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Pittman “basically admitted after the Colts’ regular-season finale that he might have played his last game for the franchise.” The franchise stalwart has a $29 million cap hit in 2026 and would free up $24 million for the Colts if he were cut. Entering his age-29 season, it’s possible that Pittman generates some low-end trade interest ahead of free agency if he’s willing to restructure his contract for other teams. It’s also possible the Colts simply cut him or restructure him and keep him.

He also notes that Chris Ballard “openly theorized about [Riley] Leonard being the team’s backup in 2026" while saying that he believes both Richardson and the team could benefit from a divorce. We doubt that Richardson would bring back much draft capital at this point, but every bit of it might matter for a team that dealt two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner. Richardson could be a low-cost or rehab option for teams this offseason in what looks to be a pretty barren quarterback market.

An exclusive rights free agent, Ajiake had 32 tackles and played 70 percent of the Colts special teams snaps this year. He also saw some sparse time at linebacker, with 157 defensive snaps over 16 games. The Colts also agreed to terms with RB Ulysses Bentley IV, CB Wyett Ekeler, DE Viliami Fehoko Jr., G LaDarius Henderson, QB Seth Henigan, T Bayron Matos, C Jimmy Morrissey, TE Sean McKeon, S Trey Washington, WR Coleman Owen, DT Tim Smith, G Bill Murray, DE Durell Nchami, S Ben Nikkel, WR Eli Pancol and G Josh Sills on reserve/future contracts.

They’re the second team to add the Colts DC to their interview list, after the Titans. Anarumo appears to have rejuvenated his reputation after being fired in Cincinnati after 2024 in a hurry. The Colts finished 23rd in yards allowed and 21st in points allowed, with their best finish in any category being allowing only 3.9 rushing yards per attempt.

One of four requests on the day for the Titans, Anarumo was a finalist for the Cardinals job in 2023 when it went to Jonathan Gannon, but saw only defensive coordinator requests last offseason after he was fired. The Colts defense was more scrappy than terrific in 2025 — though they dealt with plenty of injuries at the cornerback position that helps explain some of that — but NFL decision-makers continue to be enamored with Anarumo anyway.

For his part, Jones also told reporters in a locker room availability that he’d like to be back. Finding the right contract for a quarterback coming off a late-season Achilles tear could be a little difficult, but it sure sounds like Indianapolis’ initial plan is to run back the first part of the 2025 season and hope that the last seven games don’t happen again.

Ward is quoted as saying that even a small bump on his head in normal day-to-day activity recently left him with a debilitating migraine, and adds: “I do know going into next season, if I do come back and play again, if I get one more (concussion), I’ll for sure probably retire.” A big-name free agent addition by the Colts this past offseason, Ward was only able to play seven games while dealing with brain injuries.

After falling from 8-2 to out of the playoffs it’s a mild surprise that both will return. The Colts would probably be hardpressed to do better than Steichen as an offensive mind, so that part makes some sense even if he hasn’t made the playoffs yet. But Ballard’s trade for Sauce Gardner has left the franchise without a first-round pick in 2026 or 2027 and has almost forced them to look into retaining Daniel Jones off a torn Achilles. Ballard hasn’t won a playoff game since 2018. Principal owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon will speak with the media tomorrow.

Cox barely cracked 100 yards for the season with this effort, leading a major comeback effort with 58 receiving yards in his last three games to get it done. He’ll be ticketed for free agency this offseason and the Colts let him languish there before re-signing him just ahead of the draft in 2025, so the 32-year-old is no guarantee to be back.

Through the first 10 weeks of the season, Pittman was averaging 5.4 catches and 58 yards with six touchdowns. Afterwards, with Daniel Jones hurt and then out for the year, he had just one game with more than 10 targets and cracked 35 yards just once from Weeks 11-17. Entering his age-29 season, Pittman has a wide range of offseason outcomes. His $29 million cap hit is prohibitive enough that the Colts could release him, trade him, or re-sign him to lower his cap hit. All that we’re sure about is he’s not playing on that cap number. Alec Pierce could re-sign with the Colts, or he could move on and vacate targets. Pittman’s upside case is in the WR2 range, but the median in his range of outcomes is probably more like a high-end WR4.