The Indianapolis Colts have gotten through the big wave of free agency and now have their sights set on the 2023 NFL draft, hoping to find their quarterback of the future.
While the optimism is high that the Colts will have the chance to take the prospect they want, the outlook of the team in the eyes of NFL.com’s Dan Hanzus leaves a lot to be desired.
In his updated power rankings following the early free agency moves, the Colts rank as the second-worst team in the NFL. Only the Arizona Cardinals sit below them in the rankings.
Are the Colts lying in the weeds for Lamar Jackson? You have to figure someone will eventually make an aggressive play for a 26-year-old former MVP, and Indianapolis checks all the boxes. Premium draft capital? Check. Ample salary-cap space? Check. Need at quarterback? Check. Scheme fit? Check. What we don’t know is what Jim Irsay thinks about Jackson, and whether the owner and GM Chris Ballard would consider meeting his salary demands. Rarely does a struggling team get the chance to reboot the machine and upload itself back to relevance with one seismic transaction. Opportunity knocks.
The thought of Lamar Jackson wearing the horseshoe is a fun exercise, but it’s unlikely the Colts will want to make the blockbuster move, especially when they have the No. 4 overall pick in the draft.
They are widely expected to take a quarterback with their first-round pick. If they don’t, that might free them up for the opportunity to trade for Jackson after the draft because then they would part ways with their 2024 and 2025 first-round picks rather than the No. 4 pick. But that’s even assuming the Colts want to pay his contract, which we don’t know they do.
The Colts have a lot of moves to make in order to climb the power rankings and we shouldn’t expect much to change until they stabilize the quarterback position.
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