If I’m the Indianapolis Colts, I want to re-sign box safety Nick Cross. He is the exact type of player good teams build around. The former Maryland Terrapin is not an All-Pro or a Pro-Bowler, but he has developed over his four seasons with the Colts into a reliable back-end tackler who is not a liability in coverage. Most importantly, he is an ascending talent.
The Colts chose him in the third round of the 2022 draft, and for a few years, it seemed as if he might not live up to that pedigree. But he had a breakthrough in 2024 when he became a starter and racked up 146 tackles to go along with three interceptions.
Last year, playing under a new defensive coordinator and alongside a new deep safety, Cross showed that his 2024 season was not a fluke. His numbers dipped, but that is partly the result of the changes in the overall defense. Cross is a good player who delivers what teams want in a box safety.
Just as importantly, he’s home-grown.
Will the Indianapolis Colts re-sign Nick Cross?
Does that matter? Is there any actual advantage to filling a roster with players you have drafted and developed? A quick look at the teams that tend to challenge for titles year in and year out would suggest it does matter.
Developing continuity is crucial. The best secondaries tend to be ones where most of the players have been together for a while and develop an unspoken communication. This can be especially important for safeties, who are generally the last line of defense.
A mix-up on the defensive line may lead to a hole and a ten-yard running play. A mix-up between safeties more often than not results in a touchdown.
SI.com recently compiled a list of the 50 top free agents for 2026. The writers, Gilberto Mazano and Matt Verderame, identified two teams for each as a likely landing spot. Cross was number 41 on the list, and the teams he was linked to were the Vikings and the Giants.
Setting aside a certain symmetry that would be in place if Cross did indeed sign with Minnesota (the Colts signed Bynum away from the Vikings when he hit free agency last year), it is somewhat disappointing that the writers did not include Indy as a likely landing spot.
Of course, they could be wrong. Chris Ballard may be working on an extension as we speak. But there has not been much indication of any such deal, and there is a reasonable explanation as to why. It has little to do with Nick Cross as a player or his value to the Colts’ defense.
Cross is the fifth Colt on that free agent list. They have four other players ranked in the top 33. Three are in the top eleven in the entire league.
One, Daniel Jones, has already been transition-tagged. That doesn’t ensure he will be a Colt in 2026, but it makes it highly likely. Chris Ballard would certainly like to re-sign the number three-ranked UFA on the SI.com list, wide receiver Alec Pierce. But that will take some doing.
As for the others, Braden Smith and Kwity Paye may end up costing too much if Ballard can re-sign both Pierce and Jones.
For the record, Mazano and Verderame do list Indianapolis as one of the two likely destinations for Jones, Pierce, Smith, and Paye. But not for Nick Cross.
If I’m Ballard, I’m prioritizing Cross over Smith because the Colts are in much better shape on the offensive line than they are at safety. And Cross is younger.
In the end, it may not matter. Cross may be halfway out the door already. His departure won't exactly devastate Lou Anarumo’s defense. They will find another safety.
Perhaps it will be someone already on the roster, like Rodney Thomas II or Hunter Wohler. Both were recent seventh-round draft picks. If either does emerge as a good replacement for Nick Cross, hopefully Colts’ management will act proactively to extend that player and not get caught in the Nick Cross trap a year or two down the road.