The 2023 offseason was always going to be an important one for the Indianapolis Colts. The team had a new head coach, was on the hunt for a franchise quarterback, and needed to hit the mark in both free agency and the draft to kickstart a successful rebuild. As part of this transformation, the Colts wanted to get younger and improve the team without breaking the bank, which naturally meant several players — including multiple starters — exited via trade or free agency.
Indianapolis lost players at key positions across both sides of the ball during the last offseason. They said goodbye to both veteran stalwarts and depth pieces. Some exits were expected, but others were more puzzling. The Colts added a lot of talent through draft picks and free agent signings to replace the outgoing players, but the jury is still out on whether the front office made the right personnel decisions.
The performance of these former Colts on their new teams for the 2023 season has ranged from incredible to inadequate. Let's take a closer look at which ones have excelled since moving on and which have fallen flat.
Parris Campbell (Signed with NYG)
Indianapolis had high hopes for swiss-army-knife wide receiver Parris Campbell when general manager Chris Ballard drafted him in 2019. However, in four injury-riddled seasons with the Colts, Campbell never reached his potential. Despite a thin receiving corps, Ballard opted to not re-sign Campbell, instead believing that he could find a starting slot receiver elsewhere (hello Josh Downs and Isaiah McKenzie).
The Giants community was excited about the addition of Campbell — on a one-year, incentive-heavy prove-it deal — since his 2022 season was by far the best of his career. However, even though he has been healthy, Campbell has struggled to get involved in 2023. He's sixth on the team in targets, eighth in yards, and heading in a downward trajectory. New York's QB situation isn't great and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka probably isn't maximizing his usage, but Campbell also hasn't taken advantage of the opportunities he's been given.
On 3rd & 15, Tommy DeVito pass to Parris Campbell loses 2-yds .. FGA coming up#Patriots 7 #NYGiants 7 4th pic.twitter.com/QawncVLplA
— Sᴘᴏʀᴛs 24/7 (@Sports_24x7_) November 26, 2023
On a positive note, Campbell is getting some special teams work with eight kick returns this year and has shown some promise there (23.9 yards per return), but he's been extremely limited as a pass-catcher.
Matt Pryor (Signed with SF)
Offensive tackle Matt Pryor wasn't exactly a standout lineman during his time in Indianapolis and was often a liability against the pass rush. That being said, at a time when the Colts were dealing with a few injuries, Pryor was a valuable part of the rotation. Pryor earned 14 starts across the 2021 and 2022 seasons, playing around half of the offensive snaps in that time and filling in at both tackle spots.
After losing 2022 starter Mike McGlinchey in free agency, San Francisco needed o-line depth and signed Pryor to shore up the trenches. So far though, Pryor has been limited to 15 snaps across 10 games this season. The 49ers' starting tackles Trent Williams and Colton McKivitz have stayed relatively healthy and third-year pro Jaylon Moore appears to be locked into the swing tackle role backing up the starters. It would likely take multiple injuries to players ahead of him in the depth chart before Pryor could see a meaningful workload in 2023.