HEADLINES

Wesley French

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/7/24

August 7th, 2024 at 7:38pm CST by Ely Allen

Wednesday’s minor moves:

Cincinnati Bengals

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Claimed off waivers (from Commanders): TE Armani Rogers
  • Waived: WR Shaq Davis

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

The Packers apparently felt it necessary to add another competitor to their position battle at kicker today, signing Hale out of Oklahoma State. The former walk-on from Australia hit on 43 of his 54 field goal attempts as a Cowboy in Stillwater.

Following the retirement of Tarik Cohen, the Jets opted to sign Jackson. The former Colts rusher had some big moments in 2022 while filling in for an injured Jonathan Taylor. He and Vaughn were both participants in a recent workout with the Texans, but Cam Akers walked away from that day with the job.

Lastly, Owens’, son of NFL legend Terrell Owens, time with one of his father’s former teams has come to an end. His pedigree may have assisted in landing an opportunity as an undrafted free agent in San Francisco, but he was unable to stay rostered throughout camp.

Colts C Danny Pinter Out For Season

August 27th, 2023 at 8:48am CST by Rory Parks

Colts center Danny Pinter suffered a broken left ankle during the team’s preseason win over the Eagles on Thursday, as Mike Chappell of Fox 59 writes. Pinter has been placed on injured reserve, and his season is over.

Pinter, a 2020 fifth-round choice, has appeared in 46 games (seven starts) in his first three professional seasons. He opened the 2022 campaign as Indianapolis’ starting right guard but was benched for poor performance after just three games. He handled the bulk of the snaps at center in relief of an injured Ryan Kelly in the Colts’ Week 5 win over the Broncos, was relegated to reserve duty when Kelly returned the following week, and scarcely saw any action the rest of the way.

This season, Pinter was penciled in as Kelly’s primary backup at the pivot. Pinter started three games at the position in 2021 and received a strong 78.4 run-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus for his work, though his subpar 46.0 pass-blocking mark left much to be desired. The Colts did, however, win all three of those contests, and the club values Pinter’s ability to line up at multiple positions along the O-line.

“Danny is a really good player for us,” head coach Shane Steichen said. “To lose a guy like him is very unfortunate for us.”

2022 UDFA Wesley French and 2023 waiver claim Dakoda Shepley are the top internal options to fill the backup center role. However, French has yet to take a regular season snap in the NFL, and Shepley’s only non-special teams action came with the Cowboys last year, when he took eight snaps at center and six at right guard.

Steichen did not commit to either player at this point, saying, “[we’re] working through all of that right now. There are a couple of guys we’re looking at.”

It is possible that the Colts look for external reinforcements with cutdown day looming, especially since they will be starting rookie Anthony Richardson at quarterback.

Colts Cut Roster Down To 53

August 30th, 2022 at 9:07pm CST by Ely Allen

Indianapolis has made a couple headline moves, but, most notably, succeeded in trimming their roster down to 53 players today. Here are the moves that helped them get down to the limit today:

Activated from active/physically unable to perform:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

The biggest stories of the day for the Colts come in the linebacking corps. In addition to adding star linebacker Leonard off the PUP, Indianapolis acquired second-year player Grant Stuard in a trade with Tampa Bay today. Stuard was primarily a special teamer with the Buccaneers last year, playing in every game as a rookie. He’ll go from one stacked linebacker room to another, likely backing up Leonard upon his arrival.

The Colts have quite an interesting rookie class. A sixth-round defensive tackle, Brooks is the only drafted rookie not to make the final roster besides sixth-round tight end Andrew Ogletree who will start his NFL career on injured reserve. None of this is spectacular, though. The interesting part is that Indianapolis will roster four undrafted rookies to start the 2022 NFL season.

Former SMU safety Trevor Denbow finds his way onto the initial 53 after leading the NFL this preseason with five special teams tackles. Cornerback Dallis Flowers can also thank his special teams value as his athleticism was supplemented by a 53-yard kickoff return to help him make the team out of Pitt State. Former Cornhusker JoJo Domann joins Leonard and Stuard in the linebackers room. And the French-Fries offensive line combination stays alive as Wesley French makes the final roster out of Western Michigan.

There were a number of other players who have special teams’ ability to thank for their roster spot in addition to Denbow and Flowers. Running back Deon Jackson played on all punt/kick return/coverage units for the Colts last year, earning him a tightly contested roster spot over Lindsay and Williams. Cornerback Tony Brown was the team’s highest-graded special teams player in the preseason, according to Pro Football Focus, and safety Rodney Thomas II played the third-most special teams snaps on the team.

Finally, the biggest performer of the Colts’ preseason was likely quarterback Sam Ehlinger whose stellar preseason led Indianapolis to roster three quarterbacks going into the season. The former-Longhorn’s impressive preseason play helped him earn a spot on the initial roster despite the Colts already rostering starter Matt Ryan and one of the league’s top backup quarterbacks in Nick Foles.

The Colts will have the opportunity tomorrow to announce any moves to form their 16-man practice squad. Players cut today who have not vested will have to clear waivers before returning to the team.