Colts Clips
Wide receiver Alec Pierce signed a four-year extension to stay with the Colts last month, but he won’t be taking part in the team’s offseason program.
Colts General Manager Chris Ballard told reporters at a Monday press conference that Pierce had ankle surgery after dealing with pain throughout the 2025 season. Pierce is on a three-month recovery timetable, so the team is expecting to have him back on the field at training camp this summer.
Ballard said there was conversation about the injury before Pierce signed his new deal and they do not expect there to be any long-term impact on his play.
Quarterback Daniel Jones (Achilles) and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (neck) are among the other Colts players making their way back to full strength ahead of the 2026 season. The Colts hope to have all three of them in the lineup for Week 1 this fall.
The Colts will not have at least two players around their voluntary offseason work.
According to multiple reporters, General Manager Chris Ballard said during his pre-draft press conference on Monday that both quarterback Anthony Richardson and cornerback Kenny Moore are not going to attend the offseason program, as both players are seeking a trade.
Via Nathan Brown of the Indianapolis Star, Ballard said Moore felt “it was time for a change” and because of the team’s respect for him, “We said OK.”
Richardson lost the QB competition to Daniel Jones last year. The No. 4 pick of the 2023 draft then was out for most of the season due to an orbital fracture suffered in a freak pregame accident.
With the draft upcoming, Richardson and Moore could find new playing homes as soon as this week.
The NFL has announced the names of the current and former players that will take part in next week’s draft by announcing second-round picks.
The list includes players associated with all 32 teams, including Cardinals running back James Conner. Conner has strong ties to the Pittsburgh area after playing for the Steelers and attending Pitt, which likely made him an easy choice as the Cardinals’ representative.
Former Bears tackle Jimbo Covert, former Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett, former Chiefs defensive lineman Bill Maas, current Vikings tackle Brian O’Neill, former Jets running back Curtis Martin, and former 49ers punter Andy Lee are other Pitt alums who are set to take part.
The hometown team will be represented by four players. Former Steelers Jerome Bettis and John Stallworth will be joined by Joey Porter Sr. and Jr. next Friday.
The other players taking part and their team affiliations appear below:
Falcons: Michael Turner
Ravens: Mark Ingram
Bills: Shane Conlan
Panthers: Jake Delhomme
Bengals: Ken Anderson
Browns: Phil Dawson
Cowboys: Drew Pearson
Broncos: T.J. Ward
Lions: Calvin Johnson
Packers: John Kuhn
Texans: Billy Miller
Colts: Pat McAfee
Jaguars: Paul Posluszny
Raiders: Matt Millen
Chargers: Shawne Merriman
Rams: Tavon Austin
Dolphins: Dwight Stephenson
Patriots: Deion Branch
Saints: Marques Colston
Giants: Osi Umenyiora
Eagles: Brian Westbrook
Seahawks: Cliff Avril
Buccaneers: Ronde Barber
Titans: Jeffery Simmons
Commanders: Mark Rypien
Nasir Adderley is officially back in the league.
After ending his three-year retirement, Adderley has signed with the Colts, the team announced on Tuesday.
Adderley, 28, retired after completing his rookie contract with the Chargers following the 2022 season. He appeared in 50 games with 44 starts for Los Angeles, recording 12 passes defensed, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles.
A second-round pick in 2019, Adderley was a free agent when he retired, giving him the ability to now sign with any team.
Adderley announced on social media in February that he intended to return to the NFL.
Indianapolis previously added safeties Jonathan Owens and Juanyeh Thomas in free agency this offseason.
The one certainty in the 2026 NFL Draft is that Fernando Mendoza will be selected first overall by the Raiders and most people think Ty Simpson will be the second quarterback off the board, but a lot is up in the air at the position from there.
Colt Payton is one of the quarterbacks vying for a shot in the league and Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that he is visiting the Colts on Monday.
Payton was only a one-year starter at North Dakota State, but saw action as a runner throughout his time in college and ran for 13 scores during the 2023 season. He was 161-of-224 for 2,719 yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions in 2025 and also ran for 777 and 13 more touchdowns.
Daniel Jones is back as the starter for the Colts with Riley Leonard and Anthony Richardson also on the roster. The Colts have been trying to trade Richardson and doing so would open a spot for a third quarterback in Indianapolis.
The Colts are trying to move cornerback Kenny Moore.
Indianapolis and Moore have mutually agreed to seek a trade, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Moore, 30, is entering the last year of his contract and is set to make $9.49 million in base salary for 2026. Trading him would save Indianapolis $7.06 million against the cap.
Moore entered the league as an undrafted free agent back in 2017 with the Patriots, but did not make the club’s 53-man roster. He was claimed off waivers by the Colts and has been with the club ever since.
In 2025, Moore appeared in 14 games with seven starts, recording six passes defensed, an interception, and two forced fumbles. Moore has played a total of 132 games with 111 starts since 2017, picking off 21 passes with 68 passes defensed.
Having won the CFP National Championship with Indiana in January, running back Kaelon Black has a busy pre-draft schedule.
Black has several teams on his list for pre-draft, top 30 visits, including the Jets, Broncos, Panthers, Colts, Texans, Dolphins, Packers, Vikings, Patriots, and Raiders, a source with knowledge of the situation tells PFT.
He may also meet with the Bengals.
Black played under head coach Curt Cignetti at James Madison for two years before transferring to follow Cignetti to Indiana in 2024.
He rushed for 251 yards for Indiana in 2024 before becoming one of the Hoosiers’ two 1,000-yard backs in 2025, finishing the season with 1,040 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 36 yards.
Former Louisville wide receiver Chris Bell is set for a busy week.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Bell is visiting with the Jets on Tuesday. He’ll then head to Indianapolis for a meeting with the Colts and a Combine medical recheck.
Bell tore his ACL in a November game last year, which is why he’ll be heading for another medical check this week. He had 72 catches for 917 yards and six touchdowns before his injury and 151 catches for 2,166 yards and 12 touchdowns over his entire run with the Cardinals.
Rapoport adds that Bell is also slated to meet with the Raiders and Cowboys ahead of the draft later this month.
Former Colts quarterback Andrew Luck has rejected a claim that the team’s General Manager Chris Ballard influenced his retirement decision ahead of the 2019 season.
Word of Luck’s retirement surfaced during a preseason game that August and Luck explained the decision as a result of the effect that numerous injuries had on his physical and mental health. During an episode of his podcast On My Soul, former Colts tight end Eric Ebron suggested there was more to it than that.
Ebron said Ballard, who he described as someone who “gets on everyone’s nerves,” told Luck “you’re either playing this year or we’re moving on.” Luck was dealing with an ankle injury at the time and, per Ebron, felt he was “not going to be ready” and made the choice to retire given the way Ballard laid things out.
In an email to Mike Chappell of Fox 59, Luck said that was not the way things unfolded.
“Chris and I had a wonderful partnership, especially through my decision to retire, and we remain close,’’ Luck wrote. “Any notion of internal pressures that influenced my decision are without merit.’’
The Colts have played one playoff game since Luck retired and have struggled to find a long-term answer at quarterback over that time. They hope it will be Daniel Jones after signing him to a new deal this offseason and having that bet pay off would help put the Luck discourse to rest once and for all.
Offseason programs will start getting underway around the NFL next week.
The ten teams that hired new coaches this offseason will be eligible to start working with their players on Monday, April 6. The Ravens are the only team that has set that as their first day of work while the Cardinals, Falcons, Bills, Browns, Raiders, Dolphins, Giants, Steelers and Titans have set Tuesday as their opening day.
All of those teams will also be able to hold a voluntary minicamp later in the spring. Every team is also scheduled to hold a rookie minicamp and a mandatory minicamp over the course of the next few months.
The first two weeks of work for all teams is limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation only. The three-week second phase allows for on-field work, but no full-speed team drills while the third OTA phase allows for team drills, but there is no live contact allowed at any point in the offseason.
Most of the 22 teams with returning coaches will be opening their offseason programs on April 20 or 21. The Broncos have set May 4 as their first day.
