This offseason for the Indianapolis Colts has been relatively quiet.
It's mostly due to general manager Chris Ballard bringing back his key veterans without making a splash addition in free agency despite his best efforts.
There was a little excitement following the NFL draft when Indy landed the first defensive player off the board and a receiver who fell to Day 2 despite generating some first-round buzz.
So what has the offseason told us about the Colts?
Here are the three main takeaways from their 2024 offseason:
3 big takeaways from Colts' quiet NFL offseason
Investment into the trenches
There is no secret about Ballard’s love for the trenches and willingness to invest resources into it. That trend didn’t slow down for him this offseason despite getting solid play on both sides of the ball in 2023. Ballard brought up the offensive line when speaking about Anthony Richardson’s impact on the draft during his pre-draft press conference.
“When you have a young quarterback, you have to protect him,” Ballard said.
Despite having the starting five offensive linemen returning for the 2024 season, he backed up those words by selecting Matt Goncalves and Tanor Bortolini as back-to-back picks between the third and fourth rounds, respectively. The Colts now have some quality depth options on the offensive line if they need to deal with any injuries this year.
On the other side of the ball, Ballard utilized cap space and draft capital to beef up his defensive line. He first elected to re-sign Grover Stewart to a three-year, $39 million deal to bring back one of the most important players to his defense.
Stewart wasn’t the only defensive lineman that got taken care of this offseason. DeForest Buckner was entering a contract year but to avoid him getting on the market in 2025, both sides agreed to a two-year extension worth up to $46 million.
Handling business with the interior of the trenches wasn’t just an in-house operation. The one outside free agent that was brought to Indianapolis was Raekwon Davis. He signed a two-year deal that is worth up to $14 million. The Indy defense saw a major drop off in rush defense when Stewart served his six-game suspension so it was clear that Ballard wanted to avoid that by acquiring Davis for the backup role.
One of the exciting additions for the Indy defense came in the draft when they selected one of the most polished pass rushers in the 2024 class in Laiatu Latu. The addition of Latu created the deepest and strongest position group for the Colts.
The investment in the defensive line didn’t stop after the draft. Despite utilizing a first-round pick on the position group, the front office decided to exercise the fifth-year option on Kwity Paye’s rookie contract. This move guarantees Paye $13,377,000 fully guaranteed for the 2025 season.
One of the under-the-radar moves for Indianapolis this offseason was the hire of their new defensive line coach Charlie Partridge.
The longtime college coach has the potential to be an X-factor for the 2024 season if he can get the young players in his unit to reach their ceiling while also making minor improvements with the veterans.
The talent and quality depth have arrived in the trenches for the Colts. Now it is time to see if Ballard’s philosophy will pay off with a playoff run.
Seeking more explosive plays
In Chris Ballard’s post-season press conference, he made it known that the offense needs to create more explosive plays.
"It’s an area that I think on both sides of the ball we need to improve." Ballard stated. "We have to get more explosive on offense and we have to be able to eliminate the explosives on defense."
Without Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor in the lineup together, the Colts produced 14 runs that ended in 20+ yards last year, which was tied for the fifth-most in the NFL. It is reasonable to think that number will rise with the dynamic duo in the backfield.
The area that was lacking in 2023 was explosive plays through the air. Indianapolis produced just 45 passing plays that resulted in 20+ yard gains, the eighth-fewest in the league. The first thing that will help improve that number is Richardson returning to the lineup but even if the worst-case scenario happens, Shane Steichen has Joe Flacco to turn to this season.
Flacco is the polar opposite of Gardner Minshew, which is why if he is on the field, we will see a different element with a backup-led offense. He has the arm to push the ball down the field and won’t hesitate to let it fly and give his man a chance to make a play.
Outside of quarterback play, the offense needed some weapons to add to the passing attack. Something that Ballard also mentioned after the 2023 season.
"I’ve got a pretty good handle on the NFL draft and we do think it’s going to be pretty good with some explosive guys and then working through free agency right now. We do think there is going to be some opportunities to add some players to make us more explosive,” Ballard said.
It was in the draft that Ballard added some explosive players with the selections of Adonai Mitchell and Anthony Gould. The pair of rookies should be able to make an impact in Year 1 with their ability to help create chunk plays for the offense.
Besides the rookies, having Richardson and Flacco as quarterback options should benefit Alec Pierce and Josh Downs as options in the deep passing game. The return of Jelani Woods gives an explosive element from the tight end position as well if he can remain healthy.
The pieces are there for a top-10 offense. It comes down to health and each skill player playing their role within Steichen’s offense as a cohesive unit.
Belief in secondary
Following the 2023 season, there was an expectation to see a shake-up in the secondary but as things stand, the Indy defense will see familiar faces in the backend in 2024. To no surprise, the Colts re-signed Kenny Moore II to a three-year deal that is worth up to $30 million.
This move kept one of the best slot corners in the NFL and that much-needed veteran presence in the secondary. Moore II wasn’t the only veteran that stuck in Indianapolis. Julian Blackmon re-signed on a one-year deal as he will be looking to cash in next offseason.
The rest of the starting spots are up for grabs between players who don’t have more than two years of experience in the league. After passing on acquiring a veteran cornerback in free agency or via a trade, Ballard backed up his three young cornerbacks who will be battling for the two starting boundary spots.
“I like our three young corners,” Ballard said. “Now, JuJu (Brents) has gotta be healthy. We gotta get Dallis (Flowers) back healthy, which we think we will. We think both of them are very good, and I think we kind of underestimated what (Jaylon) Jones did. I thought Jones played really good football last year and did against some very talented wideouts and never backed down.”
Brents, Flowers, and Jones each showcased their ability to develop into starting-caliber players but as Ballard mentioned, they need to stay healthy and also show some consistency otherwise the floor could fall underneath the Indy defense quickly.
The biggest question mark in the secondary is free safety. Nick Cross and Rodney Thomas II will battle for the starting gig in training camp. It does sound like the coaching staff will allow both third-year safeties to prove themselves based on defensive backs coach Ron Milus’ comments to the media.
“If we have a good game, we gotta go back and stack up another good game,” Milus said. “I think that’s the biggest thing, especially with both of those guys. They both came in at the same time, and they’ve both had opportunities. Somehow, someway, one of them has gotta come to the top and be that guy for us.”
Ballard could very well decide to add a veteran safety like Justin Simmons or Quandre Diggs prior to training camp kicking off to provide stability to the safety room. This is a situation to monitor over the next few weeks.
