The Indianapolis Colts really want to have a lot of cornerbacks on the 2026 roster, it seems. A few days after agreeing to terms with former Cincinnati Bengals corner Cam Taylor-Britt, Indy has re-signed Cameron Mitchell.
The issue is that Indy doesn't seemingly have a need at the spot, assuming Charvaius Ward doesn't retire, and he, Sauce Gardner, and Kenny Moore all stay healthy. Plus, Justin Walley should return from an injury that cost him his rookie season, and Jonathan Edwards and Mekhi Blackmon are holdovers from the 2025 roster.
What does Mitchell bring that the other cornerbacks might not? Not much. After moving over from the Cleveland Browns to the Colts early last season, Mitchell played 41 percent of defensive snaps and was, well...fine. He was especially good in the final two games of the season, though.
Indianapolis Colts re-sign cornerback Cameron Mitchell for no apparent reason
In Weeks 17 and 18 against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans, respectively, he allowed only two completions on eight targets for just nine yards. Four of those passes he broke up. The two-game stretch was arguably the best back-to-back games of his three-year career.
In his first three seasons, Mitchell has allowed a quarterback rating of 119.8, and that's not good. He also has no interceptions, but has given up nine touchdowns. He has as many passes broken up, but that is not the ideal ratio for a cornerback. He's also whiffed on 26.3 percent of his tackle attempts.
Cameron Mitchell isn't a special teams ace, either. He got only 20 snaps in the third phase of the game for Indianapolis, but 10 of those came in one game. He didn't make any tackles, so he was simply taking up a spot to fill out the 11 that needed to be on the field. In three seasons, he has just one tackle on special teams.
Maybe what the Indianapolis Colts hope is that the cornerback backups will simply fight it out for roster spots. The starters would seemingly be set with Ward, Gardner, and Moore. After that, nothing is guaranteed.
General manager Chris Ballard shouldn't sign any more cornerbacks, though. The Indianapolis Colts don't need them. Instead, the team needs to find some gems at edge rusher and inside linebacker, two groups that were a problem in 2025. Indy has added edge rusher Arden Key and off-ball linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither, but neither is an upgrade over what Indy had last season.