The Indianapolis Colts’ current 2024 offseason roster has the third-highest percentage of players returning from last year’s team.
Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap, recently compared the 2023 rosters of each NFL team to their 2024 rosters to see which organizations had the most roster turnover and the least.
The Colts were in the least category with 79.3 percent of their roster from last year still currently on the team. The only teams ahead of the Colts are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 79.5 percent and the Green Bay Packers at 81.8 percent.
Continuity had been the theme of the offseason for the Colts through free agency. Their significant outside additions included defensive tackle Raekwon Davis and quarterback Joe Flacco.
Otherwise, the money spent by GM Chris Ballard went towards retaining his own players. Michael Pittman, Zaire Franklin, and DeForest Buckner received extensions, while the Colts would re-sign Grover Stewart, Tyquan Lewis, Julian Blackmon, Kenny Moore, and Rigoberto Sanchez, among others, were re-signed.
“I think any time you can keep continuity in your own players is a good thing,” GM Chris Ballard said. “It’s not a bad thing. Because you know what you’re getting in the player. It’s always easy to look outside and think, automatically, that no doubt this guy’s going to be an upgrade. But there’s usually a reason they hit free agency.”
Continuity provides a jumping-off point. Players know what the expectations are, the roles within the offensive and defensive systems, and the terminology.
This time a year ago, Shane Steichen and his offensive coaching staff were laying the groundwork for what they wanted their system to be in Indianapolis. Now, with all of that in place and many familiar faces, they are miles ahead of where they were in 2023, able to go much deeper into the playbook.
“When you have your system in place, it helps big time, especially with the players understanding the verbiage and terminology,” Steichen said. “But really trying to stay on the cutting edge of things because this league is always changing. So if we can do that and build on what we did last year, I’ll be excited for the 2024 season.”
The same concept can be applied to the defensive side of the ball that featured several young players in the secondary last season, who now have the chance to grow within the same system, which hopefully propels them forward in 2024.
After finishing 9-8 last season and just missing out on the playoffs, there are two factors that will play key roles in getting the Colts over that playoff hump–the return of Anthony Richardson and continuity on both sides of the ball.
