Since taking over the team in 2017, Indianapolis General Manager Chris Ballard has often adopted a conservative approach to the offseason. That usually meant sitting out the first wave of major free-agent deals and avoiding expensive signings. However, in the last 24 hours, this front office has made multiple uncharacteristically aggressive moves to improve the roster.
As soon as the negotiation period officially began at noon yesterday, the floodgates were open in Indianapolis. Ballard has executed several savvy and flashy moves in a short amount of time. There’s still work to be done, but let’s recap the Colts’ very successful first day of free agency.
Restructuring Braden Smith’s contract
Entering the offseason, 28-year-old right tackle Braden Smith was a prime candidate to be released, given his massive cap hit of nearly $20 million. Ultimately, Ballard and Smith agreed to a revised contract that keeps the veteran in Indianapolis for the 2025 season while presumably reducing his cap number. This is a win-win for the Colts.
Smith has been rock-solid whenever he’s on the field, and he is reportedly moving past the undisclosed personal issue that sidelined him for the final six weeks of last season. He also provides much-needed stability for an offensive line that’s already lost one starter in Ryan Kelly and could lose a second in Will Fries. With this new deal, the Colts gain some salary cap flexibility and lock down the right tackle spot until 2026. By that time, last year’s third-round pick Matt Goncalves could be ready for the starting job.
Letting Dayo Odeyingbo and Ryan Kelly walk
Multiple homegrown Indianapolis starters are hitting free agency. The old version of Ballard would re-sign these players to lucrative contracts for the sake of continuity, but he seems to be bucking that trend this year. The first casualties were defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo and Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly, who signed with Chicago and Minnesota, respectively.
While Odeyingbo and Kelly are decent players, Ballard was wise to let them walk away. There was no reason to match Odeyingbo’s huge three-year, $48 million offer from the Bears or try to retain Kelly, whose performance and health are declining with age. Most importantly, the Colts already have younger replacements lined up (Laiatu Latu and Tanor Bartolini) and need to spend in other areas.
Transforming the secondary with a pair of stars
The Indianapolis secondary has been consistently disappointing under the current regime. Ballard’s strategy of relying on a bunch of young, injury-prone defensive backs has produced disastrous results. This time around, the front office didn’t waste any time addressing the team’s biggest weakness and delivering two impact signings early in the offseason.
Ball hawk safety Cam Bynum and former All-Pro cornerback Charvarius Ward were two of PFF’s top-20 free agents in 2025. They add premium talent, experience, and durability to a secondary that previously lacked all three. While their contracts aren’t cheap (up to $120 million combined), Ballard made the right call investing in Bynum and Ward, who are by far the best DBs on the Colts’ roster not named Kenny Moore II.
Re-signing Ashton Dulin for depth and special teams
Bringing back Ashton Dulin for a sixth season in Indianapolis was, admittedly, not a make-or-break move. At this point in his career, Dulin’s pass-catching potential is limited and he’s unlikely to steal targets from the Colts’ top four wideouts.
However, Dulin provides enough value in other ways to justify his low-risk contract. The former undrafted free agent has excelled as a gunner on special teams while additionally being used as a blocker on offense as well as the fifth or sixth wide receiver on the depth chart.