Training camp is about to open, and the Colts are walking into it with pressure stacked everywhere. Chris Ballard is in the final year of his deal for the first time in his Indianapolis run, Shane Steichen is heading into his fourth season without a playoff appearance, and Carlie Irsay-Gordon has already made it clear the team’s urgency “has never been higher.”
That heat doesn’t stop with the front office or the sideline. It reaches the locker room, too.
For Indianapolis, 2026 is a prove-it year in a very real sense. Excluding rookies and second-year players such as Justin Walley and Hunter Wohler, who missed last season because of injury, these are the seven Colts carrying the most on their shoulders.
Daniel Jones sits at the top of the list for obvious reasons. He’s expected to be the Week 1 starter roughly nine months after tearing his right Achilles tendon and ending a 2025 season that had him playing some of the best football of his career.
The Colts bet big on that version of Jones, handing him a two-year, $88 million contract this offseason. Now he has to show that stretch was real and that he can be the answer at quarterback for the long haul.
If he doesn’t deliver - or if the injury bug bites again - the team could move on after the season. Releasing him would clear $11.6 million in cap space, though it would leave $35.2 million in dead money.
The Colts also have plenty riding on Sauce Gardner after paying a steep price to get him. Indianapolis sent two first-round picks and AD Mitchell to the Jets for the two-time first-team All-Pro, a move that looked bold when the team was near the top of the AFC standings.
Then the Colts lost their final seven games, injuries piled up, and Gardner’s calf issue kept him out of the mix. That trade has only drawn more scrutiny since.
The Colts need Gardner back at an elite level, because if he isn’t, the long-term fallout from that deal could linger.
Laiatu Latu is another name with a lot on the line. Ballard once called him “the best f-ing rusher in the draft” when Indianapolis took him 15th in 2024, and last season he showed real growth with 12 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks and three interceptions.
Still, the Colts need more than flashes. They haven’t had a player reach 10 sacks in a season since Justin Houston in 2019, and Latu is the one expected to end that streak.
He’ll also be eligible for an extension after the season, which adds another layer to his year.
Charvarius Ward Sr. enters the season with a different kind of pressure. His Colts tenure has already included three concussions in one year, and he has been open about how much he has dealt with both on and off the field.
After signing a three-year, $54 million deal, he also spoke candidly about the grief tied to the death of his 1-year-old daughter, Amani Joy, in Oct 2024. Ward said in the spring that he was in a better mental space regarding his daughter, but he also made it clear that another concussion could push him toward retirement.
Josh Downs is in a straightforward contract-year spot: produce, and the payday follows. He’s coming off a career-low 566 receiving yards in 2025, and while the Colts could extend him now, they may want to see more first.
The path to a bigger role is there. Michael Pittman Jr., who led the Colts in catches in four of the past five years, was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in March, leaving Downs as the clear No. 2 behind Alec Pierce.
Right tackle Jalen Travis is stepping into a major assignment after Braden Smith left for the Texans in free agency. Smith’s durability had declined, but he was still one of the Colts’ highest-paid linemen and a fixture on the right side for nearly a decade.
Now the job belongs to Travis, a 2025 fourth-round pick, and the stakes are obvious: Jones is coming off that torn Achilles and needs clean protection. If Travis can’t handle the role, the Colts may not wait long to make a change.
Then there’s Jaylahn Tuimoloau, whose rookie season produced almost nothing. The 2025 second-round pick started zero games and recorded zero sacks, and the Colts need that to change fast.
With Kwity Paye, Samson Ebukam and Tyquan Lewis gone this offseason, and no other proven starting edge rusher added to pair with Latu, the opportunity is there. If Tuimoloau still can’t get on the field now, it would be hard to call him anything but a miss.
In Other News...
Ballard Just Sent Colts Fans A Message About One Rookie Edge Rusher
Chris Ballard left training camp with a little extra confidence in one of the Colts young pass rushers, and it came through in the way he talked about Caden Curry. The rookie edge rusher has already made a favorable impression in organized team activities and minicamp, giving Indianapolis a reason to think there may be more here than just a late-round flier from Ohio State.
For a Colts defense that still needs more help off the edge, any encouraging sign matters. Laiatu Latu and Arden Key give Indianapolis a starting point, but the depth behind them remains a real question, which is why Ballards optimism about Curry stands out. The Colts are hoping the rookie can keep building on that early momentum and turn a promising summer into something more meaningful once the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Anthony Richardson Situation Just Put Colts Future In An Awkward Spot
Anthony Richardsons place in Indianapolis has become one of the most delicate storylines of camp, with the Colts trying to sort out a quarterback room that no longer looks straightforward. Daniel Jones is lined up to take the first-team snaps and should be a full participant when training camp opens, while Richardson and rookie Riley Leonard are left to compete for the backup role behind him.
The complication is obvious: Richardson is still unhappy with where things stand, and the Colts are weighing whether it makes sense to carry all three quarterbacks on the roster. For a team that invested heavily in Richardson and then watched him miss much of last season after the orbital bone injury in Week 6 warm-ups, the situation has turned into a real test of patience, roster management and long-term planning. [Read more 🡒]
Colts Kicker Battle May Already Be Tilting One Way
The Colts training camp kicking competition has quietly become one of the more interesting roster battles in Westfield, with Spencer Shrader and Blake Grupe both trying to prove they can handle the job when the pressure is real. Shraders case starts with familiarity, but his 2024 season ended early because of a knee injury, leaving him to reestablish himself after missing the rest of the year.
Grupe, meanwhile, arrives with a different kind of momentum after stepping in late last season and doing everything asked of him. For a team trying to stay in the playoff conversation, the appeal is obvious: a steadier leg and more confidence from distance can matter in close games, and the Colts may not want to leave those long field goals to chance. [Read more 🡒]