The Indianapolis Colts have just lost another one of their top players in free agency, but this time, it hurts a little bit more. Linebacker E.J. Speed was listed among the top 50 free agents in the league earlier this year, as he had a breakout year in 2024.
In 15 games, Speed had 142 total tackles, five passes defended, 13.5 stuffs, one blocked kick, and his first career interception. Other teams were paying attention, and the one which ended up landing him is one of the Colts' biggest rivals: none other than the Houston Texans.
Fox Sports' Jordan Schultz announced the news this afternoon:
Breaking: The #Texans are signing former #Colts LB E.J. Speed to a 1-year $5M deal, sources tell @NFLonFOX.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 29, 2025
Speed spent six seasons in Indy and is coming off a career-best year with 142 tackles in 15 games, including 7 TFLs and 5 PBUs. pic.twitter.com/XVsSj9hUTj
Speed was drafted by the Colts in 2019, and originally began his career mostly contributing on special teams. In 2020, he began to get nationwide attention after blocking a punt against the Titans on Thursday Night Football, for which he was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. He repeated that feat twice in the 2021 season, once against the Jaguars and again against the Patriots.
By 2024, Speed had become a highly-valued player on the Colts defense, and though Chris Ballard has made some good additions to the defense in free agency, Speed's absence will undoubtedly be felt. That he chose to leave for the Houston Texans, arguably the Colts' most hated divisional rival, just pours salt into the wound.
Speed will join Azeez Az-Shaair, Henry To'oTo'o, and Christian Harris in the Texans linebacker room, and while he has a good chance of being a Week 1 starter, there's no denying the talent already there, meaning he will surely have competition amongst the LBs in an already-strong unit.
The Colts already lost Grant Stuard to the Detroit Lions in free agency, who seemed to feel that Detroit offered him a better shot of winning than Indianapolis. If Speed feels the same way about Houston, that could explain why he chose to walk, too. But with him now gone, it makes the Colts' need for more depth at linebacker even more dire.