If a team playing the Indianapolis Colts this preseason wanted to get the quarterback some work while also building their confidence with quick completions, the plan would have likely involved throwing the ball to whatever wide receiver cornerback Mekhi Blackmon was covering. Or, more specifically, poorly covering.
After starting 11 games for Indy last year and being mostly meh, the veteran had been atrocious through the first two games of the preseason. Using the past tense is important there, as Blackmon was released by the Colts on Wednesday, just a few days before final roster cuts have to be made.
The cornerback wasn't going to make the team based on his recent performance, and, at 27 years old, he still has enough time to find a new team if another team wants him. In 2025, Blackmon had a solid quarterback rating allowed of 86.9, and he had two interceptions while giving up three touchdowns. Solid, if not spectacular.
Indianapolis Colts release cornerback Mekhi Blackmon
But even knowing how banged up the cornerback group was for Indianapolis last season, and knowing that starter Charvarius Ward is going to have to "manage" his ongoing back pain through this year (at least), the team simply couldn't take a risk on playing Blackmon. He was unbelievably bad in the preseason playing against other teams' backups.
Imagine how bad he would likely be against the starters of other teams. He not only would probably give up an even higher percentage of completions than this preseason, when he allowed passes to be completed against him 85.7 percent of the time, but his presence might cost the Colts a game or two.
That would probably be enough to push Indianapolis out of the playoff picture once again, and the team has been in the postseason since 2020. This is potentially a make-or-break year for head coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard, and keeping Mekhi Blackmon on the roster would break them.
Releasing Blackmon before preseason Week 3, when the Indianapolis Colts take on the Detroit Lions, makes perfect sense. Blackmon's absence gives other players battling for a roster spot more opportunities to get reps to prove they belong.
The players who will get more reps against Detroit include Kenneth Harris, who was signed on the same day Blackmon was released. Harris was undrafted this year out of Oklahoma State. He is 6 feet and nearly 195 pounds. He isn't a ball-hawk and had no interceptions in his final season in college, but he at least has more positive potential than Blackmon, who, apparently, has none.
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