One of the final steps of Colts quarterback Daniel Jones’s return from a torn Achilles will have to wait until training camp.
Jones will not do any 11-on-11 work during this week’s mandatory minicamp. Jones moved up to 7-on-7 drills earlier in the offseason program and said on Tuesday that he asked to move up to full team work, but the Colts will opt to wait for camp to move forward on that front. Jones also gave a snapshot of where he feels he stands on the path back toward full strength.
“I think I’m closer,” Jones said. “I think there’s still work to be done. I wouldn’t say I’m all the way there at this point. I feel good about where I am and where the rehab’s taken me to this point. Still work to do and still got to make some progress, but I feel like I’m in a good spot.”
While Jones will be waiting to move up to 11-on-11 work, a couple of other Colts will be waiting to do any on-field work at all. Wide receiver Alec Pierce (ankle) and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (neck) won’t practice this week, and head coach Shane Steichen said that the plan is to get both players on the field when the team reports to training camp this summer.
Colts Clips
Safety Reuben Lowery has taken himself out of the running for a spot in the Colts’ secondary.
The Colts announced that they have placed Lowery on the reserve/retired list on Tuesday. The move removes Lowery from their 90-man roster and the team will hold onto Lowery’s rights in the event he decides to return to the league.
Lowery signed with the Ravens after going undrafted last season and joined the Colts as a waiver claim in November. He played in three games for Baltimore, but did not appear in any games after changing teams.
Lowery was credited with five tackles for the Ravens.
Word emerged recently that ESPN and Pat McAfee are discussing an extension to a contract that runs through 2028. On Tuesday, a number surfaced.
Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reports that the new deal would pay McAfee more than $60 million per year.
That’s franchise quarterback money. Hell, it’s nearly NFL Commissioner money.
Yes, McAfee pays his production costs out of his own pocket. Still, $60 million is $60 million.
Per the report, McAfee could emerge with a bigger role in ESPN’s NFL coverage.
Currently, McAfee’s total deal with ESPN is in the range of $30 million per year, according to Marchand. He reportedly gets $17 million for his weekday show. Which means he gets another $13 million for College GameDay and other ESPN work.
It’s unclear whether the higher rate would kick in after the current deal expires, or whether the bump would go into effect right away.
McAfee’s agents reportedly made an opening ask of $100 million per year. Which suggests that ESPN was likely in the range of $40 million with its opener — and ESPN had room to move into the $60 million range.
The news comes at a time when ESPN is planning another round of layoffs, sparked by the recent acquisition of NFL Network.
If/when the deal is done, look for reports to eventually emerge regarding Stephen A. Smith’s contract. Although they try to downplay it, there’s a rivalry there. And when one sets a new bar, the other will try to beat it.
Once the new deal is done, that bar will be higher than ever. Chances are that McAfee’s reps were already getting feelers as to what others (like Amazon or Netflix) would pay to snatch his show away from ESPN. Which forced ESPN to move before McAfee got close enough to his expiration date to strike a deal to make another jump to a new operation.
The Colts have their entire draft class under contract.
They signed the final two of their eight picks on Tuesday, with offensive guard Jalen Farmer and linebacker Bryce Boettcher.
The Colts selected Farmer in the fourth round (No. 113 overall). He appeared in 28 career games with 24 starts at Kentucky (2024-25) and Florida (2022-23).
In 2024 and 2025, Farmer started all 24 games at right guard. While at Florida, he appeared in four games with the Gators from 2022-23.
The Colts selected Boettcher in the fourth round (No. 135 overall). He played in 55 career games with 30 starts at Oregon (2022-25) and recorded 269 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, four sacks, 11 passes defensed, two interceptions, four forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
In 2025, Boettcher started all 15 games and registered 136 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, one sack, six passes defensed, one interception and two forced fumbles. He also registered a rushing touchdown. Boettcher led the Big Ten in tackles, which was the most by a Duck since 1979.
He was a second-team All-Big Ten choice.
Colts quarterback Daniel Jones took another step toward returning to the team’s lineup at Monday’s OTA practice.
Jones was cleared to take part in 7-on-7 work for the first time since tearing his Achilles last season. Jones had been doing individual work throughout the team’s offseason program and head coach Shane Steichen said the team will move him back into full team drills once they get to training camp this summer.
“It’s just making those strides each and every week and to get him out there at seven-on-seven was huge. . . . We always want to be smart,” Steichen said, via the team’s website. “It’s spring, we don’t play for a while, so we got to be smart with his injury. But he’s making great progress.”
Jones said last week that he expects to be ready to play in Week 1 against the Ravens and hitting another milestone in the process this week is a good sign that he’ll be able to take on a full workload in camp. If that’s the case, there’s little reason to think he won’t be taking snaps on September 13.
The Colts added another quarterback to the roster on Monday.
They announced the signing of Easton Stick and he will join Daniel Jones, Anthony Richardson, and Riley Leonard on the depth chart in Indianapolis. Stick spent last season with the Falcons and did not play in any regular season games. He started four games for the Chargers in 2023 and spent five years as a backup in Los Angeles overall.
Stick will take the place of Seth Henigan, who was waived in a corresponding move.
The Colts also signed center Josh Kreutz and cornerback Jai’Onte’ McMillan. Both players went undrafted earlier this year.
Cornerback Wyett Ekeler and guard LaDarius Henderson were waived to round out all of the day’s moves.
The Colts have announced that Hall of Fame receiver Raymond Berry, who won two NFL titles with the Colts and later coached the Patriots to their first Super Bowl appearance, has died. He was 93.
In 13 NFL seasons after arriving in Baltimore as a 20th-round draft pick in 1954, Berry caught 631 passes for 9,275 yards and 68 touchdowns in 154 regular-season games. He was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1950s, the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, and the NFL 100 All-Time Team.
The Colts won the NFL championship in 1958 and 1959. In the epic 1958 title game (known as the Greatest Game Ever Played), Berry caught 12 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown in a 23-17 overtime victory against the Giants.
Berry was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973.
Immediately after his playing career ended, Berry went into coaching. After serving as a receivers coach with the Cowboys (1968-69), the University of Arkansas (1970-72), the Lions (1973-75), the Browns (1976-77), and the Patriots (1978-81), he returned to New England as the head coach in 1984.
In his second season, the Patriots advanced to Super Bowl XX against the Bears.
Berry coached the Patriots through 1989, generating a record of 51-41. He worked as quarterbacks coach for the Lions in 1991 and the Broncos in 1992.
Berry is a member of the Baltimore Ravens’ Ring of Honor, along with seven other Baltimore Colts players. His No. 82 was retired by the Colts.
We extend our condolences to Berry’s family, friends, and colleagues.
Quarterback Anthony Richardson asked for a trade away from the Colts this offseason, but no deal came and Richardson is now taking part in the team’s offseason workouts.
Richardson is competing for the No. 2 quarterback job with Riley Leonard and he was asked on Wednesday whether it feels awkward to be practicing with the team after spending the offseason in search of a new home.
“No, I don’t think so. I signed a contract,” Richardson said. “I was still on this team before the trade stuff. I’ve got an obligation to this team to come out here and play and perform, be ready to play if they need me. I don’t think it’s weird or awkward.”
Richardson said he just wanted to get back to work after missing most of last season with an eye injury and declined to say if he’s still hoping for a trade.
“I’m not really focused on that right now,” Richardson said. “I’m here right now. I’m just trying to make sure I’m staying healthy and keeping everything up there in the mind.”
Richardson’s three years in the NFL have featured a mix of injuries and underwhelming play, which helps to explain why trade interest has not materialized. That may leave winning the backup job to Daniel Jones as his best path to seeing the field in 2026.
A veteran receiver is hanging up his cleats.
The Cowboys placed Parris Campbell on the reserve/retired list on Wednesday, according to the league’s daily transaction wire.
Campbell, 28, was a Colts second-round pick in 2019. But he had a lot of trouble staying healthy in his first few years before playing all 17 games in 2022. That was his best season, as he caught 63 passes for 623 yards with three touchdowns.
Since then, Campbell has bounced around the NFC East. He played 12 games for the Giants in 2023 before winning Super Bowl LIX with the Eagles, appearing in all three postseason games for the club.
Campbell spent last season on Dallas’ practice squad, appearing in just one game.
In his seven seasons, Campbell caught a total of 123 passes for 1,117 yards with six TDs.
Colts quarterback Daniel Jones was not able to participate in 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 drills during Wednesday’s OTA practice open to media.
But Jones was able to take part in individual drills, representing a positive step as he continues his rehab process after suffering a torn Achilles in December.
Jones told reporters after Wednesday’s session that he “absolutely” is still expecting to start the Colts’ Week 1 matchup against the Ravens.
“Definitely still work to be done and progress to be made,” Jones said, via James Boyd of TheAthletic.com. “So, I think it’s just continuing to get stronger, continuing to run faster, cut harder, and progress, kind of, according to the program.
“But it’s been good. I think we’ve hit all our marks so far, and we’ll continue to do that.”
Jones added that he’s feeling good and that it’s helpful to be able to come out and be a part of things with his teammates.
Before his injury last season, Jones completed 68 percent of his passes for 3,101 yards with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 13 games.
