Colts Free Agency Would’ve Gone Better if Andrew Luck was Healthy
By Andrew Ites
Many Colts fans were disappointed with their lack of action in free agency, but they may have been held back by the questions surrounding Andrew Luck.
The Colts entered the offseason with approximately $80 million in cap space, but their free agent haul has been uninspiring.
Fans were expecting general manager Chris Ballard to bring in more talent than Ryan Grant, Eric Ebron, Matt Slauson, and Denico Autry. Indianapolis was reportedly connected to Andrew Norwell and Dion Lewis, but they were unable to land either of those two premier free agents.
The Colts also lost a few key contributors during this year’s free agency period.
I think this offseason would’ve looked a lot different if Andrew Luck was 100% healthy.
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The Colts have been extremely optimistic all offseason long about the recovery of Andrew Luck, but the fact remains that he still hasn’t played a game since the 2016 season and his return for the 2018 season is still in question.
If free agents were totally certain that Luck would be under center next season, Indianapolis would be one of the most desirable free agent destinations in the league. Instead, there is still uncertainty about the status of the Colts’ franchise quarterback, which made free agents weary of signing with Indianapolis.
These players get paid a ton of money in free agency, but ultimately every NFL player is a competitor and they want to win at the highest level. Everyone saw what the Colts look like without Andrew Luck last season, and I don’t think the players in this year’s class of free agents wanted to take the risk of joining a team with a question mark at quarterback.