Colts must move on from these individuals after this embarrassing season ends
By Brad Marr
Players the Colts must move on from
Matt Ryan, quarterback
If you watched football in the last say, three seasons, it was not a secret that Matt Ryan as a player was full charge on a decline as an NFL quarterback. Capability does not amount to success, and Indy learned that firsthand. Accepting the move for Matt Ryan was an unnecessary self-inflicted wound at the fault of trading away the player behind center before, is a big step in identifying the dysfunction.
Nevertheless, it hasn’t panned out with Ryan and the future is dim on whether or not he’ll play another down as a QB in the NFL, much less for the Colts. Ryan is due $24.7M in 2023 and has a dead cap hit of $18 million. He’ll either walk away from football and retire, or the Colts will bite the bullet. Either way, it’s time to move on from this failed experiment.
Indianapolis will likely look to draft a quarterback to attempt putting this carousel at a finale.
Braden Smith, right tackle
The Colts are a handful of sacks allowed away from setting the franchise record. Braden Smith lost in his game whatever he had before that led to his contract extension just two seasons ago. It’s unlikely that this move is made, however, any options for a change of scenery need to be heard.
Matt Pryor, offensive linemen
One that we can all agree on here. Pryor playing anything but a reserve role was a mistake. Make that position something that comes completely unnatural like left tackle and the approaching sack record makes that much more sense.
Mo Alie-Cox, tight end
Re-signing Mo Alie-Cox, who underproduced as a tight end in his first four years, was a head-scratcher a season ago. As the season panned out, it made it more obvious as wasteful cap spending. With the emergence and full takeover of 2022 draft pick Jelani Woods, the end of Big Mo in blue is near.