If you aren’t one of the top teams in the league right now, there’s one commodity worth more than any other. Hope. And the Colts right now have hope. The fact that they almost made the playoffs on the backs of Gardner Minshew should have fans hopeful that they actually cross the barrier into the land of top teams and true Super Bowl contenders. An incredible coaching job by Shane Steichen, an aggressive defense, and a promising young core of weapons with Anthony Richardson, Jonathan Taylor, Josh Downs, and (hopefully) Michael Pittman have to have folks excited. Let’s take a look at the current depth chart, contracts, and free agent options both from an NFL perspective and a fantasy football perspective to see if the Colts can convert that hope into a championship in the near future.

*The salary cap numbers referenced in this article come courtesy of our friends over at Spotrac.com*

Colts Depth Chart for Fantasy Football

Quarterback

Anthony Richardson

Gardner Minshew

Sam Ehlinger

Running Back

Jonathan Taylor

Zack Moss

Evan Hull

Wide Receiver

Michael Pittman

DJ Montgomery

Juwann Winfree

Wide Receiver

Alec Pierce

Ashton Duhlin

 

Wide Receiver

Josh Downs

Isaiah McKenzie

 

Tight End

Jelani Woods

Kylen Granson

Mo Alie-Cox

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White = unrestricted free agent

Green = role is safe

Yellow = role could be in jeopardy

Red = could be traded or released

PROJECTED 2024 SALARIES:~ $184M

ESTIMATED 2024 CAP SPACE: ~$66M

2024 NFL Free Agency Preview for Indianapolis Colts

Quarterback

Anthony Richardson

Sure, he got hurt. Multiple times. But you had to know what you were signing yourself up for with a mobile QB. What you can be happy about is what you saw when he was healthy. Sure he only played two games, but he eclipsed 200 passing yards in both games. It doesn’t seem like much but the concern was that this kid could not throw the ball at the NFL level. He can. And he accumulated four rushing TDs in what amounted to less than three games worth of stats. In both Colts land and fantasy football land, you have to be excited about Anthony Richardson.  

Gardner Minshew

This is interesting. Minshew was hoping to win the starting job (at least for the early season) but that didn’t happen. Instead, Richardson got hurt and he backdoored his way into the job. And then he played well. Minshew still wants to compete for a starting job in this league so he’ll likely take any opportunity he can get if it's out there. If the only roles are strict backup ones, he should strongly consider returning.  

Sam Ehlinger

Ehlinger is an emergency third QB at best.

COLTS QB FREE AGENCY TAKE

We’ve seen it with mobile QBs time and time again - having a strong backup is HUGE. The backup stepping up to win a couple of games can make or break your season. If Minshew isn’t back, there are two flavors of backup QB I’d want to see. The first would be a veteran who can still play in a pinch that can serve as an additional coach. An example would be Andy Dalton behind Bryce Young. The second would be a player who has at least a similar enough skillset to run the offense, like Tyler Huntler behind Lamar Jackson (Huntley does happen to be a free agent, by the way). The following guys below might be the best of both worlds.

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Jacoby Brissett, Tyrod Taylor, Marcus Mariota, Drew Lock

Running back

Jonathan Taylor

They worked out an extension with Jonathan Taylor and he’s a mega star. Not much more honestly needs to be said. Like every great dynasty RB asset, you are happy to have them and you just cross your fingers that they stay healthy.

Zack Moss

Boy, it sure would be great for the Colts to retain Moss on an affordable deal. But he honestly might have played his way into an opportunity elsewhere after some great performances in relief duty. He certainly proved he was more viable in the passing game than we thought. The free agent RB class is deep so the Colts might get lucky here.

Evan Hull

The rookie unfortunately hurt his knee and missed the vast majority of the season so we didn’t really get to see what he can offer. He profiles primarily as a satellite back that contributes to pass-downs the way Nyheim Hines had done in previous years so hopefully he can mix in in 2024.

Tyler Goodson

Goodson surprised by making the roster from the practice squad but the season ended on a terribly low note for him with him dropping a wide-open pass to end their playoff game. He has vowed to bounce back but he needs to make the team first as he can be cut with zero dead cap and $915K in savings this offseason. If he does hang on, they could keep him on a cheap exclusive rights free agent deal in 2025 as well.

COLTS RB FREE AGENCY TAKE

Pretty simple here. If they can retain Zack Moss, they are all set. If they can’t then, at the very least, they’ll need to find someone who can be the backup for short yardage work (with Hull and Goodson handling the pass-down duties). Here are some options that should be affordable.

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Zack Moss, Gus Edwards, D’Onta Foreman, Rashaad Penny, AJ Dillon

Wide Receiver

Michael Pittman

I’m going to be blunt here - they need to retain Michael Pittman at whatever cost. As far as split ends available, Mike Evans is 30 and Tee Higgins is a lateral move at best (while losing the familiarity). Pittman has essentially led all wide receivers in the NFL in snap share when healthy and he’s delivered while being asked, at a young age, to be the top WR in less-than-ideal situations. He should never have made it this far without an extension.

Alec Pierce

The saving grace for Alec Pierce is that he plays a full-time snap share (more on that in the Josh Downs section below). He actually finished as the WR1 in raw snaps and the WR2 in snap share on the season despite finishing as the WR73 in fantasy football. Normally we’d say sell in your dynasty leagues but I doubt anyone is buying so you might have to just hang on and see if he gels with Richardson next year. His roster spot is safe but his role is in danger if they add someone (or Downs overtakes him for snaps).

Josh Downs

Josh Downs for me is a buy in your fantasy leagues. The worst-case scenario is he remains a slot receiver his entire career which still offers some level of productivity. But there is also the chance that he evolves into a player that plays slot in three WR sets and moves to flanker for two WR sets. That’s how we get a year three blowup like we got out of Keenan Allen. That usage is the difference between the rookie production for Tank Dell and the rookie production for Josh Downs. The upside is there.

Isaiah McKenzie

McKenzie was brought in to compete with Josh Downs in the slot but Downs won that job. After being suspended for the remainder of the season for conduct issues, there’s virtually no chance McKenzie is back.

DJ Montgomery

Montgomery was elevated from the practice squad and saw time while Michael Pittman was out. Like all players in his situation, he can be cut for zero dead cap so he’ll be starting at square one fighting for a roster spot.

Ashton Duhlin

The Colts like Duhlin as a depth piece so I could see him back in 2024 but he can be released for $3 mil in savings with only $1 mil in dead cap so it’s not set in stone.

COLTS WR FREE AGENCY TAKE

Assuming the Colts do the right thing and sign Michael Pittman, they should be in good shape. They’ll need to fill out the backend of the roster with bodies but everyone does. The question would be whether they try to upgrade over Alec Pierce in free agency or the draft or they stick with him on the outside. Here are some names that would either be upgrades or at least offer some level of competition.

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Calvin Ridley, Marquise Brown, Darnell Mooney, Gabe Davis, Van Jefferson

Tight End

Jelani Woods

This is a bit of a mystery box because he missed the entire season with a hamstring issue. But he was the presumed starter coming into the season. It’s not a lock that they don’t go for an upgrade but there isn’t much out there in free agency. That makes Jelani an interesting stash in dynasty leagues. I was able to sneak him into an IR spot and I’ll deal with the roster crunch when the commissioner makes me.

Kylen Granson

At this stage Kylen Granson has had ample opportunity and it doesn’t seem like he offers much more than other part-time slot tight ends like Cameron Brate or Anthony Firkser. He does what they ask of him. He’s on a cheap deal but can be released for $1 mil in savings with little cap hit so maybe they do move on if they think Will Mallory can occupy this role.

Mo Alie-Cox

Granson and Mallory don’t offer much in terms of blocking which is Mo’s specialty so maybe they hold on to him for that. But they could release him for nearly $6 mil in cap space with ZERO cap hit so they should at least look to renegotiate.

Will Malorry

He’s on a cheap rookie deal and looked alright on pass downs. The questions are whether he showed enough to keep his spot or if he’s shown enough to make Kylen Granson expendable.

COLTS TE FREE AGENCY TAKE

The Colts could roll with what they have. They could cut Mo and add a cheaper blocking tight end (like a Drew Sample or Mycole Pruitt). Or they could go for the biggest names on the market and cut both Mo and Kylen Granson. The names aren’t really that big but here they are.

POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Dalton Schultz, Hunter Henry, Noah Fant, Gerald Everett

NFL Free Agency Previews

Discover our other breakdowns for the rest of the league ahead of 2024 NFL free agency: