The Indianapolis Colts reshuffled their roster on Tuesday by bringing back a familiar lineman, moving on from a once-prominent corner, and adding a new tight end to fill the open practice squad spot.
Luke Tenuta was signed from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, while cornerback Jaylon Jones was waived. To replace Tenuta on the practice squad, the Colts added free agent tight end Kenny Fletcher Jr.
Tenuta, who checks in at 6-foot-8 and 314 pounds, was a sixth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, going 209th overall to the Buffalo Bills. Buffalo waived him during preseason cuts, and Indianapolis quickly picked him up for his first run with the team.
The Colts later waived him, Green Bay claimed him, and he remained with the Packers through the 2023 season. After a stop with the Arizona Cardinals in 2024, he returned to Indianapolis on a reserve/futures deal at the start of the 2025 calendar year.
He has been active for seven games in his career - three with Green Bay as a rookie and four with the Colts this season. Across those appearances, Tenuta has logged 26 snaps at left tackle, eight at right tackle, one as an extra blocker, and 44 snaps on field goal kick and block units.
Pro Football Focus says Tenuta gave up just one quarterback pressure on 28 offensive snaps in 2025. That came in Week 15 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, a team that tied for seventh in the NFL with 47 sacks.
Matt Goncalves may still be the leading candidate for the Colts’ swing tackle role, but Tenuta gives Indianapolis another option there.
Jones’ exit is a sharper turn. The 6-foot-2, 203-pound corner entered the league as a seventh-round rookie in 2023 and quickly became a surprise starter. He held that role again in 2024 under former defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, starting 27 games across his first two seasons.
The coaching change last offseason shifted his trajectory. The Colts moved on from Bradley and hired Lou Anarumo, who reshaped the cornerback room. Jones was limited for much of the summer by a hamstring injury, made the roster anyway, then aggravated the injury and landed on Injured Reserve for part of the season.
When he returned, Indianapolis used him in a reduced role because the fit in the new scheme wasn’t there. Still, Jones has been productive in his career, allowing completions on 60.1% of targets, according to PFF, while also recording 17 pass breakups across more than 2,100 defensive snaps.
Fletcher, meanwhile, arrives as an undrafted rookie out of Rutgers who initially signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the draft. The 6-foot-3, 250-pound player spent his first two college seasons in 2022 and 2023 as a defensive end before moving to tight end from 2024 to 2025.
On defense, he totaled 10 tackles, including 4.0 for loss, along with 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble in 24 games. As a tight end, he caught 46 passes for 373 yards, an 8.1-yard average, and two touchdowns in 17 games.
In Other News...
Colts Just Sent A Clear Message With This Late Roster Shakeup
The Colts made a late roster tweak this week, moving offensive tackle Luke Tenuta from the practice squad onto the 53-man roster and waiving cornerback Jaylon Jones to open the spot. Its the kind of transaction that can get overlooked on a busy roster sheet, but it points to where Indianapolis wanted a little more security heading into the stretch run: the backup tackle group.
Tenuta gives the Colts added depth behind the starting offensive line, while the corresponding practice-squad move brought in tight end Kenny Fletcher Jr. to fill the vacancy. Small as it may seem, the shuffle says plenty about how the team is trying to balance protection up front with the flexibility to keep the rest of the roster stocked. [Read more 🡒]
Colts Secondary Draws Fresh Scrutiny Right Before The Opener
The Colts secondary is getting a little unwanted attention as the season opener approaches, with two defensive backs landing on the NFLs fine list for preseason infractions. Cam Taylor-Britt was hit for unnecessary roughness on a tackle in the finale against the Lions, while Trey Washington was fined for a facemask in a preseason game against the Falcons, adding a late-week reminder that discipline has been part of the conversation around this group.
The bigger issue for Indianapolis is the timing. Taylor-Britt is already set to miss the opener because of a separate suspension tied to a violation of the leagues personal conduct policy, leaving the Colts to sort out their back end without one of its most recognizable defenders. For a unit trying to settle in before the games start counting, the added fines only underscore how little margin there is for error. [Read more 🡒]
Colts Just Got A New Reason To Believe In This Roster
ESPNs Football Power Index has already handed the Colts a little mid-summer optimism, running thousands of 2026 season simulations and turning up one path that lands Indianapolis in the postseason as a wild-card team. In that version of events, the Colts finish 9-8, which would be enough to keep them in the race and reward a roster that still has enough talent to make the exercise feel more than theoretical.
The simulation gets even more interesting from there, with Indianapolis knocking off Jacksonville in the opening round before running into Buffalo in the divisional round. It is only one projection among many, of course, but it does underscore the appeal of this roster: there is a believable way for the Colts to be playing meaningful January football if the strengths hold up and a few of the softer spots do not get exposed. [Read more 🡒]