When Seth McGowan was a freshman running back at Oklahoma in 2020, he was arrested for stealing marijuana, jewelry and cash, pleaded guilty, served three months in jail, and was kicked off the team. McGowan wouldn’t play college football again until 2023, then played for three schools in three seasons before the Colts drafted him last week.
Colts General Manager Chris Ballard says he believes McGowan’s checkered past is behind him, and the team is confident in giving him a chance in the NFL.
“I’m a second chance guy,” Ballard said. “How long do you keep punishing him for it?”
After leaving Oklahoma, McGowan spent time at Texas College but never played a game there, then went to Butler Community College in 2023 and returned to the football field, then transferred to New Mexico State in 2024 and transferred again to Kentucky in 2025. Ballard said he knows all about McGowan’s history.
“Seth is a guy we’ve been watching for a while,” Ballard said. “He had the incident when he was at Oklahoma which we know and we vetted hard. His relationship with our running back coach, our relationship with coaches at Kentucky and at New Mexico State — I’ve known the head coach at New Mexico State for a lot of years — and they all they all speak very highly of the young man and who he is and how he works.”
Ballard said his friendship with New Mexico State head coach Tony Sanchez contributed to his confidence in McGowan.
“I don’t know if he really wanted to leave New Mexico State, but just financially it was so he didn’t have a choice,” Ballard said. “That’s kind of what Tony had said to me. He said, ‘Look, Chris, he needed to go just ‘cause financially it was the best thing for him.’ So, you know, he’s had a good track record. Feel good about who he is as you learn your lesson, you make a mistake, you pay the price for it, and then you move on.”
The Vikings signed defensive lineman Eric Johnson on Wednesday, the team announced.
Johnson, 27, spent last season with the Colts. He played 12 games, seeing action on 131 defensive snaps and 16 on special teams, and totaled six tackles.
He entered the league as a fifth-round pick of the Colts in 2022.
Johnson spent his first two seasons in Indianapolis before the Patriots claimed him off waivers out of the preseason in 2024. He played 11 games for New England.
Johnson rejoined the Colts in May 2025 when they claimed him off waivers from the Patriots.
He has appeared in 51 games, recording 41 tackles, including two for loss, with one sack, three quarterback hits and one fumble recovery.
Colts General Manager Chris Ballard would like to trade quarterback Anthony Richardson, and he’s willing to wait for an offer.
Asked if he heard anything during the draft from teams interested in trading for Richardson, Ballard said he did not.
“Nothing yet, no. Nothing yet,” Ballard said.
Asked if it surprised him not to get any calls about Richardson, Ballard answered, “Nothing surprises me anymore.”
“We’ll have a little patience here and see what happens,” Ballard said. “We’ll let it play out as it does over time.”
The Colts would love to have some team take Richardson’s salary off their hands. Richardson has a cap hit of $10.8 million this year, 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.
Unfortunately for the Colts, so far they haven’t found a team willing to take Richardson on and take the $5.4 million cap hit.
Richardson, the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, is still recovering from an eye injury he suffered last October, but he is expected to be good to go for offseason work, whenever he has a team to work for.
The Colts are finally on the board in the 2026 draft.
At No. 53 overall, Indianapolis has selected linebacker CJ Allen out of Georgia.
Allen played his entire collegiate career at Georgia, playing 41 games with 30 starts. He was a first-team All-SEC honoree, leading the team in forced fumbles, tackles, and tackles for loss in 2025. He finished the season with 88 tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and four passes defended.
Allen has a chance to step in and help replace Zaire Franklin, who was traded to the Packers this offseason.
The Colts were originally slated to pick at No. 47 on Friday night but traded down with the Steelers instead. The club’s first-round pick went to the Jets during the season as part of the deal for cornerback Sauce Gardner.
The Colts were set to make their first pick of the 2026 draft at No. 47 overall. But that’s not going to be the case.
Pittsburgh has traded up to No. 47 and has selected receiver Germie Bernard out of Alabama.
Bernard spent one season at Michigan State, one season at Washington, and two seasons with Alabama in his collegiate career. In 2025, he caught 64 passes for 862 yards with seven touchdowns. He led the team in receptions in 2024 and 2025.
So, after Pittsburgh’s mix-up with Makai Lemon on Thursday night, the Steelers have picked up a young receiver.
The Steelers sent No. 53, No. 135, and No. 237 to the Colts in exchange for No. 47 and No. 249.
Indianapolis’ first pick in 2026 now set for No. 53.
