The Indianapolis Colts made a late move on Sunday that said plenty about where two roster hopefuls stand.
With the team needing to get down to 53 players ahead of the 2026 season, Indianapolis traded for Buffalo Bills center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, sending a sixth-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft to Buffalo, according to NFL insider Tom Pelissero. The timing mattered as much as the deal itself, coming just hours before the roster had to be trimmed.
Van Pran-Granger gives the Colts a clear backup center behind Tanor Bortolini, and that immediately puts Dalton Tucker and Jimmy Morrissey on shaky ground. Morrissey barely worked at center in the final preseason game, which suggests the Colts may have been viewing him as a backup guard instead. Even that path looks thin, with his best chance possibly being the practice squad.
Tucker’s situation looks even worse. He struggled badly against the Detroit Lions in preseason Week 3, especially with the basics of snapping the ball.
It wasn’t just high snaps out of shotgun, either. He was putting the ball low as well, and that kind of inconsistency is hard to overlook.
Van Pran-Granger arrives with a solid résumé from Buffalo. The fifth-round pick in the 2024 draft out of Georgia hasn’t started many games, but when he has played, he’s held up well. In 77 career snaps in pass protection, he has given up just one quarterback pressure and no sacks.
He’s stronger in pass protection than in the run game, but that fits what the Colts need. Jonathan Taylor will find his lanes, and protecting Daniel Jones matters more.
Bortolini is already in place as the starter, and the bigger issue for Indianapolis was the lack of a dependable backup center. This move addresses that.
For Tucker and Morrissey, the message is plain. When the final cuts come, both could be on the way out. For the Colts, adding Van Pran-Granger makes the roster squeeze a little easier, and that’s exactly the point.
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