What might the Indianapolis Colts' internal free agents be worth on the open market?
The Indianapolis Colts are an intriguing team to watch this offseason when it comes to the free agent market.
They have two of its most significant players in quarterback Daniel Jones and wide receiver Alec Pierce, as well as others who should also attract plenty of external interest, such as safety Nick Cross, defensive end Kwity Paye, and offensive tackle Braden Smith.
The Colts are projected to have about $35.7 million in salary cap space to work with, according to OverTheCap.com. However, the NFL's league-wide cap is expected to expand by more than $20 million per team this year. The Colts are also presumed to be among the teams looking to create more cap space by either cutting or trading some of their more vulnerable contracts.
With several valuable players from within their own organization to evaluate, what might they cost? Sites such as Spotrac, Pro Football Focus, and Bleacher Report have made predictions about what some of the Colts' free agents may be worth on the open market. Roundtable has ordered them by average salary per year.
Daniel Jones
Spotrac: 4 years, $174,394,208 ($43.6M per year)
PFF: 3 years, $101,000,000 ($33.7M per year), with $56M guaranteed
B/R: 3 years, $99,000,000 ($33M per year)
Alec Pierce
Spotrac: 4 years, $80,996,324 ($20.2M per year)
PFF: 4 years, $96,000,000 ($24M per year), with $45M guaranteed
Kwity Paye
Spotrac: 3 years, $53,620,554 ($17.9M per year)
Braden Smith
Spotrac: 3 years, $40,602,906 ($13.5M per year)
Nick Cross
Spotrac: 4 years, $24,269,372 ($6.1M per year)
Samson Ebukam
Spotrac: 2 years, $5,810,332 ($2.9M per year)
Germaine Pratt
Spotrac: 1 year, $2,874,172
Tyquan Lewis
Spotrac: 1 year, $2,835,282
Danny Pinter
Spotrac: 1 year, $2,399,007
Mo Alie-Cox
Spotrac: 1 year, $2,236,252
Neville Gallimore
Spotrac: 1 year, $2,228,631
Ameer Abdullah
Spotrac: 1 year, $1,969,186
Rodney Thomas II
Spotrac: 1 year, $1,815,540
Chris Lammons
Spotrac: 1 year, $1,620,768
Laquon Treadwell
Spotrac: 1 year, $1,537,061
Chris Wormley
Spotrac: 1 year, $1,368,578
Drew Ogletree
Spotrac: 1 year, $1,329,023
Eric Johnson II
Spotrac: 2 years, $2,051,596 ($1.0M per year)
*Colts restricted free agents Tyler Goodson, Cameron Mitchell, Blake Grupe, Segun Olubi, Luke Tenuta, and DJ Montgomery, as well as unrestricted free agents Buddy Johnson, Jacob Phillips, Salvon Ahmed, and George Odum, were not included in these projections.
Jake Arthur has been covering the Indianapolis Colts for over a dozen years and is a member of the PFWA. He's one half of the Locked On Colts podcast and has worked for the Colts' official website, On SI, and more. You can follow him on X @JakeArthurNFL.