NFL Extends Key Partnership With Indianapolis

"The NFL Combine has called this place home for 39 years," McAfee said on stage. "Add two more. Through 2027 and 2028, the NFL and Visit Indy have officially inked a deal to keep the event here in Indianapolis, as it should be. $9 million of financial impact, 30,000 visitors last year during the combine, hopefully that'll go up."

Sign Up For the Colts Daily Digest - OnSI’s Indianapolis Colts Newsletter

Coaches, scouts, and front office executives from all 32 teams flood into Indianapolis during this special week as the NCAA's best put on a clinic to test their athleticism. In addition to seeing the best prospects in-person, coaches are often able to interview a select few.

Only a few years after the Colts left Baltimore is when the league decided to move the combine to Indianapolis. The Colts haven't had to travel for combine duties since 1986, when it was hosted in New Orleans.

"As Indianapolis has grown, so has the NFL Scouting Combine," Colts chief operating officer Pete Ward said (per the team's official site). "For more than three decades, Indy has proven to be the best host city, efficiently moving prospects, team owners, coaching staff, medical personnel, and national media seamlessly through the city. The Colts and the Irsay family are grateful to the NFL for their continued confidence in our city's ability."

With the Indiana Convention Center next door, it's an easy-flowing process for players, coaches, and executives to get where they need to go. Although the league has looked at bids from other cities, the combine has stayed put in the Crossroads of America.

The Colts themselves have no first-round pick this season after trading it away to the New York Jets in exchange for cornerback Sauce Gardner. Indy's scouts will have to focus on guys they think could fall to the second round, a place where Chris Ballard has had success before.