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The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/ColtsClown on 2025-07-26 13:53:38+00:00.
Indianapolis Colts
8-9 (2nd in AFC South | /r/colts)
Staffing Changes
Defensive Coordinator
Out: Gus Bradley | In: Lou Anarumo
In January, Gus Bradley’s three-year contract as Colts DC ended, and the Colts chose not to retain him. It technically wasn’t a firing, but after three years of bottom-10 performances from the unit, it certainly felt that way. Two weeks later, they hired Lou Anarumo, who had just been fired from the Bengals.
In some ways, Anarumo is a great foil to the Gus Bradley years. His reputation as a “mad scientist” is a good contrast to Bradley’s static scheme and few adjustments. Colts fans were regularly upset with a lack of blitzing from the unit, for example (although everyone loves blitzing until you start getting beat over the top (although this unit was getting beat over the top anyway)), so fans will probably expect to see more of that sort of thing.
However, some of the problems that plagued Anarumo’s tenure in Cincinnati may also be present in Indy, specifically personnel concerns. The Bengals’ defense looked especially rough after losing DJ Reader and Jesse Bates III, key players in Anarumo’s scheme. After that, the Bengals then used eight top-100 picks on the defense over the last three years, but Bengals fans frequently pointed out that these rookies were often stuck on the bench behind underperforming vets. Injuries sometimes played a factor here (Dax Hill’s ACL, for example), but fans wonder if there was either a scouting problem or a development problem with the younger defensive players.
The Colts have a fairly young unit as well, relying on recent draft picks Laiatu Latu (EDGE), Jaylon Jones (CB), and Nick Cross (S) to cover significant snaps. The latter two especially have developed significantly in that time, but they’re not done yet, and other younger players, like Jaylon Carlies (LB) and the most recent draft picks, JTT (EDGE) and Justin Walley (CB), need work as well. The Colts have a few great guys on defense (DeForest Buckner (DT), Kenny Moore (NB)), but they’re aging, and if there are concerns about Anarumo and co.’s ability to develop players, that might become extremely apparent here in the next couple years.
Owner
Jim Irsay passed away May 21st, 2025. There’s no doubt he loved this team, this city, and the sport of football, and the league is worse off with him gone. Irsay’s three daughters take over for him, with Carlie Irsay-Gordon notably taking over as CEO. Time will tell how Irsay-Gordon and her sisters’ vision for the team will be different from their dad’s, who was known for some pretty fierce loyalty to his people. Irsay’s daughters have been involved with the team for well over a decade now, so it seems like they had a plan already in place, and the transition has been smooth.
Retained
Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen get another year. There was recently a report where one of the Irsay daughters supposedly said she’s “not fucking around” with Ballard. Who knows if that’s true, but it feels like it at least should be true. Since Ballard joined the team just before the 2017 season, the Colts have achieved 2 playoff appearances (2018, 2020), 1 playoff win (2018), 0 division wins, and a 62-69-1 record. Not great! Plenty of people wonder why he’s still here at all, but Jim Irsay (RIP Jim) liked Ballard, as recently as last year referring to him as a “blue chip GM.” You could certainly do worse, but Colts fans are wondering if you couldn’t also do better.
Ballard changed his philosophy this offseason, making big splashes in FA, letting players walk, and just overall bringing in competition to a stale roster. Time will tell if it’s enough to change the trajectory of the team and save his job in the process
Meanwhile, Shane Steichen had a solid first season with Gardner Minshew (especially considering Minshew’s subsequent failure in Vegas), followed by a less than successful season with Richardson and Flacco. Flacco was more washed than people anticipated (though maybe the 8 interceptions he threw with the Browns in 5 games were foreshadowing), and Richardson continued to be one of the least accurate QBs in NFL history. How much of that is on Steichen? And if Chris Ballard* gets fired, do you fire Steichen too? Traditional wisdom is that a GM wants to pick their GM. Has Steichen showed enough promise to be safe across regime changes? Probably not, but if the Colts falter and this it for him in Indy, he’s good enough that he’ll almost certainly get another shot in the next few years.
Free Agency
Players Lost:
| Name | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Joe Flacco | QB | Browns |
| Sam Ehlinger | QB | Broncos |
| Ryan Kelly | C | Vikings |
| Will Fries | RG | Vikings |
| Mark Glowinski | RG | UFA |
| Kylen Granson | TE | Eagles |
| EJ Speed | LB | Texans |
| Grant Stuard | LB/ST | Lions |
| Dayo Odeyingbo | EDGE | Bears |
| Raekwon Davis | DT | Released |
| Taven Bryan | DT | UFA |
| Julian Blackmon | S | Saints |
| Matt Gay | K | Released |
Joe Flacco’s departure was expected after a few rough performances following Anthony Richardson’s benching. The team expressed a desire to have more direct competition for Richardson in 2025 rather than simply have a backup, so Flacco no longer fit the bill anyway. His departure, along with the departure of perennial QB3 Sam Ehlinger and the shakiness of Richardson’s tenure, meant that the QB room at the Colts was now relatively wide open.
The offense also saw the departure of long-time leader Ryan Kelly at center and the ascending Will Fries at right guard. The Colts have struggled at RG for some time, but as soon they found an answer in Fries, he fractured his tibia in week 5. The team seems to have a lot of faith in its 2024 OL draft picks, Matt Goncalves (OT, but might slot in at RG) and Tanor Bortolini © - they played well when filling in for injuries in 2024, so there’s optimism that they’ll be able to fill Kelly’s and Fries shoes in 2025.
On defense, EJ Speed was a solid run defender and abysmal in coverage. He’s a solid role player overall, but the Colts need a player who can complement starting LB Zaire Franklin, and EJ Speed fills a similar role, except he’s not as good. His 1 year/$5 mil deal points to him being more of a depth or rotational piece in Houston. Dayo Odeyingbo is an ascending edge rusher who’s still pretty young. He improved nearly every year on the Colts, save this last year where he played through injury. The Colts already had one of the highest paid D lines in the NFL, and with Latu flashing a bit and Ebukam coming back from injury, they felt they had seen enough to let him walk.
Julian Blackmon signs with the Saints to fill the shoes of recently retired Tyrann Mathieu. He had a breakout year at SS in 2023, then signed a one year prove-it deal in 2024, was moved to FS, and had a statistically similar year while playing through injury. He’s a plus player when healthy, but the development of Nick Cross at SS and signing of Cam Bynum at FS meant there wasn’t a lot of room left for Blackmon (at least, not at a price he would take).
Finally, Matt Gay was released after two years. Gay was one of two kickers with perfect accuracy under 50 yards, including extra points. But that’s not good enough in today’s NFL, and he missed several high profile kicks just above 50 yards. The team decided the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze. They brought back 2024 UDFA and Indianapolis native Spencer Shrader, who filled in for Gay in week 1 of 2024 - he’ll compete with UDFA Maddux Trujillo for the permanent kicker spot.
Players Gained:
| Name | Position | Old Team | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cam Bynum | S | Vikings | 4 yr/$60m/$26m gtd |
| Charvarius Ward | CB | 49ers | 3 yr/$54m/$35m gtd |
| Daniel Jones | QB | Giants | 1 yr/$14m/$13m gtd |
| Khalil Herbert | RB | Bears | 1 yr/$1.3m |
| Corey Ballentine | CB | Packers | 1 yr/$1.3m |
| Neville Gallimore | DT | Rams | 1 yr/$1.3m |
The Colts added some much-needed competition to their secondary with Cam Bynum (S) and Charvarius Ward (CB). Ward is coming off a down year due to personal issues and was looking for a change of scenery. He will likely immediately start as CB1, leaving Jaylon Jones, Julius Brents (if healthy), and rookie Justin Walley to compete behind him. The Colts also paid Bynum top 10 safety money. Is he worth that? Maybe not, but he’s consistent and solid in coverage, which the team has desperately needed at the position.
Daniel Jones was brought in to compete with Anthony Richardson. Colts fans wonder if DJ is actually bad, or if the Giants are just a bad organization; many Giants fans say both can b…
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