The Indianapolis Colts should be preparing for a wild card playoff game, but in reality, they have turned their attention to the offseason. After a year where they exceeded everyone’s expectations, the 9-8 Colts know they left a lot on the table. That’s especially the case after Indy lost the win-and-in game to the Houston Texans on Saturday night.
As painful as the ending of the season was, Indianapolis has to move on to the offseason, where the primary focus will be getting healthy and improving the roster. Last year, Indy’s offseason was about finding a head coach and a quarterback, with those two positions figured out, Indy will focus on all of the pending free agents the team has.
While the Colts will work to keep a lot of the players entering free agency, there are also some guys that Indy will let walk, lose in free agency, or simply just release. Let’s take a look at four people that are unlikely to return to Indianapolis next season.
4. DT Taven Bryan is unlikely to return to Colts
Taven Bryan seems like an obvious choice here. The defensive tackle was signed last offseason with expectations of being a depth piece. For most of the year, that’s exactly what he was. However, Bryan did get the start while starting defensive tackle Grover Stewart was suspended.
Playing in all 17 games, Bryan recorded 22 tackles, four for a loss, and had two sacks. Considering that Bryan played in just 29% of the defensive snaps this season, the Colts will probably focus on re-signing Stewart and developing the young defensive tackles on the roster.