There's Reason for Optimism After Colts' Colossal Collapse

Starting with Daniel Jones, the quarterback saw a career revival with Indianapolis before going down for the season in Week 14 with a brutal Achilles injury.

Now, he's a free agent after putting up 261/384 completions (68.0 completion percentage) for 3,101 passing yards, 19 TD tosses, and eight interceptions. He also ran in five more scores for 24 total TDs.

Jones won't get the deal he received with the New York Giants in 2023 (four years, $160 million), but the assumption is the Colts will pony up some sort of contract to keep Jones with the franchise after showing incredible promise.

Next up is Tyler Warren. The rookie tight end was selected with the 14th-overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, and he immediately took the league by storm.

Whether it was as a versatile receiver, blocker, or running back, Warren did it all for Shane Steichen's offense.

He finished an impressive debut campaign with 76 catches for 817 receiving yards and five all-purpose TDs (four receiving, one rushing as a fullback).

Warren looked like a 10-year NFL veteran this year, and the sky is the limit for what he can accomplish in year two and beyond.

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Third is Josh Downs. In his first year with the Colts, the former North Carolina Tarheel set the Colts' single-season record for most catches by a rookie with 68. Warren would break this with 76 in 2025.

While Downs posted career-lows this year in catches (58), receiving yards (566), average yards per catch (9.8), and yards after catch (144), the Colts' QB situation was another year of resembling a revolving door.

Downs is an excellent slot receiver and will press to improve for his fourth year with the Indianapolis franchise in 2026.

Regardless of what happened this year for Downs, his skills speak for themselves, and he's fully capable of bouncing back in a big way.

Lastly, there is Michael Pittman Jr. The veteran WR1 for Indianapolis had a tale of two seasons, similar to how the team performed in 2025.

Pittman looked great for the first 10 games, but had a decline for the last seven in which the Colts lost every game.

Pittman finished with 80 catches for 778 receiving yards and a career-high seven touchdowns. There's reason for optimism with Pittman in 2026, but after watching Alec Pierce break out with a torrid campaign, some have surfaced rumors that Pittman will be cut or traded.

Pittman becomes a free agent after this year, but if the Colts were to decide to re-sign Pierce and deem him the WR1, cutting Pittman would save the team a mountainous $24 million in cap space ($5 million dead money).

I would assume the Colts want to keep a player like Pittman, but anything can happen when a receiver like Pierce puts up a season like he did in year four.

However, allowing Pittman to ride out the final year of his contract keeps the dynamic quadrant of pass-catchers that helped the Colts dominate their first 10 games.

We'll see if Chris Ballard wants to prioritize keeping things intact with the pass-catchers, or wants to free up big-time cap space by cutting ties with Pittman.