Colts Add DE Carl Lawson To P-Squad

To address the losses of Kwity Paye and Samson Ebukam in free agency, the Colts signed Arden Key (two years, $20MM) and Michael Clemons (three years, $17.5MM) as complements to Laiatu Latu. However, Indianapolis has lost Key and Clemons to injuries in the past couple of weeks. Key hasn’t gone on injured reserve, but he will miss time with a hamstring injury. Clemons, who went on IR with a toe injury after Week 2, will sit out at least two more games.

As 2-2 Indianapolis awaits the returns of Key and Clemons, the team could elevate Lawson from its practice squad. The 31-year-old made just one appearance as a member of the Ravens last season, but he has plenty of familiarity with Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. The two were together in Cincinnati from 2019-20, a stretch in which Lawson recorded 59 tackles, 54 quarterback hits and 10.5 sacks in 28 games.

Lawson, a 2017 fourth-round pick who tallied a career-high 8.5 sacks as a rookie, parlayed his solid run in Cincinnati into a three-year, $45MM pact with the Jets in 2021. Thanks largely to injuries, the move didn’t work out for New York. Lawson missed the first season of the contract with an Achilles tear, and after returning to notch 24 QB hits and seven sacks over a full season in 2022, he missed 11 games with a back injury and went without a sack in the last year of the deal.

Although Lawson played 15 games and contributed five sacks in Dallas in 2024, he was stuck in free agency until he caught on with Baltimore’s practice squad last October. The Ravens released Lawson in December, and he’s now settling for a practice squad deal for the second straight fall. Lawson will give the Colts another healthy defensive option to join Latu, JT Tuimoloau, Caden Curry, George Gumbs and Mitchell Melton. Like Lawson, Melton is on their practice squad.