A former first-round pick and 11 other Colts players who would be at risk if the NFL were to have another expansion draft

The Indianapolis Colts are hyper-focused on preparing for the 2025 season right now through OTAs. And one of their most important training camps in recent memory is quickly approaching. 

While they worry about that, our staff decided to perform a hypothetical NFL expansion draft. The last time the NFL had an expansion draft was when they introduced the Houston Texans in 2002. But what would happen if the 33rd team in the NFL were introduced, and how would it affect the Colts directly? 

Early next week, A to Z Sports' Wendell Ferreira will be sharing the results of our hypothetical expansion draft, including the team's name and their roster. Before that could happen, though, each team had to make players available to be drafted. 

Hypothetical NFL Expansion Draft Rules

1. Each current NFL team has to leave 12 players unprotected.
   
   
2. ⁠Players with 0 or 1 accrued seasons are automatically protected and can't be on the list. Players with no-trade clauses also aren't eligible.
   
   
3. ⁠If the player is selected, the expansion team will absorb both his future salaries and signing bonus prorations.
   
   
4. ⁠The list is final, meaning that teams can't withdraw a player after another one has been selected.
   
   
5. ⁠The expansion team can get a maximum of two players from each NFL team, and a maximum of 40 players.

12 unprotected Colts' players 

Luckily, the Cols 2025 rookie class will remain intact as they are all protected. The expansion team, on top of getting to select from the unprotected players list from teams, would also get to draft first in every round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but thankfully, none of their selections were stolen in this project. 

Offensive unprotected players 

• Khalil Herbert, RB
• Salvon Ahmed, RB
• Laquon Treadwell, WR
• D.J. Montgomery, WR
• Sean McKeon, TE
• Albert Okwuegbunam, TE
• Luke Tenuta, OT
• Wesley French, C

A few players here have a real chance at making the Colts' final 53-man roster. To me, those players are Khalil Herbert, Albert Okwuegbunam, Luke Tenuta, and Wesley French. Laquon Treadwell is also a former first-round pick who has bounced around the league quite a bit. 

Defensive unprotected players

• Eric Johnson II, DT
• Corey Ballentine, CB
• Joe Bachie, LB
• Jacob Phillips, LB

Eight of the Colts' 12 unprotected players came on the offensive side of the ball, leaving four on defense. None of the players listed were with the team during last season, but they did draft Eric Johnson II in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. He is one of three players above that I think have a real shot at making the Colts roster, along with Corey Ballentine and Joe Bachie, who both have some solid special-teams experience.