Is Parris Campbell saying goodbye to the Colts with his latest social media activity?
Parris Campbell will become a free agent this offseason, and based on his social media activity, he may be leaving the Indianapolis Colts.
The NFL offseason doesn’t really get started until players have some cryptic social media activity. Whether that’s briefly putting former NFL defensive lineman in your Twitter bio like Aaron Donald recently did or reposting the perfect quote that could be interpreted as a shot to your team or fan base like Lamar Jackson just did, modern NFL offseasons are all about the social media drama. The Indianapolis Colts are no different, and one of Indy’s players’ recent tweets may be shedding light on his future with the team.
The player in question is fourth-year wide receiver, Parris Campbell. Parris is coming off his best season as a professional and will be an unrestricted free agent once free agency starts in March. While the Colts will likely want to re-sign Campbell, the receiver may have other plans in mind; at least that’s what it seems like based on how one of his recent tweets can be interpreted.
On Saturday, nearly a week after Indianapolis’ final game, Campbell tweeted, “excited for what’s next,” with a couple of emojis, including the eyes emoji. Parris obviously could be talking about anything, but considering his circumstances, everyone on Twitter assumed he was referencing his career and essentially expressing excitement for a new chapter that doesn’t include the Colts.
Will the Colts be able to re-sign Parris Campbell?
As previously stated, Campbell is coming off the best season of his career. He played in all 17 games and caught 63 passes for 623 yards and three touchdowns. All of those numbers were second-most on the team behind Michael Pittman Jr. This of course comes after Campbell played just 15 games over his first three seasons. Struggling to stay healthy, this last year was a make-or-break season for Campbell and he did what needed to be done.
He showed that he’s a playmaker and created value for himself. Now, he should have multiple suitors in free agency and the Colts should be one. But, will Indianapolis be able to keep him in the blue and white? Well, before Campbell’s tweet, the Monday following Indy’s final game, Campbell said he “absolutely” wants to return to the Colts. So unless he had a change of heart in a couple of days, it’s safe to assume his tweet was about something else. Could that something else still be related to the Colts? Maybe.
That something else could be CJ Stroud. Indianapolis has the fourth-overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and everyone expects Indy to select a quarterback, even if the team has to trade up for that quarterback. Of the talented quarterbacks in the draft, many people would like to see the Colts end up with Stroud— Parris Campbell is one of those people. Also on social media, Campbell has engaged with a couple of posts that let it be known he wouldn’t mind catching passes from a fellow Ohio State Buckeye.
Whether that gets to happen or not will be revealed during draft weekend. Additionally, it’s also no guarantee that Campbell does remain with the Colts. Even if both sides want it to happen, the NFL is still a business so a contract that all sides are happy with has to be negotiated.