Colts retaining Grover Stewart on $39 million deal

The Indianapolis Colts continue the contract extensions. On Monday, the team agreed to a three-year, $39 million deal with defensive tackle Grover Stewart, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Stewart has donned the Colts jersey ever since being drafted as a fourth-round pick in 2017. Playing a total of 107 regular season games for the team, Stewart has started in 75 of those outings. The 6-foot-4, 314-pound DT has career totals of 280 combined tackles (164 solo and 116 assisted), 9.0 sacks and seven passes defended for the Colts.

Last season, Stewart served a six-game suspension, seeing action for just 11 games. He finished with 41 combined tackles (23 solo, 18 assisted) and 0.5 sacks to conclude his 2023 campaign with the Colts.

As for the team itself, the past season’s 9-8 record was definitely an improvement to 2022’s finish. Still, the Colts’ season ended in a heartbreaking playoff elimination during Week 18.

Presently, Indianapolis’ offseason already consists of multiple extended contracts, the biggest of which would be Michael Pittman Jr.’s three-year, $71.5 million deal. Besides Grover Stewart and Pittman, other players retained by the Colts include linebacker Zaire Franklin, guard Jack Anderson and defensive end Tyquan Lewis.

More moves are expected to be made in free agency to address the Colts’ shortcomings last season, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Indianapolis allowed 24.4 opponent points and 349.8 opponent yards per game — 28th and 24th in the league respectively.

The team needs more depth in their secondary rotation. While they do have young and developing defensive backs with potential, the Colts still need more experienced pass disruptors to make defensive strides this year. There are a number of available options in free agency which the team is expected to look into. All in all, there’s plenty more work to be done in the coming months.