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Indianapolis Colts News & Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/17/22

September 17th, 2022 at 7:00pm CST by Adam La Rose

Today’s minor moves around the league, including practice squad elevations for tomorrow’s action:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

  • Promoted from practice squad: CB Daryl Worley, WR Raleigh Webb

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

New York Jets

New Orleans Saints

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

Colts Elevate WR Keke Coutee, K Chase McLaughlin

September 17th, 2022 at 6:05pm CST by Adam La Rose

The wide receiver and kicker positions are in flux in Indianapolis at the moment, so it comes as no surprise that each are being addressed with their two allotted practice squad elevations. Per a team announcement, the Colts are bringing up Keke Coutee and Chase McLaughlin to the active roster. 

Coutee, 25, is continuing his Colts tenure which began last season. The former Texans fourth-rounder spent three years in Houston, setting career highs in receptions (33), yards (400) and touchdowns (three) in 2020. His 11.3 yards-per-catch average throughout his time with his first team made the slot man an intriguing candidate for a reserve/futures deal.

While the 5-11, 180-pounder was among the Colts’ final roster cuts before the start of the season, he returned to their taxi squad. That left the door open to him playing a potential rotational role, but he could see a significant workload tomorrow given the injuries to top wideouts Michael Pittman Jr. and Alec Pierce. Coutee will join Parris Campbell, Ashton Dulin, Mike Strachan, and Dezmon Patmon in trying to replace those two.

McLaughlin, meanwhile, has obviously gotten the nod over undrafted rookie Lucas Havrisik to step in for Rodrigo Blankenship. The latter was waived earlier this week, after his struggles greatly contributed to the Colts having to settle for a Week 1 tie. McLaughlin finished the 2019 campaign in Indianapolis, making five of his six field goal attempts. The team will look for him to replicate that level of success, after he went just 15-for-21 with the Browns last season.

The Colts will lean on Coutee and McLaughlin tomorrow as they look to get in the win column against the Jaguars. The pair could play their way into a full-time roster spot with encouraging performances at positions of need, making their contributions a storyline to watch.

Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr. Won’t Play Sunday

September 17th, 2022 at 12:17pm CST by Ben Levine

The Colts will have to take on the Jaguars tomorrow without their top wideout. The team announced that wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. has been downgraded to out for tomorrow’s game.

Pittman suffered a quad injury during practice on Wednesday and sat out the rest of the week. It doesn’t sound like the injury is a long-term concern, and there’s a chance he’ll play next weekend against the Chiefs.

The 2020 second-round pick made a name for himself in 2021 after finishing with 1,082 receiving yards and six touchdowns. It didn’t take long for him to build chemistry with Matt Ryan. In Week 1, Pittman hauled in nine of his 13 targets for 121 yards and one touchdown.

The rest of the Colts wide receivers were limited to a combined eight receptions last weekend, so Indy will need someone to step up tomorrow against Jacksonville. The rest of the Colts receiving depth chart consists of Parris Campbell, Ashton Dulin, Mike Strachan, and Dezmon Patmon. Receiver Alec Pierce will also miss tomorrow’s game, so there’s a good chance Indy promotes a fifth receiver from the practice squad (a grouping that includes Ethan Fernea and Keke Coutee).

In addition to Pittman and Pierce, linebacker Shaquille Leonard has also been ruled out for tomorrow’s game.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/14/22

September 14th, 2022 at 6:17pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Detroit Lions

  • Signed: OT Darrin Paulo

Green Bay Packers

  • Signed: S Mike Brown

Indianapolis Colts

Minnesota Vikings

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Colts To Keep Using LT Rotation

September 14th, 2022 at 1:53pm CST by Sam Robinson
  • Potentially the Colts‘ left tackle of the future, Bernhard Raimann backed up Matt Pryor in Week 1. But the Colts used the third-round rookie in a rotation with Pryor. After Raimann played 12 of the five-period game’s 90 left tackle snaps, Frank Reich said (via the Indianapolis Star’s Joel Erickson) he plans to continue rotating his backup in going forward. Left tackle represented the only position at which the Colts deployed a rotation, beginning a path to Raimann seizing this job full-time. The Colts re-signed Pryor on a one-year, $5.55MM deal this offseason, and Erickson offers the 2021 Colts swingman — who has never been a full-time left tackle — could be an option at right guard, should Raimann take over the blindside.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/13/22

September 13th, 2022 at 9:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Hand suffered a torn quad in the Titans’ opener, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). He is undergoing surgery and is expected to miss the rest of the season. A former fourth-round Lions draftee back in 2018, Hand has been with the Titans since last year. He played two defensive snaps Sunday.

Montgomery had battled a knee injury during the run-up to the regular season, but the veteran passing-down back played in the Patriots’ Week 1 contest. Montgomery caught three passes for 15 yards in New England’s loss. The Pats signed Humphrey, a former Saints wideout, midway through the offseason.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/13/22

September 13th, 2022 at 6:17pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s practice squad additions and subtractions:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

  • Signed: DB BoPete Keyes

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

  • Released: WR Dai’Jean Dixon

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Colts To Waive Rodrigo Blankenship, Add Two Kickers To Practice Squad

September 13th, 2022 at 2:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

Back after missing most of last season, Rodrigo Blankenship missed a crucial field goal that would have avoided the Colts’ first tie in 40 years. The team is now moving on from the third-year kicker.

Indianapolis is waiving Blankenship Tuesday, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). The team may be set to hold a pre-Week 2 practice competition. Chase McLaughlin and Lucas Havrisik are signing to the Colts’ practice squad, Pelissero adds (via Twitter). Former Jaguars Matthew Wright and Josh Lambo also worked out for the team Tuesday, per the Indianapolis Star’s Joel Erickson (Twitter links).

This will mark an Indiana return to Indianapolis for McLaughlin, whom the team used during part of the 2019 season. An an Adam Vinatieri injury brought in McLaughlin, who had already kicked in games for the Chargers and 49ers that year. McLaughlin finished the season with the Colts, who replaced him with Blankenship in 2020. McLaughlin went 5-for-6 on field goals with Indy in 2019. He was 15-for-21 in 16 Browns games last season. A UDFA rookie out of Arizona, Havrisik was the Wildcats’ kicker for most of the past five seasons. His two 57-yard makes in college double as the Pac-12 program’s record. Havrisik also participated in the Colts’ rookie minicamp this year.

In addition to his 42-yard overtime miss, Blankenship sent two kickoffs — his final regulation kick and the overtime opener — out of bounds. The Texans scored on neither of the ensuing drives, but some with the Colts were more frustrated with those sequences than the OT field goal miss, The Athletic’s Zak Keefer tweets.

Blankenship has not been the Colts’ primary kickoff man for most of his career. Longtime punter Rigoberto Sanchez handled those duties when available. The latter going down during a training camp practice led to the Colts signing Matt Haack but using their kicker as their kickoff man in Week 1.

Last season, the Colts placed Blankenship on IR — after his injury in Baltimore contributed to a Monday-night collapse — and used Michael Badgley as their kicker in the final 12 games. The team did not bring Badgley to training camp, however, with Keefer adding it viewed rookie UDFA Jake Verity as the higher-upside choice (Twitter link). The Colts waived Verity as they moved their roster to 53.

A former four-year Georgia Bulldogs kicker, Blankenship signed with the Colts as a 2020 UDFA. Blankenship made 87% of his field goals as a rookie, though he was 1-for-3 from beyond 50 yards. This will be the third time in four seasons the Colts will have needed to make an in-season kicker switch. Vinatieri’s early-season struggles in 2019 led to a late-season surgery, beginning the stretch of uncertainty. Prior to that, the most notable in-season kicker change the Colts had made occurred back in 2009, when a Vinatieri injury prompted the eventual AFC champions to sign Matt Stover. Excepting the Stover year, the Colts used two kickers from 1998-2010 — Mike Vanderjagt and Vinatieri.

2022 Offseason In Review Series

September 10th, 2022 at 10:46pm CST by Sam Robinson

This season will feature 12 new Week 1 starting quarterbacks, though the Jets’ decision is the result of an injury rather than a roster move. High-profile wide receivers also changed teams, igniting one of the biggest market shifts a single position has seen. The Offseason In Review series is now complete. Here are the PFR staff’s looks at how the 32 NFL teams assembled their 2022 rosters.

AFC East

AFC North

AFC South

AFC West

NFC East

NFC North

NFC South

NFC West

Colts, G Quenton Nelson Agree To Four-Year Extension

September 10th, 2022 at 10:44pm CST by Ely Allen

The Colts were able to sneak in just under the buzzer, avoiding playing Pro Bowl guard Quenton Nelson this year on the final year of his rookie contract. Nelson and the Colts agreed to a “precedent-setting” four-year, $80MM extension that will include $60MM guaranteed, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

This demolishes the ceiling atop the guard market. Brandon Scherff‘s $16.5MM-per-year Jaguars deal previously held the high-water mark, but Nelson is now on his own tier at the position.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk provides a detailed breakdown, noting that $41MM is guaranteed at signing. That includes a $31MM signing bonus and fully-guaranteed base salaries of $4MM and $6MM in 2022 and ’23, respectively. But it is all but certain that Nelson will hit the $60MM in guarantees that Schefter reported, as an additional $19MM is guaranteed for injury now and becomes fully-guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2023 league year.

The Colts had extended fellow offensive linemen Ryan Kelly and Braden Smith in the last couple of years, so Nelson was, naturally, next in line. General manager Chris Ballard absolutely loves the 26-year-old, calling him a Hall of Fame left guard at times and crediting Nelson as a huge contributor to the success of running back Jonathan Taylor.

Ballard is not off-base at all in his assessment. Since being drafted sixth-overall in 2018, Nelson has been named a first-team All-Pro in every year except last season (when he was named a second-team All-Pro) and has yet to miss being nominated for a Pro Bowl. With just four seasons under his belt, Nelson has the most total All-Pro selections by a guard in franchise history for the Colts and is just the second player in team history to make the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons.

The dependable lineman hadn’t missed a game in his NFL career until he sat out of four contests last season (perhaps the reason he was demoted to only second-team All-Pro). A high ankle sprain caused him to miss three games and he missed a fourth game on the reserve/COVID-19 list later on in the year.

On the point of his health, the Notre Dame alum recently said, “I feel great, no surgeries this offseason. It was just a chance to really work on my body… gaining more range of motion in my joints, more flexibility.”

Talks of reaching an agreement before the start of the regular season were not sounding promising in mid-August, but the eventual deal was considered a “foregone conclusion.” Now the deal is done, and Nelson is the highest-paid guard in NFL history. Nelson is well worth the money and will look to continue his dominant play against the Texans tomorrow.

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