Colts: Ranking Their Offseason Departures By Impact

This offseason, the Indianapolis Colts set out with the mission to maintain their early-season offensive vigor while getting younger and more explosive on the defensive side of the ball.

As a result, several veterans were shown the door, either in cost-cutting measures or in the name of getting younger.

The Colts do appear to have made some upgrades in particular areas, but they surely will miss some of their departed veterans, which we have ranked the top 20.

The biggest factors are how impactful each player was for the Colts and how well they have been replaced since their departure.

Pittman was with the Colts since 2020 and their leading receiver since 2021. He ranks top-five in franchise history in targets (709) and receptions (485), is eighth in receiving yards (5,254), and 13th in receiving touchdowns (25). Pittman leaves behind 118 targets per season, but the Colts did not deliberately replace him with one player. While Alec Pierce, Tyler Warren, and Josh Downs will naturally absorb most of the workload, Ashton Dulin will take on a bigger role than ever, and the team added Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Deion Burks in the offseason. It will be a group effort to replace Pittman.

Paye wasn't the Colts' most important free agent entering the new league year, but they have not clearly replaced him. The Colts added free agent Arden Key, who is more of a replacement for the backups they lost, but he will battle with second-year player Jaylahn Tuimoloau to replace Paye. Tuimoloau only played 215 defensive snaps last year as a rookie.

Pratt was a breath of fresh air for the Colts' defense last year, ending the rotating door at WILL and bringing some stability. Still, he was targeted in the passing game over the middle of the field by offenses, highlighting his age. The Colts replaced him with a younger, but more unproven version in Akeem Davis-Gaither.

Franklin was one of the Colts' most outspoken leaders, but his fit in Lou Anarumo's defense was called into question when he had his least productive statistical season as a starter in 2025. Similar to Pratt, when Franklin was forced to run-and-chase in coverage, it was not a good look. The Colts traded Franklin to the Green Bay Packers and replaced him with their first pick in the draft, CJ Allen.

Cross was a draft-and-develop success story for the Colts, becoming one of the defense's most productive and consistent performers since 2024. However, he wasn't yet a finished product, as his instincts in coverage were a work in progress. The Colts loaded up at safety this offseason and will have a fun competition this summer for Cross' spot, with rookie A.J. Haulcy and Hunter Wohler competing.

Moore was one of the longest-tenured Colts, but like Franklin, his fit in Anarumo's system was questionable. Moore requested a trade in April, and when none came about, he was released. Moore's replacement, second-year player Justin Walley, sat out last year with a torn ACL. While he might offer more athletic upside, he is recovering from a serious knee injury and doesn't yet have Moore's Rolodex of knowledge. The Colts might miss Moore a bit.

We got a sneak peek of life after Smith in 2025 when he missed the final five weeks on Injured Reserve, and rookie Jalen Travis took over. Travis played reasonably well, which will allow the Colts to work in a much younger, cheaper option at right tackle.

Gallimore provided the Colts with some of the best backup support at defensive tackle in recent memory, which gave him the opportunity to land a big payday with the Chicago Bears. The Colts will be relying on younger options to back up DeForest Buckner: Colby Wooden (whom they acquired in the Franklin trade) and Adetomiwa Adebawore.

Ebukam's best days with the Colts came in 2023 when he had a team-leading and career-high 9.5 sacks. However, he tore an Achilles during training camp in 2024, missing the season. In 2025, he returned, but looked like a 30-year-old returning from an Achilles injury. The Colts replaced him with Key, and Ebukam signed with the Atlanta Falcons afterward.

Goodson provided fine play at running back behind Jonathan Taylor, mostly as a pass-catcher and outside runner, but his true value was at gunner on the punt team, opposite Ashton Dulin. Goodson turned himself into a critical piece of the special-teams groups that Colts coordinator Brian Mason will now have to replace. Goodson joined Ebukam in Atlanta.

Like Goodson, Abdullah was an adequate change-of-pace relief option behind Taylor, but special teams was his bread and butter. At 32 years old and in his 11th NFL season, Abdullah had his most effective year as a kickoff returner in 2025, averaging 29.6 yards per return, which was tied for the sixth-highest in the NFL.

Pinter was the Colts' backup center since 2020, and with the exception of a handful of starts as the starting right guard in 2022, he was incredibly valuable. In the 606 snaps Pinter played for the Colts outside of 2022, he allowed just one sack and had a run-blocking grade of 68.3 according to Pro Football Focus, which is considered slightly above average. He signed with the Baltimore Ravens this offseason.

Before leaving for the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, Thomas was a key special-teamer for the Colts, averaging 188.3 snaps per season. He played significantly as a starting safety early in his career, averaging 841 snaps from 2022-23 before leaning into his role on special teams.

Olubi was another fixture on the Colts' special teams, averaging 358 snaps from 2023-25, although he seldom played on defense. Olubi racked up 24 special-teams stops in his time with the Colts, routinely ranking around the league lead. Olubi joined Paye with the Las Vegas Raiders. 

Johnson didn't get to Indianapolis until Week 6 last year, but he was immediately entrenched as a core special-teamer, playing 201 snaps and making seven stops.

Lewis overcame frequent injuries early in his career to be one of the Colts' most reliable rotational defensive linemen since 2018, with the ability to play on the edge and at tackle. In eight seasons, Lewis had 18.0 sacks and 32 tackles for loss.

Arguably the most unique storyline of the Colts' season, they pulled 43-year-old quarterback Rivers out of retirement, having not played since he retired from the Colts after the 2020 season. After Daniel Jones was lost for the season to an Achilles injury in Week 14, the Colts threw a lifeline with Rivers, banking on his chemistry with head coach Shane Steichen. Rivers performed reasonably well under the circumstances, but was 0-3 in his starts, with the Colts failing to make the playoffs.

In his third season in Indy, the Colts turned to Lammons as their slot corner following injuries to Moore and Mike Hilton, and he played at a high level. In 133 snaps covering four games, Lammons had the NFL's sixth-best grade in coverage (81.7) among all NFL corners in that span, adding a pass breakup and an interception.

Johnson was with the Colts for three of the last four years, but never quite developed into what the Colts hoped as potentially "The Next Grover Stewart." He had 523 career snaps with the Colts, totaling 24 tackles, 1.0 sack, and two tackles for loss.

Wormley played just five games (83 snaps) with the Colts, but he did have a couple of standout moments, notching a sack, a tackle for loss, and another QB hit.