Are the Colts set up to have a quality roster for the next few seasons?

As the Indianapolis Colts prepare to turn things around in 2023, is the team set up to have a quality roster for the next few seasons?

Last season, the Indianapolis Colts were 4-12-1, and drafted fourth overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. Typically, that means a team is really bad, and isn’t particularly close to being good. However, that’s not quite the case for Indianapolis.

The Colts were certainly really bad last year, there’s no denying that. Indianapolis had an abysmal offense, and the team found new ways to lose. What makes Indy different, though, is that it may not take that long for Indianapolis to be good again.

Entering last season, the Colts were expected to be contenders. While expectations proved to be too high, the talented core that made everyone so excited about Indy is still intact. Now, the question is, will the franchise be able to keep that core intact as the newcomers get up to speed, so the team can be competitive again.

Brad Spielberger tried answering that in a recent piece for PFF. Every offseason, PFF ranks all 32 teams by salary cap health, using several factors to analyze each teams’ cap situation for the next three years. Entering the 2023 season, the Colts were ranked at No. 13.

Colts ranked 13th-best salary cap health entering 2023 season

Spielberger admitted that Indianapolis is “a fascinating situation to monitor in 2023.” Because of how underwhelming the 2022 season was for Indy, it can be tough to evaluate what everyone saw last season and the actual talent on the roster. If Shane Steichen can get the most out of the team, the Colts could quickly become competitive again.

As far as the future, Indianapolis has a lot of young talent that should certainly be around for a few more years. However, a lot of the team’s most established contributors are entering pivotal contract years. Guys like Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman Jr., Grover Stewart, and Kenny Moore II could all be free agents in 2024.

Wthat happens with these players will have a huge impact on the next few years for the Colts. If Indianapolis can retain all of them, the team will have a solid roster with talented veterans, but not a whole lot of cap space. If the team loses some of these guys, they’ll have cap space but some missing pieces along the roster. It will be a challenge for Chris Ballard to figure out the best balance over the next year.

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