INDIANAPOLIS – Two days. And two days of silence from the Indianapolis Colts in free agency.
The more days that go by without the Colts making any significant moves, the more pressure there will be on general manager Ryan Grigson and the front office to make sure they have a successful draft next month.
Building the roster through the draft has been the plan all along. The same way the plan has been for the Colts to be frugal on the free-agent market by re-signing their players and then looking in from the outside after the initial wave of signings.
Owner Jim Irsay said as much himself last month.
"I think over the next two drafts to continue to identify guys, particularly defensively, that are going to be key guys going forward,” Irsay said.
Part of the reason the Colts are in this position of needing to fill holes on the roster and needing to depend on the draft is because of some of their past moves in free agency. The Colts wouldn’t have issues on the right side of the offensive line had the signings of right tackle Gosder Cherilus and guard Donald Thomas worked out. Both players dealt with injuries and both were eventually released.
But those are the gambles of free agency. Some moves have worked – defensive lineman Kendall Langford, safeties Mike Adams and Dwight Lowery – and others haven't.
The same can be said of Grigson's draft picks. Everybody knows how successful the 2012 draft class has been, with Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton, Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen. Hilton, Allen and Fleener have earned lucrative second contracts, and Luck is on his way to becoming one of the NFL’s highest-paid players.
But since then the draft has been a mixed bag for the Colts. They released their 2013 first-round pick, linebacker Bjoern Werner; they didn’t have a pick in the first round in 2014 after trading it to Cleveland for Trent Richardson; and the verdict is still out on last year’s first-rounder, receiver Phillip Dorsett. Those moves stand out more because they were first-round picks.
Remember the problems on the offensive line?
Players the Colts have drafted haven’t helped as much as expected. Guard Hugh Thornton and center Khaled Holmes, both taken in the 2013 draft, could be without starting jobs next season.
But the Colts have also found players in the draft who have potential, such as safety Clayton Geathers (2015), offensive lineman Denzelle Good (2015), offensive lineman Jack Mewhort (2014) and receiver Donte Moncrief (2014).
They need to find even more players in next month's draft.
