Indianapolis Colts – A Historic Collapse

The hottest team in the league going into Week 12, just suffered their 7th straight loss to finish the season with a record of 8-9. They lost to the Houston Texans by a score of 38-30 ending their season early after what many thought would be a run to the Superbowl for the Colts. They were 8-2 at one point, the favourite to win the AFC South after 11 years and the #1 seed in the AFC. They had a 94% chance of making the playoffs and now they will not be participating for the 5th year in a row. Then came a myriad of injuries to their most important players, headlined by their resurgent QB Daniel Jones. “Indiana Jones” was enjoying a career year after signing a 1-year prove it deal last March, before suffering a fractured fibula, what many believe to be against the Atlanta Falcons in Berlin, as Jones had first appeared on the injury report following their bye-week and before their match with the Kansas City Chiefs. This had hindered his ability to run and in turn limiting him against defenses culminating in two close losses to the Chiefs and Texans, before ultimately tearing his achilles a couple of weeks later in a matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars (that damn Jacksonville curse!). With “Danny Dimes” out for the season, it felt like that was the end of the season for Indianapolis, as their backup QB Anthony Richardson was also on the Injured Reserve and not coming back anytime soon. With their third string QB Riley Leonard being the only option left, the team decided to shock the league and bring back Phillip Rivers from retirement to try and save the season. Rivers last played in the NFL in 2020 for the same Indianapolis Colts, so even though this was a hail mary at best, there was atleast some comfort in knowing that Rivers mastered the Colts offense. Rivers would give the team an admirable effort and played well enough to win, but the defense and special teams would ultimately let them down, bringing the Colts to an 0-3 record with Rivers and an elimination from the postseason. I woud like also like to mention that the Colts had long-term injuries to other important players like All-Pros DT DeForest Buckner and CB1 Sauce Gardner, talented CB2 Charvarius Ward, Pro-Bowler RT Braden Smith, and starting Kicker Spencer Shrader. To call this a historic collapse would be an understatement. This was truly an epic breakdown of proportions not seen in a while, but it was inevitable with all of the injuries to their most important players, especially to QB Daniel Jones.

2026 Outlook: CEO Carlie-Irsay Gordon wasted no time to announce that GM Chris Ballard and HC Shane Steichen will be back for the 2026/2027 season, as she agreed with the popular sentiment that this was promising and historic season (the Colts were on pace for a historic offense) was de-railed by injuries. I agree with this decision by Carlie. It is also being reported and it is widely known through the league that the Colts want to bring back QB Daniel Jones and that there is mutual interest between the 2 parties in teaming up again next season. Here are some moves that Indianapolis could make to improve their team even if they have no first round pick in the 2026 or 2027 draft (traded for CB Sauce Gardner):

• Cut WR Michael Pittman Jr. – MPJ has a cap hit of $29 million, but $24 million in cap savings if cut prior to June 1st. In my opinion, this is a no-brainer as he hasn’t lived up to the bill of receiving WR1 money.

• Cut LB Zaire Franklin – This would save the team nearly $6 million if cut before June 1st, which could be used to upgrade the LB corps. Franklin has been a liability at the position almost all year, whiffing on tackles and struggling in coverage, so this IMO is an easy decision. The Colts would be smart to use their 2nd round draft pick (47th overall) on Texas LB Anthony Hill Jr. who would be a massive upgrade on Franklin at Middle Linebacker.

• Cut NCB Kenny Moore – By doing this, the “Horse Shoe” would save over $7 million which could be used to upgrade the team, all while having his natural replacement on the team; Justin Walley. This is another straightforward decision, and the Colts would be smart to identify other aging veterans that have seen their play decline and replace them with younger guys already on the roster.

• Trade QB Anthony Richardson – It’s no secret that “AR5” has been a “bust” for the Colts after they spent the 4th overall pick on him in the 2023 draft. Although he has shown some flashes (most notably against the New York Jets in 2024) he has been unreliable by being injury prone (3rd straight year of landing on the IR) and not understanding the offense. He has been known to not put in the necessary time and effort to master the position and to give up on his team (tap out gate: asking to be taken out of the game because he was tired). There is simply no room for him in the QB room with Daniel Jones coming back as QB1 and promising Notre Dame/National Finalist rookie Riley Leonard (had an impressive game against a strong Houston Texans defense in Week 18) coming back as QB2. They might as well try and get a 3rd round pick for Anthony, which is realistic given that he has promising traits and is still on a rookie deal. There is thought around the league that the Minnesota Vikings would be interested to pair Richardson with their young QB in JJ McCarthy, as HC Kevin McConnell is known to be fan of AR5. My prediction is that the Colts trade QB Anthony Richardson to the Vikings for a 2026 3rd round pick and save nearly $11 million on the cap.

• Re-sign QB Daniel Jones, WR Alec Pierce, and SS Nick Cross – Jones has proven he could be a franchise QB for Indy, Alec Pierce has proven this season that he is the Colts’ WR1 (1003 yards receiving and 6 touchdowns on only 47 catches!!!), and Nick Cross is a young and emerging force at SS.
  • QB Daniel Jones – 3 years for $90 million
  • WR Alec Pierce – 4 years for $80 million
  • SS Nick Cross – 4 years for $40 million

• Sign FA EDGE Trey Hendrickson – Hendrickson has been a force at EDGE rusher for the Bengals his entire career (a spot the Colts could sorely use help at). In this case, he would be re-uniting with his former defensive coordinator and current Indy DC Lou Anarumo AKA the Mad Scientist. Watchout league, this would give the Colts a monstrous D-line with Hendrickson and Laiatu Latu (an up-and-comer at the EDGE position) on the edges and DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart on the interior. The Colts have been missing an elite EDGE rusher since Robert Mathis retired in 2016, and Trey could be that guy.
  • Colts sign EDGE Trey Hendrickson to 3 years for $75 million

• Sign FA WR Mike Evans – Evans has been a top-10 WR almost his entire career. He had a dip in production this year mainly due to injuries, but he is also getting up there in age (he will be 33 at the start of next season. Tampa Bay already has talented WR Chris Godwin, promising young WR Emeka Egbuka, and un-tapped young WR Jalen McMillan. Evans would give Daniel Jones a big-bodied alpha WR who would dominate the redzone and endzone. A trio of Alec Pierce, Mike Evans, and underrated slot receiver Josh Downs would feed families in Indianapolis. ALL CHIPS IN!
  • Colts sign WR Mike Evans to 2 years for $35 million

• Draft Omar Cooper Jr. with the 78th overall pick – Cooper Jr. has been a favourite target of Heisman winning QB and potential college football champion and 1st overall pick Fernando Mendoza. He would battle with FA signee Mike Evans to be in the Colts starting lineup on the outside, although he would likely be WR4 to start off his career and swap in on some snaps.

I believe that the Indianapolis Colts would have easily captured the AFC South crown and #1 seed in the AFC this season if it hadn’t been for those disastrous injuries. It would be smart to bring back everyone and make tweaks across the roster and just “run it back”. With no first round pick until 2027, Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard get one more shot to take the Colts to the playoffs, or Carlie Irsay-Gordon will blow it up and start from scratch.

Colts 2026-2027 Starting Lineup:

LT- Bernhard Raimann LG- Quenton Nelson C- Tanor Bortolini RG- Matt Goncalves RT- Jalen Travis

WR- Alec Pierce TE- Tyler Warren QB- Daniel Jones WR- Josh Downs WR- Mike Evans

RB- Jonathan Taylor

DE- Trey Hendrickson DT- Grover Stewart DT- DeForest Buckner DE- Laiatu Latu

MLB- Anthony Hill Jr. WLB- Jaylon Carlies

CB1- Sauce Gardner NCB- Justin Walley FS-Cam Bynum SS- Nick Cross CB2- Charvarius Ward

PREDICTION for the 2026 season: 12-5 record and AFC South champions