The Colts spent the offseason trying to patch together a defensive line that lost four members of its 2025 rotation, and Michael Clemons is one of the low-cost bets Chris Ballard brought in to help do it. He arrived as part of a broad reset that included two edge rushers on the final day of the draft and five other veterans added through free agency or trade, with those five players carrying a combined 2026 cost of about 18 million dollars.
Clemons is the most expensive of that veteran group in total contract value, even though projected starting edge rusher Arden Key carries the higher yearly salary. The Colts are clearly trying to build a workable mix without spending big, and Clemons gives them something a little different.
The Jets drafted Clemons in the fourth round in 2022, and his early career followed a familiar pattern: some flashes, then not much growth. He played all 17 games as a rookie, but even with a larger workload by his third season, he never topped the 36 tackles he posted in that first year.
On paper, Indianapolis should be able to field a respectable defensive line in 2026. In practice, there are enough warning signs to keep Lou Anarumo’s group from feeling settled.
DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart have been steady in the middle, Arden Key has real edge potential, and Laiatu Latu is the one true lock. After that, the picture gets murkier because of age, injury, and inconsistency.
That’s where Clemons becomes interesting.
He has never been a standout pass rusher, and he has never been especially strong against the run. His career has been defined by stretches where he looks useful and stretches where he disappears. But the Colts’ preseason opener against the New England Patriots offered a clue about how he might actually matter in 2026.
Clemons was used both on the edge and inside early in the game. When he shaded the tackle or lined up in the B gap in passing situations, he repeatedly got the better of bigger guards and created a strong push from the interior. That kind of pressure is the sort of thing Neville Gallimore provided only sporadically in recent years, and Gallimore is one of the defenders who left this offseason.
The fit is not obvious at first glance. Clemons is listed at 6’5” and 263 pounds, with long arms and a lean frame, and he does not look like a traditional interior lineman.
Across nearly 2,000 career defensive snaps, he has lined up inside fewer than 100 times. With the Jets, the vast majority of his work came outside the tackle.
Still, the Colts may be onto something. More than one-third of his snaps against New England came either over the tackle or in the B gap, which suggests Anarumo sees value in using him there. That does not make Clemons a run-stuffing interior force, and it does not necessarily mean he jumps ahead of the younger edge options in the rotation behind Latu and Key.
Indianapolis has other young pass rushers to sort through first. Caden Curry, the 16th edge rusher selected in last year’s draft, showed promise against New England, even if that came against second- and third-string blockers. George Gumbs and Jaylahn Tuimoloau also bring talent, though both still need plenty of development.
As an edge player, Clemons may not have much new to prove. Inside, though, there could be a path.
His quick first step can bother slower guards, and his length can disrupt passing lanes. That kind of interior specialist role may be the best chance for him to carve out something new in Indianapolis.
It is not the role that built his reputation in New York, where he finished with 8.5 sacks in four seasons. But maybe the Colts are seeing the right version of him in the wrong place.
He is not built to be an every-down defensive tackle. He might, though, be exactly the kind of change-of-scenery gamble that works for both sides.
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