5 winners and losers from the first week of the Colts free agency, including the opportunity of a lifetime for a young player
A look at which players and position groups were impacted the most by the Colts offseason decisions through the first wave of free agency.
The Indianapolis Colts may not have made major out-of-house signings, but they went through some significant changes during the first wave of free agency.
The team’s focus at the beginning of the offseason was to retain wide receiver Alec Pierce and quarterback Daniel Jones. As a result, most of their attention was taken up early in free agency, as opposed to signing big-name out-of-house free agents.
The shakeup to their roster and some of the signings they made, though, could have a major impact on the roster and certain players. So without further ado, here are five winners and losers from how the Colts’ first wave of free agency shook out.
Winner: Juanyeh Thomas
The Colts didn’t sign a single expected day-one starter in the first wave of free agency. However, I do think safety Juanyeh Thomas has the best chance to earn a starting role of their current free agency haul.
Thomas was an undrafted free agent signing by the Dallas Cowboys in 2022. He spent the first four years of his career in Dallas and was able to see the field over the last three years. Now he’s moving on to his next chapter with the Colts. Thomas has a great feel in coverage on film and offers the Colts some significant upside.
After losing Nick Cross in free agency, the team will have a new starter at safety alongside Cam Bynum, and the group currently on the roster isn’t very inspiring beyond Thomas. This looks like a massive opportunity for Thomas to carve out the biggest role of his young career, and if he takes advantage of it, this signing could end up being a steal for Indianapolis.
Loser: JT Tuimoloau
This one may come as a shock because the Colts haven’t signed a starting edge in free agency as many expected them to. They have signed two depth pieces in free agency, and those signings will affect Tuimoloau more than a starter would, to be honest.
The team’s signings of Arden Key and Michael Clemons seem to be direct replacements for Samson Ebukam and Tyquan Lewis, both players who played over Tuimoloau during his rookie season. So it makes you wonder whether replacing them will limit Tuimoloau’s role during his second NFL season.
If Tuimoloau can’t beat out Key and Clemsons to have a larger role in 2026 than he had in 2025, it would feel like time to call this pick a failed experiment by the Colts. Adding him to a long list of swing and misses Chris Ballard has had with edge rushers in the NFL Draft over the years.
Winner: Jalen Travis
The Colts let longtime starter Braden Smith walk in free agency, which was expected but was still notable to see play out. The Colts were impressed by the flashes Jalen Travis showed during his rookie season, and now all signs point to him being given the reins at the position going forward.
Indy has gone with a youth movement as of late on the offensive line. Last offseason, they let Will Fries and Ryan Kelly walk in favor of playing young guys in Tanor Bortolini and Matt Goncalves, and now they do the same thing by letting Smith leave and giving Travis the chance to earn the job.
They will likely add some competition for Travis in training camp, but he should be considered the clear favorite to be the team’s starting right tackle. So he is an easy choice as one of the team’s biggest winners from how things turned out during the first wave of free agency.
Loser: Colts pass rush
As mentioned earlier in this article, the Colts haven’t added a starting edge rusher to play opposite Laiatu Latu yet this offseason. That is probably the biggest shock from how the team handled the early weeks of free agency.
The team made a run at Trey Hendrickson, who would have been a major upgrade, but lost him to the Baltimore Ravens. There aren’t any clear day one starters left for the Colts to sign in free agency, which complicates things as they search for a second starter. At this point, the Colts’ options to add a starting edge rusher are either via trade or in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Both options are risky for the team, but it looks like they put all their eggs in Trey Hendrickson’s basket in free agency, and that’s blown up in their face. So now they will have to take a risk in order to try and make up for that mistake, how big of a risk are they willing to take though, thats the question we all want to know the answer to.
Winner: Josh Downs
Last but certainly not least in wide receiver Josh Downs who was a massive winner after how things played out for the Colts early into the offseason. Last year, he was third on the pecking order in terms of the team’s wide receiver rankings behind both Pierce and Michael Pittman Jr. Well, the events early in free agency have shaken that up in a big way.
To pay Pierce his massive contract extension, the Colts elected to move on from Pittman Jr., trading him away to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team also didn’t sign a high-profile wide receiver in free agency, which suggests Downs’ role in the offense will increase going forward.
In the past, Downs wouldn’t see the field in two wide receiver sets, but I would expect that to change going forward. And with this being the final year of Downs’s rookie contract, it couldn’t have come at a better time. He has the chance to show he can take on a bigger role and, in turn, cash in for his own contract extension this time next year.
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