The Colts will not exercise the fifth-year option on quarterback Anthony Richardson’s rookie contract, Mike Chappell of Fox 59 reports.
That was expected as the Colts seek to trade Richardson.
General Manager Chris Ballard said Saturday that he “hadn’t given too much thought” about the fifth-year option that would have paid Richardson $22.483 million for 2027. But the Colts faced a Friday deadline for a decision.
It didn’t take much consideration as Richardson, the fourth overall pick in 2023, has started only 15 games due to injuries and inconsistency. He is still recovering from an eye injury from last October.
Richardson has requested a trade, and if the Colts can’t find a trade partner, they will have to decide whether to release Richardson. The Colts have Richardson, Riley Leonard and Seth Henigan behind Daniel Jones on their depth chart.
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The Colts have dropped four players from their roster.
They announced on Thursday that they have waived defensive end Villami Fehoko and linebacker Joseph Vaughn. They also released offensive lineman Bill Murray and waived offensive lineman Jack Wilson with an injury designation. Wilson will revert to injured reserve if he isn’t claimed.
Murray is the only member of the quartet who has appeared in a regular season game. He played in one game for the Patriots in 2022 and three games for the Bears during the 2024 season.
The Colts have not announced any undrafted free agent signings yet, but will likely have some to share ahead of next week’s rookie minicamp.
Quarterback Daniel Jones performed well in his first season with the Colts before suffering a torn Achilles late in December — so well that the club rewarded him with a two-year, $88 million deal despite the injury.
But Jones is, by all accounts, progressing well through his rehab and could be available to begin the regular season in September. With Jones’ new contract, the Colts have a clear belief in the QB to pick up where he left off whenever he’s healthy.
In a recent interview with the Rich Eisen Show, Colts G.M. Chris Ballard noted that there was one factor about Jones’ game he found surprising — comparing Jones to a former Pro Bowler.
“We had Alex Smith in Kansas City, and they’re a lot alike,” Ballard said. “How they prepare for the game, how steady they are day-to-day — there’s a lot of similarities. And then I probably underestimated his accuracy coming in the door. This dude is accurate, man. And when he’s in rhythm and really in a groove, he is excellent.
“Those are the things that — we had scouted Daniel, but until you live with somebody, you don’t know them. So, living with him every day, seeing his consistency, seeing him not get too high or too low, all those things bode well for the Colts and for his future. He’s really good, Rich. This guy’s talented and good.”
Jones, who turns 29 next month, completed 68.0 percent of his passes for 3,101 yards with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions before suffering his injury. He started 13 games for Indianapolis last season after beating out Anthony Richardson to be the team’s QB1.
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.
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.
