Colts cornerback Charvarius Ward suffered three concussions during the 2025 season and he said last month that the repeated head injuries led to thoughts about whether he will continue playing.
Ward had two stints on injured reserve due to the concussions, including one that kept him out for the final month of the regular season, and he said in January that he was still having headaches. Ward also said that his father thinks he should retire, but General Manager Chris Ballard said on Tuesday that Ward appears to be heading in the other direction.
“All indications are he’s wanting to move forward and play,” Ballard said, via Joel Erickson of the Indianapolis Star.
Ward signed a three-year deal with the Colts last offseason and the team later traded for Sauce Gardner, but they only had the duo on the field together once in 2026. It looks like the hope will be that the duo will be in the lineup together more often in 2026.
Anthony Richardson’s first three pro seasons have not gone as he or the Colts would have planned.
But it sounds like Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick of the 2023 draft, should be ready for the start of the offseason program in April after missing most of 2025 due to an orbital fracture from a freak pregame accident.
“He’s getting better,” General Manager Chris Ballard said during his scouting combine press conference on Tuesday. “I know he met with another specialist. He’s getting better. He’s been cleared to play football.
“I’m proud of him. I’m proud of Anthony, man. I mean, here’s a guy that’s had to deal with a lot of injury stuff that happens. Unfortunate accident with his eye. He doesn’t win the job, Daniel [Jones] wins the job. I think the one thing that I don’t know everybody appreciates about Anthony — I do and I know some of his teammates do — he’s a really good teammate. Positive, wants to do the right things. So, it’s trending in the right direction. Still got a ways to go, but he’s cleared to play. And the eye’s getting better. So, we’ll just work from there.”
Richardson briefly appeared in two games in 2025, playing just 14 offensive snaps.
While the Colts seem highly likely to decline Richardson’s fifth-year option this spring, Ballard maintains Richardson could still have a future with Indianapolis.
“I see a future, yeah. I’m not going to — kind of like with any player, you never know what’s going to happen. And things change,” Ballard said. “But, yeah. We like Anthony.”
The Colts have two key offensive pending free agents who they’d like to retain going forward: quarterback Daniel Jones and receiver Alec Pierce.
General Manager Chris Ballard said at his scouting combine press conference that Indianapolis would prefer not to use the franchise tag for either player. But it’s an option if things don’t work out before both players hit the open market at the start of the new league year next month.
“It’s not what we want to do,” Ballard said. “It’s a tool we have. It’s not what we want to do, though.”
That’s part of why this week at the scouting combine is so critical, as agents come to town and start figuring out what the market will be for those pending free agents.
Ballard characterized discussions with both Jones and Pierce’s representation as “very positive.”
“We’ll continue to work this week and see if we can get something done,” Ballard said. “Look, when both sides are driven to get it done, it usually works out in the right way. I know four or five days doesn’t seem like a long time, but it can be in these situations.”
Jones stabilized the QB position for the Colts after years of inconsistent play at that spot, completing 68 percent of his passes for 3,101 yards with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions before suffering a torn Achilles
Pierce, a second-round pick in 2022, has led the league in yards per reception over each of the past two seasons. He finished 2025 with a career-high 1,003 receiving yards and 47 receptions with six touchdowns.
The Colts have until March 3 at 4 p.m. ET to determine whether or not they’ll use the franchise or transition tag this offseason.
The Colts made a great move at quarterback last year, getting quarterback Daniel Jones on a one-year, $14 million deal. Now, they have a big decision to make.
Re-sign Jones, risk letting him become a free agent, or use the franchise tag?
The challenge when it comes to using the franchise tag is obvious. It’s not cheap. The projected 2026 franchise tag for the quarterback position is $47.3 million.
That’s a massive commitment, especially in light of Jones’s current health. He’s recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, with no guarantee that he’ll be 100 percent when the season starts.
On the other hand, they risk losing him to another team that would pay more than whatever the Colts might offer. And the Vikings, in theory, could be lurking.
Last year, the Vikings wanted to pair Jones with J.J. McCarthy. Jones believed that coach Kevin O’Connell would work his usual magic with McCarthy, making it unlikely Jones would play. In Indy, Jones received a full and fair chance to win the job from Anthony Richardson — and Jones did.
This time around, Jones may believe he has a chance to play in Minnesota.
The Vikings developed a high opinion of Jones during their limited time with him in 2024. Their opinion of him was sufficiently high that some believed Jones had a chance to leapfrog Sam Darnold during the playoffs, if the Vikings had managed to win the wild-card game against the Rams.
Regardless, Jones remains under contract with the Colts. They have a week to decide whether to tag him.
The transition tag is also available. It would cost $40 million for 2026, giving them only the right to match an offer sheet.
It all comes down to Jones’s true market. Would someone offer him $40 million per year? But for the Achilles injury, maybe.
That said, the Falcons gave Kirk Cousins $45 million per year in 2024, while he was recovering from the same injury. And the market, as Tua Tagovailoa once said, is the market.
The Colts need to figure out what the market for Jones may be, before deciding whether to apply the franchise tag.
The Colts have announced their coaching staff for the 2026 season.
Head coach Shane Steichen will have five new faces on that staff. The most significant addition is defensive line coach Marion Hobby. Hobby spent last season as a defensive analyst at his alma mater Tennessee and the former NFL defensive lineman has also been a position coach for the Bengals, Dolphins, Jaguars and Saints.
Strength and conditioning assistant Tyrell Brown, defensive quality control coach Jeremy Bruce, defensive quality control coach Dillon Doyle, and game management coordinator Aditya Krishnan are the other new hires. Performance science analyst Mikey Blazejowski, assistant defensive line coach Kalon Humphries, offensive quality control coach Diego Ortiz, and offensive quality control coach Brent Stockstill have new titles.
Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, special teams coordinator Brian Mason, linebackers coach James Bettcher, Harriet P. Irsay fellow Isabel Diaz, strength and conditioning assistant Zane Fakes, senior assistant special teams coach Joe Hastings, defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson, pass game coordinator/secondary coach Chris Hewitt, senior strength and conditioning coach Richard Howell, assistant to the head coach TJ Ingels, assistant linebackers coach Cato June, strength and conditioning assistant/performance therapist Sam Khym, tight ends coach Tom Manning, director of sports performance Mike Minnis, running backs coach DeAndre Smith, offensive line coach Tony Sparano Jr., passing game coordinator Alex Tanney, quarterbacks coach Cam Turner, assistant offensive line coach Mike Watt, and wide receivers coach Reggie Wayne return from the 2025 season.
