The numbers don’t lie.
Due to salary cap constraints, the Indianapolis Colts almost certainly will have to part ways with one or more established starters this offseason. There’s a good chance some of those names eventually will make their way onto the list below: The five players who made the Colts regret letting them leave in free agency.
Some ground rules. We’re evaluating how well these players performed after leaving Indianapolis, not the merits of the choices to let them leave. Most of these departures made sense given the context of the Colts’ salary cap situation and roster development status at the time.
5 players who made the Colts regret letting them leave in free agency
We considered anyone who left Indianapolis as a free agent, regardless of whether the player truly left as a free agent or was first cut by the Colts. (Call it the Peyton Manning Rule).
2023 – Bobby Okereke, LB
Okereke was the odd linebacker out as the Colts moved forward with Shaquille Leonard and Zaire Franklin in 2023, and Okereke signed with the New York Giants. Okereke has been a solid starter in New York. Indianapolis has missed him, as Leonard’s injuries around that time proved career-altering and then career-ending.
2021 – Malik Hooker, S
If you believe the best ability is availability, then you’ve missed Hooker, who has been a regular starter in the Dallas Cowboys defensive backfield the past five years. Hooker never truly established himself in Indianapolis after he was the Colts’ first-round pick in 2017, but did so in Dallas.
2012 – Pierre Garcon, WR
If you view Colts history through extremely blue-colored glasses, you could say the silver lining of Indianapolis’ run of subpar drafts in the mid-2010s is that you have to go back almost 15 years to fill out a list of five players who made the franchise regret letting them go. There was a stretch of several years when the Colts didn’t draft anyone who would be missed!
Garcon went on to play seven years after leaving Indianapolis, highlighted by his 2013 season in Washington, where he led the league in receptions. The Colts could have paired Garcon with T.Y. Hilton for a formidable receiving duo in the mid-2010s, particularly after Reggie Wayne went down with a severe knee injury in 2013.
2012 – Peyton Manning, QB
Yes, moving on from Manning when the Colts were in position to select Andrew Luck with the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft was the only logical decision at the time. Manning signed with the Denver Broncos, where he put up dazzling stats for three seasons and did just enough in his final season to help Denver win a Super Bowl.
From a purely football perspective, it’s arguably a coin flip whether a few more vintage Manning years would have been equal to the seven Luck years. From a fan perspective, it’s regrettable that there wasn’t a way for the most significant player since the franchise’s move to Indianapolis to finish his career with the Colts.
2010 – Tim Jennings, CB
The Colts didn’t have room to keep Jennings in 2010, when the team was trying to keep the core pieces together after a Super Bowl appearance. Jennings promptly emerged as a starting-caliber defensive back for the Chicago Bears, where he earned second-team All-Pro honors and a couple of Pro Bowl appearances in five seasons. He would have been a useful piece during the Manning-to-Luck transition.
Honorable mention
- Antoine Bethea, S – Bethea made a Pro Bowl appearance and played six more years in the league after he left the Colts in 2014.
- Marcus Washington and Mike Peterson, LBs – The Colts routinely allowed solid linebackers to leave via free agency in the early 2000s. It’s hard to argue with that approach – Indianapolis won more games than any other franchise in the 2000s – but Washington and Peterson proved their worth with lengthy careers highlighted Pro Bowl/All-Pro appearances after leaving Indianapolis.
- Bertrand Berry, DE – Berry was out of the NFL altogether in 2000 after playing three seasons in Indianapolis. Berry resurrected his career in Denver and later was an All-Pro for the Arizona Cardinals.
- Ray Buchanan and Ashley Ambrose, DBs – Both were salary cap casualties for Indianapolis in the mid-1990s. Both went on to earn All-Pro honors with other teams – Buchanan with the Atlanta Falcons and Ambrose with the Cincinnati Bengals.
- Ray Donaldson, C – Donaldson was already a four-time Pro Bowl honoree the Colts released him after his age-34 season. Donaldson went on to four more productive seasons – two with the Seattle Seahawks and two in Dallas – and two Pro Bowl appearances.