Three offseason moves the Colts must make

Despite a midseason rally, the Indianapolis Colts fell just short of making it into the playoffs. With a healthy Anthony Richardson at quarterback, the Colts are primed to possibly compete for a division title and a playoff spot in 2024.

With that in mind, here are three more moves the Colts should make this offseason to close the gap between themselves and the Texans at the top of the AFC South.

Trade for Raiders tight end Michael Mayer

The Colts have seven tight ends on their roster — Mo Alie-Cox, Kylen Granson, Will Mallory, Jordan Murray, Drew Ogletree, Eric Tomlinson and Jelani Woods — none of which have shown to have true TE1 potential. 

The Raiders just drafted Georgia’s Brock Bowers with the 13th pick, and they plan to make him a focal point of their passing offense. They also signed former Browns TE Harrison Bryant and ex-Steelers TE Zach Gentry, making the tight end room in Vegas pretty crowded.

Mayer had a decent rookie season last year, accounting for 27 receptions on 40 targets for 304 yards and two touchdowns. He was considered by many to be the No. 1-ranked tight end in the 2023 draft, though he was the third player at the position selected. 

Mayer will likely be relegated to a backup role behind Bowers in Vegas, but getting a fresh start in Indy where he could be the Colts’ No. 1 tight end could be just the situation that could help him thrive. It would also give Richardson another weapon.

Sign free-agent cornerback Xavien Howard

The Colts almost have the cornerback group that they had last year after re-signing Kenny Moore II and letting Tony Brown head to Cleveland in free agency. 

And while their pass defense wasn’t terrible in 2023, it was a true middle-of-the-pack unit. (The Colts ranked 16th in passing yards allowed per game and 14th in interceptions.)

Enter Xavien Howard, a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro selection who’s been recently medically cleared to return to action. 

Howard had a down 2022 and 2023 by his standards, but he’s not that far removed from back-to-back seasons where he dominated opposing WRs and tallied a combined 15 interceptions in 2020 and 2021. 

Adding Howard would give the Colts a solid one-two punch at CB with Moore II and better position them to defend against the rest of the teams in the AFC South who have all seemingly loaded up on WRs this offseason.

Sign free-agent linebacker Jarrad Davis

Zaire Franklin (team-high 179 tackles) and E.J. Speed (102 tackles, 12 tackles for loss) both had big seasons in 2023, but behind those two players is relatively little depth. 

Grant Stuard, Isaiah Land and Cameron McGrone combined for just 17 tackles last season, and all three plus Segun Olubi are 25 or younger.

Davis, a first-round pick of the Detroit Lions in 2017, is 29 and has 51 games of starting experience. He’s been limited by injuries the last few years, but if healthy, he presents a low-cost option for the Colts to build some solid depth at linebacker. 

Davis has 343 tackles, 11 sacks, seven forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries through his first seven seasons.