Indianapolis

Colts

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.

The standard pre- and post-Daniel Jones splits for Colts skill players hit Warren. He averaged five receptions and 61.7 yards per game over Indy’s first 10 games. From Weeks 11-17, with Jones injured and later lost for the season, Warren averaged 3.5 catches for 29 yards a game, scoring just once. He remains a plausible TE1, and will have top-five upside cases entering the offseason as the Colts could lose Alec Pierce in free agency and move on from Michael Pittman Jr. Warren isn’t a special mover, but he’s a stellar technician with more tackle-breaking power than you’d expect based on his pure size.

Downs didn’t exactly suffer an efficiency drought. He still caught four touchdowns, he played well when he was healthy. The Colts simply crowded him off the field after drafting Tyler Warren and watching Alec Pierce have a breakout season. Downs played only 58.4 percent of the offensive snaps through Week 17, and only took over 70 percent of the snaps in two games with Philip Rivers towards the end of a doomed season. Entering the final year of his rookie deal, Downs is a plausible WR3 if the Colts move on from Michael Pittman Jr. and/or Pierce. He just needs an every-down role to actually have fantasy value.