The Indianapolis Colts got rolling last Monday, just ahead of the NFL’s legal tampering period, by extending wide receiver Alec Pierce. The team has been working to use free agency to build out their roster ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft.

The team accomplished some good things, for sure, but the picture they are painting for fans right now isn’t a pretty one. Let’s go through the good, the bad, and the ugly truth about how the team has maneuvered the first week of free agency.

The Colts accomplished an important feat by retaining Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce

First things first, the Colts deserve credit for accomplishing their top two offseason priorities. Extending both Alec Pierce and Daniel Jones was pivotal to the team’s short-term and hopefully long-term success. The team’s choice to place the transition tag on Jones and therefore risk Pierce to the open market was highly scrutinized, including by me.

I still don’t think going that route was the most optimal path towards success. But in the end, they got an extension done with Pierce before he could even hit the open market, and they used the transition tag as a tool to extend their negotiations with Jones, ultimately getting his extension signed as well.

Keeping this duo shouldn’t be viewed as the saving grace of the offseason by any means. But the thought of losing either player, given the state of the rest of the roster, could have been truly disastrous for Indy, so props to the team for meeting those goals.

DANNY DIMES DEEP BALL TO ALEC PIERCE.

ATLvsIND on @NFLNetwork
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— NFL (@NFL) November 9, 2025

Colts have gotten worse at multiple positions and have yet to improve at a single one

Another big part of the Colts’ offseason plan was obviously changing out some of their personnel by letting some top in-house free agents walk in favor of getting younger and faster. This began by trading Zaire Franklin to the Green Bay Packers and Michael Pittman Jr. to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It didn’t stop there, though, as the team also let starters Kwity Paye, Braden Smith, and Nick Cross all walk in free agency and sign deals with new teams. Losing Cross stings, but I do think his being able to go home to DC to play for the Washington Commanders played a major role in his departure.

Other than Cross, I don’t disagree with the team’s choice to move on from these veterans. The problem is they haven’t replaced a single starter that they’ve lost. Making it easy to conclude that the roster today is much worse than it was when the season ended, and in a playoff-or-bust season for everyone involved, that feels inexcusable.

Colts overall grade for the first week of free agency and the offseason

Grade: C-

I give the Colts’ opening week of free agency a C-, with their deals with Pierce and Jones doing much of the heavy lifting. I did like some other signings they made, despite them not landing a projected starter at this point. For example, the deal for Arden Key as a depth pass rusher and Juanyeh Thomas as a developmental safety were solid moves by the team.

Outside of those signings, though, it’s been a very lackluster offseason for a team that already had a lot of holes to fill. The most surprising and disappointing element of their offseason so far is the lack of attention given to the edge rush and linebacker rooms.

Both at this moment are among the worst in the NFL, and I honestly don’t think any other team has a better argument for a worst linebacker room than that of the Colts right now. The only reason the Colts grade isn’t in the D’s right now is that this is not a full body of work being graded; it is just the opening week of free agency. There is still time for the Colts to make needed moves to improve the roster and compete for a playoff spot in 2026. But they better hurry up because right now it looks like they are banking on the 2026 NFL Draft, where they don’t even own a first-round pick, to save the offseason.