The Indianapolis Colts have a lot to address this offseason as they try to get back to contender status ahead of the 2023 NFL season.
The first order of business for the Indianapolis Colts this offseason is done. The team officially hired Shane Steichen as head coach. Steichen joins Indianapolis after spending time with the Philadelphia Eagles as offensive coordinator. Now, he’ll be in charge of revitalizing an offense that was one of the worst in the league this past season and leading a team that finished 4-12-1. In order for Steichen to lead the Colts to where they want to go, Indy will have to address a few important things this offseason.
With so many things to fix, the offseason can seem overwhelming at times, but also promising because of things like free agency and the NFL Draft. What should be the priorities for the Colts this offseason? PFF laid out what an ideal offseason should look like for Indianapolis in a recent piece taking a look at all 32 teams’ upcoming offseason. PFF highlighted each team’s biggest need, a player they must retain, a cut candidate, and also a franchise tag candidate.
For Indy, the biggest need was obviously quarterback. PFF highlighted how the team can finally draft a talented rookie instead of gambling on an older veteran. Fittingly, Matt Ryan was named as the team’s cut candidate. The Colts won’t be starting Ryan and his cap hit is too big to remain on the roster. So Indianapolis needs to send the older quarterback packing and prepare to welcome a rookie quarterback.
As far as the player that needs to be retained, PFF highlighted Parris Campbell. After finally staying healthy, Campbell showed that he could be productive and Indy needs to keep him around as the offense tries to improve. For a franchise tag candidate, PFF decided to leave that blank. Indianapolis will either be re-signing guys or letting them walk.
This is a fair assessment of what the Colts need to do this offseason. With a head coach already in place, everything now boils down to Indy’s quarterback decision. Chris Ballard also needs to be aggressive as he works to improve the roster in free agency and the draft but Indy already has several talented players on the roster that need to step up and perform better than they did last season. If that happens, and Indy makes the right pick at quarterback, Steichen could be leading a competitive Colts team next season.
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