The Colts are not scheduled to be on the clock at all in the first round of the draft on Thursday night because of a trade they made during the 2025 season.
Indianapolis sent their 2026 and 2027 first-round picks to the Jets in order to acquire cornerback Sauce Gardner in a move that signaled the Colts felt they were in position to make a run at the Super Bowl. Injuries to Gardner and quarterback Daniel Jones contributed to a season-ending seven-game losing streak that kept the Colts from even making the playoffs and led to some criticism of how much they gave up in order to add Gardner to the roster.
Jones is progressing in his Achilles rehab and Gardner said this week that he’s fully healthy ahead of a season that some will view as a further referendum on the wisdom of the trade. Gardner said he does not feel any added burden because of the circumstances that brought him to the team.
“I’m the first-round pick — I’m the first-round pick two times,” Gardner said, via Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. “We’re gonna get our money. We’re gonna do our thing on defense, especially, but the whole team is gonna do our thing. There’s no pressure. We think about what we do have, and that’s me. If I’ve gotta be the first-round pick the next two years, then I’m gonna work regardless. There’s already a lot on my plate, me being me, but it ain’t nothin’ I can’t handle, and I feel like we’ve got the guys to get where we wanna go, and bare minimum, that’s getting to the playoffs. I’m very confident in this team, in general, and the coaches and players and everything.”
The Colts have not been to the playoffs since 2020 and falling short again would not do much to support the rationale for the Gardner move. It also wouldn’t do much to ensure continuity on the coaching staff and personnel department heading into the 2027 season, so the corner might be on an island when it comes to feeling no pressure at this point.
Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner underwent surgery earlier this offseason to repair a herniated disc that led to a compressed nerve in his neck.
The painful injury sidelined Buckner for seven of the Colts’ final eight games.
Buckner, 32, recently began plyometric workouts to test his mobility and returned to running this week.
He said Tuesday that a return for training camp remains possible.
“Obviously when things like that happen, I found myself [having] some deep, dark thoughts about what I’m gonna do. . . . Just talking through all the emotions,” Buckner said, via James Boyd of TheAthletic.com. “I’m gonna do whatever it takes to be out there by Week 1.”
The three-time Pro Bowler is entering the final year of his contract, scheduled to make a $13 million base salary and count $26.6 million against the salary cap.
Colts General Manager Chris Ballard provided a positive update on Daniel Jones’s recovery from a torn Achilles on Monday and head coach Shane Steichen delivered another one on Tuesday.
Steichen said that Jones has resumed dropping back and throwing after suffering the injury on December 7. Given where Jones is at this point in his rehab, Steichen said, via the team’s website, that the Colts “anticipate him being ready for training camp.”
If that’s the case, the next question will be whether Jones is ready to go in Week 1.
“I know he’s ripping and roaring and ready to go, but we gotta be smart,” Steichen said.
Jones had the same surgeon as Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who returned to action nine months after tearing his Achilles and has played well since getting back on the court. Steichen said he has spoken with Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and that Jones is approaching rehab “the same way” that Tatum did. The Colts will be hoping the similarities between the two players continues over the coming months.
Colts General Manager Chris Ballard would like to trade quarterback Anthony Richardson, but he hasn’t found a partner yet.
Ballard said there have been trade talks surrounding Richardson but didn’t sound like much progress has been made on actually getting a deal done.
“We’ve had some calls, but nothing’s come to fruition at this time,” Ballard said, via Colts.com. “So at this point he’s still an Indianapolis Colt.”
Richardson has a cap hit of $10.8 million this year, all of which will count toward the Colts’ cap if he remains on the team. But if Richardson is traded without any contract adjustment, his cap hit would be about $5.4 million for the Colts and $5.4 million for his new team. Ballard would likely jump at any team offering anything to take half of Richardson’s cap hit off the Colts’ hands.
That a deal hasn’t gotten done yet likely means teams offering to trade for Richardson are only willing to do so if there’s an agreement by either the Colts or Richardson to make a contract adjustment that lessens the cap hit on Richardson’s new team.
Richardson, the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, is still recovering from an eye injury he suffered last October, but he has been cleared for offseason work. The only question is whether he’ll ever return to work for the Colts, or if the next time he’s on a practice field, it’s for some other team.
Colts cornerback Kenny Moore is not participating in the team’s voluntary offseason work after requesting a trade earlier this month.
General Manager Chris Ballard indicated the Colts could give Moore a courtesy release if the team can’t find a trade partner.
“Think very highly of Kenny, not only me personally but organizationally, and I know the city feels the same way,” Ballard said, via Josh Bode of WISHTV.com. “At the end of the day, talking to him, he just felt like it was time for a change. . . . Because of our respect level for Kenny, we said OK. Not always easy, especially when you get a pillar that’s been a pillar, not only on our team but in the community.”
Moore is entering the final season of his contract, scheduled to make a base salary of $9.49 million and count $13.1 million against the cap in 2026. Trading or releasing the slot corner before June 1 would save the Colts $7.06 million with a $6.05 million cap hit.
He has played his entire nine-season career with the Colts, earning Pro Bowl honors in 2021.
