holes on defense.

But for now, their No. 1 focus is on landing that next franchise quarterback.