The Colts didn’t just sign Arden Key this offseason - they inherited the same boom-or-bust edge rusher the Titans already spent a year figuring out.
That’s the part Indianapolis is starting to learn fast. Key left Tennessee after a 2025 season that produced four sacks, then landed with an AFC South rival looking for help on the edge. But according to one Colts analyst, the move may not change much for a pass rush that was already short on answers.
“ Arden Key's presence with the Colts is fitting with the current culture of the Chris Ballard regime," Horseshoe Heroes site expert Lee Vowell exclusively told Titan Sized. " The team has learned to give answers to the media that are full of meaningless words, and Ballard has begun doing that with free agent signings, too.
Key might be slightly better than mediocre, but was basically a wash of a signing, as the team let Kwity Paye go to the Las Vegas Raiders, and the new player won't greatly improve one of the more glaring issues for the team: Edge rusher. If Key has more than eight sacks, it will be an Indy miracle.
Otherwise, 2026 will look like 2025, when the only edge rusher making a real difference was Laiatu Latu."
The Colts finished with 39 sacks last season, which was three fewer than Tennessee’s 42. And as Vowell pointed out, Key is effectively stepping into the spot vacated by Kwity Paye, who also had four sacks in 2025. In other words, Indianapolis made a change without really changing the problem.
That’s familiar territory for the Titans, who spent the offseason overhauling the EDGE room after getting very little production there. Jihad Ward led Tennessee’s outside linebackers with just five sacks, and if not for Jeffery Simmons and his 11.0 sacks, the pass rush would have been completely toothless.
New head coach Robert Saleh got the chance to reshape the defensive line around his own vision, and Tennessee responded by bringing in rushers like Jermaine Johnson II and Jacob Martin, while also drafting Keldric Faulk. Key, on an expiring contract, was one of the veterans pushed out to make room.
His time in Tennessee was exactly the kind of ride that makes coaches and fans pull their hair out. The former LSU standout could flash real juice, using his athleticism and energy to overwhelm tackles for a stretch. Then he’d disappear for four games at a time.
Now that inconsistency belongs to the Colts. And if training camp is any indication, Indianapolis is about to find out the same thing Tennessee already did.
In Other News...
Titans Just Missed A Proven Answer To Their Biggest Line Worry
The Titans center situation took another turn after Lloyd Cushenberry was released following a failed physical, leaving the team to pivot to Austin Schlottmann and keep sorting through the middle of the line. Andre James is also in the mix, but the reshuffle only underscores how much uncertainty Tennessee is carrying at a spot that has to be stable for any offense to function.
One possible answer was sitting out there in Ethan Pocic, a veteran with experience and a recent return to football activity after getting medical clearance. Tennessee chose not to pursue him, and now the question is whether the Titans can settle the position with the options already on hand or whether another move is still coming as camp unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Titans Final Roster Battle Just Got More Brutal Than Expected
The Titans are heading into the kind of late-August crunch that turns every practice rep and preseason snap into a referendum on the roster. After the final preseason game, Tennessee has to trim roughly 40 players to get to its Week 1 group, and the focus has shifted to a handful of bubble cases where special teams value, positional depth and recent play could all carry extra weight.
Among the names worth watching are Julius Chestnut, Xavier Restrepo, Jackie Marshall, James Williams Sr. and Keydrain Calligan, each with a different path and a different obstacle in front of him. Some are fighting the numbers at crowded spots, some are trying to prove they can help beyond their primary role, and some have used the summer to force the staff to think harder than expected before the cuts come down. [Read more 🡒]
Robert Saleh Just Sent A Message Titans Players Will Love
Robert Saleh has not coached a snap for the Titans yet, but one of the first glimpses of his approach in Tennessee already lines up with the kind of player-friendly reputation that followed him out of New York. Set to begin his first season as head coach in 2026, Saleh recently talked on a podcast about how he and his staff handle the locker room, and the message was simple: the room belongs to the players.
For Titans veterans, that kind of boundary can matter. Saleh said his staff stays out unless things get out of hand, leaving the day-to-day tone to the team itself and trusting leaders to keep the space in order. It is the sort of detail that can help build buy-in before training camp even opens, and it gives Tennessee another reason to believe the new regime will lean on trust and chemistry as much as scheme. [Read more 🡒]