INDIANAPOLIS – There was no calm before the NFL’s free-agent storm.
Instead, there was one thunderclap after another, and none shook the Indianapolis Colts’ house.
With free agency looming, personnel activity Sunday was continuous and loud as teams sought to keep their own off the market, acquire free agents already on the market or available via trade or rewrite and fatten existing contracts. Teams are allowed to negotiate with other team’s pending free agents at noon Monday.
Some of the noise:
- Myles Garrett: Garrett’s demand to be traded by Cleveland evaporated when the Browns made the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year the league’s highest-paid non-quarterback with a four-year, $160 extension – a $40 million average – that includes $123.5 million in guarantees.
- Josh Allen: The Buffalo Bills replaced the final four years of Allen’s contract with a six-year, $330 million extension that includes a record $250 million in guarantees for the league’s MVP.
- D.K. Metcalf: The Pittsburgh Steelers acquired the wideout in a trade with Seattle and agreed to a five-year, $150 million extension. It’s the largest contract given out in Steelers’ history.
- Harold Landry: New England agreed to a three-year, $45 million contract ($26 million guaranteed) with the defensive end.
- Davante Adams: The wide receiver agreed to a two-year, $46 million deal ($26 million guaranteed) with the Los Angeles Rams.
- Jake Matthews: The left tackle agreed to a two-year, $45 million extension ($38 million guaranteed) with the Atlanta Falcons.
There was more activity, but that snapshot alone accounted for nearly a half-billion in guarantees.
Meanwhile, there was no resolution between the Colts and any of their pending free agents. It’s believed general manager Chris Ballard and his personnel staff spent the weekend working on several fronts, most notably right guard Will Fries and edge rusher Dayo Odeyingbo.
Both players are expected to draw significant interest, which means lucrative offers, if they reach the open market.
“You can’t keep ‘em all. You can’t,” Ballard said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “There’s only so much of the pie you can have.”
He added there have been several internal meetings to discuss which of their own players to re-sign and which free agents to target.
“We’ll see how the puzzle fits,” Ballard said.
Considering the attractiveness of Fries and Odeyingbo, their careers with the Colts almost certainly will end if the team is unable to re-sign them before noon today.
After releasing defensive tackle Raekwon Davis, the Colts are $40.36 million under the NFL’s $279.2 million salary cap, according to Overthecap.com.
A quick look at Colts with expiring contracts:
- G Will Fries
- DE Dayo Odeyingbo
- C Ryan Kelly
- S Julian Blackmon
- LB E.J. Speed
- QB Joe Flacco
- QB Sam Ehlinger
- TE Mo Alie-Cox
- TE Kylen Granson
- WR Ashton Dulin
- DT Taven Bryan
- G Danny Pinter
- G Mark Glowinski
- S Ronnie Harrison Jr.
- LB Grant Stuard
- RB Trey Sermon
- CB David Long Jr.
- WR Juwann Winfree