Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: Could Kenny Be CUT? | Kenny Moore II's Future in Indy and Franchise Tag Opens!

Episode Date: February 18, 2026

As we continue our series of Questionable Colts, a look at Kenny Moore's fit in Lou Anarumo's scheme and whether or not he could be part of their future plans. Plus, a look at the Colts' leadership situation in the locker room, whether or not they'll utilize the franchise tag on Daniel Jones or Alec Pierce, and more! Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms: 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/ 📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ Give the squad a follow on X/Twitter @Schultz975, @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @allenpinkett, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram! Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/lockedoncoltsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!TurboTaxFor a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today.FanDuelUse your Profit Boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA Finals.Play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Visit https://FANDUEL.COMto get started. IndeedListeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast.ZocdocStop putting off your doctor’s appointments and get the care you need.Go to http://Zocdoc.com/lockedonnfl to find and instantly book a top-rated doctortoday.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

From the Colts Squad Show, I'm your host Derek Schultz, and no one ever uses the franchise tag on me. And I'm Zach Hicks, and I'm just ready for this all season to really kick off. I'm tired of this dead period. I'm Jake Arthur, and Derek's more of a transition tag guy, top 10, not top five. And I'm Allen, thinking former, well, you guys are really going to put me to work with all the free agents, y'all, guys. Colts Nation, rise up. It's the Colt Squad. everything Indianapolis Colts every week.

Covering all the big hits and game changing plays from the Circle City, the way only the locked on podcast network can. It's time to squad up. The Colt Squad Joe starts now. Welcome in to the Colts Squad show and I just realized that my camera went out. I'll fix that right after I get through this intro. I'm Derek Schultz, long time indie sports soccer and columnist for the IBJ. I am joined by a nor name legend in long time NFL running back Alan Pinkett,

are locked on Colts duo of Jake Arthur and Zach Hicks are here, too, to lend their insights to the squad. Questionable Colts, we'll continue that free toer on tonight's show. We started on Thursday with Anthony Richardson, and this is about guys on the Colts who are under contract, so not free agents, under contract, but they may not be on the team in 2026. We're going to go over to Kenny Moore in segment one.

It's hard to imagine the Colts without Kenny Moore. He's been here so long. One of three of the longest tenured Colts coming in in the 2017 season, which was also Chris Bowers first year. And as everybody knows, Chris Boward has been with the team for 28 years now. We'll talk about him in the opening segment of the show and why we're even having this conversation about the Colts potentially cutting ways with Kenny Moore. And then if they were to do so in segment two,

we'll talk about a potential leadership void in Kenny's absence because besides his on-field play, he has been an integral part of the Colts locker room and one of the team's most trusted. veteran voices. In segment three, as all of you know, the franchise tag window open today. We'll talk about what that means for the Colts. We'll talk about what that means around the rest of the NFL. I know Jake and Zach already talked about some of the Miami Dolphins decisions earlier today. So we'll get into some of that in segment three. And then as always on Tuesday's show, the drip, drip, drip of the NFL news faucet, the news and notes involving the Colts are relevant to Colts fans. We'll talk about that to wrap up tonight's show. But guys, let's start with Kenny Moore.

And, you know, Zach, we were talking about this before the show even started. You, Jake and Alan and I about how Kenny Moore just didn't really come up in conversation a lot during the year. Whereas obviously Zaire Franklin did or Anthony Richardson did or some of these other guys that were going to talk about during this feature. But, you know, is salary cap savings if you ended up cutting him would be a little over $7 million, which isn't anything crazy, right? But, you know, guys that's been with the team for nine years and plays a position that is still, even though the Colts have improved, that room. There's still a lot of uncertainty moving forward with that room, notably what's going to happen with Moody Ward. But, you know, what's your take on Kenny Moore's immediate future here in Indianapolis? Yeah, you know, the Colts did kind of commit a little bit to him in the middle of the season when

they restructured his contract because there was a clear out after this year. I think that would have saved them over $10 million. If they didn't do that restructure in the middle of the season, now they could only save $7 million. So I think by doing that, they kind of said that, like, hey, we do, we are kind of committed to Kenny Moore going forward when they made that restructure. Even though it was a bit of a quiet season from him on the whole, I thought he started those season pretty well. I mean, he opened the season with a bang with that forced fumble against the Miami Dolphins that obviously contributed to that blowout victory in week one. But then that Achilles injury that happened a couple weeks later really slowed down the rest of his season. And it was kind of a season where it felt like he was one step behind, one step slower than what he needed to be in this aggressive, blitzing, man coverage heavy defense that Luandrumo deployed this past year. But, you know, we've seen this a couple times with Kenny where he's had some seasons with injury issues.

He's had some seasons where, you know, with a new defense, he hasn't fully adjusted well in the first and he's bounced back. I thought his first year with Gus Bradley, we were all having the same conversation about cutting him and not having him be on the roster. more just for him to turn it around to become this integral part of the defense again in the final seasons of Gus Bradley as a defense coordinator. So, you know, I think when we talk these cut canons, we talk a lot of people in this series. Kenny's name should come up because anybody who's making you know, good money on their second or third contract should be in this conversation at this point. But if I'm going to bet on any of these guys to turn it around, I think it is Kenny Moore. I think he's one of the smartest players I've ever seen on film that I've ever really been around.

just a really savvy playmaking type player. And there's always that adjustment period that comes with a new coach. And there are quiet seasons when it comes to being a corner as well. But I have full faith in him being able to turn it around as long as he's able to stay healthy this next season. Now it doesn't get easier because he's not getting any younger. Now he's pushing 30 years old. And cornerbacks a tough position to play as you start losing your speed

and losing your footing. But with Kenny's smarts, I mean, there were even a couple of plays last season where, you know, he's chasing like Ladd-McConkie across the field and undercutting it and playing that exceptionally well and nearly coming with interception. I think everything is still there for him. It's just getting healthy this offseason, coming back, ready to play. And then maybe this being his one final season with the Colts. But if I were the Colts, I would prefer to have him back and just bank on him getting back to being Kenny Moore

because more often than not, he's been a very good plus player for you. on a defense that doesn't have many like huge plus players, I think betting on Kenny Moore makes the most sense, especially because you're not saving, you know, $10, $11, $12 million anymore. You're only saving $7 if you were to cut him. I think having Kenny Moore back makes the most sense for the Colts and just banking on him returning to form because he usually does in his time here.

So yeah, I'm all for bringing Kenny back. If they did move on, I would understand it. But, you know, one of the few guys, I think in this series where I'm going to say, like I think he can get back to being who he is. Yeah, I think if they were to cut bait on him, that would almost seem like luxury money. You know, there's a couple guys that, you know, we've talked about them being potential cap casualties or, you know, trade fodder. And it makes a lot of sense as to why for Kenny, it would be solely for cap saving purposes. But you don't really have anyone to go to right away with him, especially, you know, you could say, well, Justin Wallie's,

there, but it's like, okay, well, Wally has the ACL, and you don't know what Mooney Ward's future looks like either. And so I think Kenny's health is paramount. I would be interested to see if he would even admit it, how much the Achilles did kind of nag him throughout the year, because we grilled him on it kind of a good bit the week he came back to practice and everything. And he, you know, he seemed to downplay a little bit and that it wasn't anything as serious as maybe it sounded. But with the amount of man coverage and stuff, and you just saw him playing run and chase a lot over the middle of the field, and it didn't look right. Like Zach said, a bit slower, a step slower than everybody else. And so I would like, I would hope to think that the Achilles

is a big reason why. Just because when Louie and Arummo came in, one of the first players you thought of that was like, oh, this guy should mesh really well, was Kenny. because of the way that Lou Interimu used Mike Hilton all those years in Cincinnati, Kinney being one of the better pass rushing slot defenders in the NFL. So I would like to see if he gets, if he's like fully healthy and everything and feels great and has bought into the system and everything, what it looks like next year, just because he does have rare playmaking ability. He only had the one interception this year, but it was a brilliant play.

like he is a player i can't really think of many colts defensive backs many at all really that kind of play chess versus checkers you know he's playing chess while the the offense is playing checkers and the ability to bait quarterbacks into poor decisions you've seen him do it to veteran quarterbacks you see it do it to cam ward rookie quarterbacks he just has really rare playmaking ability and plus for his size he's under 200 he's like five nine five five 10 on a good day. And he goes and throws his body around there and makes big plays in the backfield usually comes up with, you know, around 7 to 10 tackles for loss. Like he mixes it up in there. So he's definitely someone you want his leadership by example. And I mean, because he's not a big

raw, right guy, but you want him in your building. And if he's healthy and playing ball, then having an above-average slot defender is a huge feather in your cap for your defense. Well, fellas, this is one of the unfortunate realities of playing in the NFL is sometimes you can make too much money. And it's, I think, one of the few occupations in life where usually if you're released, just because of a lack of talent, but you can have all the talent in the world and still get cut in the NFL. And, you know, Zach, I'm glad that you

enlightened me and said that he did do a restructuring of his contract. You know, that is sort of a signal that a team wants to keep you if they restructure your contract. But one thing, at least 100 years ago when I played, is restructuring is a lot different than taking a pay cut. And one of the, I guess, unwritten rules from players is that if they're going to have to take a pay cut,

they're going to take a pay cut with a different team. They're not going to take the pay cut with the team that they bled for and sweat for and put in all that time. They'd rather go someplace else to take a pay cut. Now, I don't know how logical that is. you know, I don't even know if it makes any sense, but that's just how stubborn we players can be sometimes. It's like I'm going to lay it all on the line for you,

and you're telling me I've got to take a pay cut. You know, so it's, but it's unfortunate, and what you have to do is just, you know, be careful when you're doing your contract. Just ask Peyton Manning, you know, if you backload that contract, they're telling you that you're going to cut you when you're supposed to get that big payday. You know, and his look like it just, you know, incrementally increased.

And that's sort of what you want. But it's also a results-based business where if they're paying you this money, they want to see some results. And I know you guys talked about the Achilles. They still can't cut you if you're injured, correct? I mean, because back in the day, you couldn't be released for being injured unless you reach an injury settlement. You can be waived with an injury designation and then reach an injury settlement. That is part of it. But I think that's just like a different differentiator now.

But usually you stay on that IR until you reach an injury settlement. But I think it might be different because he recovered from this injury. Yeah. So he played the rest of the season. He missed the, like, what, like five weeks in the middle of the season? He played the rest of the season on it. So it was like the Achilles, like bruise or something that he had, not in Achilles' tear, unlike, like, Daniel Jones. Yeah.

So, well, good. So they can't go in that direction. Yeah. But hopefully, you know, his history there means something. you talked about the the cap hit. It's not that big of a cap hit. You know, so it just depends on, you know, how much experience they want back there.

And of course, with Mooney War talking about, possibly talking about retirement after having three concussions, you know, that might free up a few more dollars, but it doesn't help you in terms of, how solid your secondary is going to be. So I'm sure they want to have as many people back there with experience, because that experience does count, but you also want to have a good mix of youth and speed.

And I think that's where Justin Wally comes into play. So I think that's going to be probably one of the more, if we get to it, one of the more interesting camp battles coming up is, you know who will play in that spot yeah well i will say this real quick is when it comes down to like cutting or a lot of decisions to be made in the off season half the equation is like how much are you making and and do we just need to like the economics makes sense here but the other half of it is do we have a younger player that this older guy is blocking and that's what kind of went into

the the will fries and ryan kelly discussion last off season right both of them were hitting the market both projected to get you know i think they combined to make like $35 million per year on the open market combined in the Colette, Bordellini and Consolvis that were ready to go and get on the field. So they were comfortable with that decision. When it comes to cutting someone like Kenny Moore, you have to feel pretty good about what you have to replace him. Right.

And Wally, they played more on the outside in training camp. Even if the long-term projection was inside, there's nobody on the outside. So they need him for the outside this year, right? So, you know, he's probably going to be an outside corner. And then after that, it's Chris Lamont's or a draft pick. I think when it comes to it down to it, like, if they needed extra money, I'd rather extend Quentin Nelson to free up money. I'd rather extend Jonathan Taylor.

I'd rather cut Zyre Franklin. I'd rather cut Michael Pittman, Jr., because you have some replacements for, at least with Pittman, like, you expect a bigger role for Alec Pierce next year, right? For instance. So I just don't see the logistics or, like, it making logical sense to cut Kenny more to save money or to open a pass. because he's not blocking anybody. He's the best you're going to get at that position at least for 2026.

And if you have to pivot after the season, so be it. But I think he's their best case scenario for 2026. And I think he's still a pretty good player. We're just talking hypotheticals, of course, on this series with questionable colds. But again, if they were to cut Kenny Moore, would they be creating a leadership void as well? Is that another reason to not take KMO off the table? We'll discuss next when the squad show returns. Hey, it's Matt Derry from the Lockdown Lions podcast. The people I love depend on me. If I'm gone,

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dot com slash locked on NFL. Ethos.com slash locked on NFL application times and rates may vary. Welcome back to the Lockdown Colts Squad Show. Thanks so much for joining us alongside Jake Arthur and Zach Hicks, your daily duo of Locked on Colts, your first list in every day. And former NFLer and Notre Dame legend Alan Pinkett. I'm Derek Schultz. Really appreciate you being here. We're doing our series on questionable Colts, guys under contract who may not be back in 2026, even though I think all of us agree that of the guys that we're going to talk about here, betting favor to remain would probably be Kenny Moore, we're talking about right now.

You know, here's a guy. And Jake, I wanted to start with you here because, you know, you're in the locker groups. You know how he is treated as a figure, a figurehead, if you will. What I've always sort of appreciated about Kenny Moore is that, and Alan, you know this better than anybody, right? Some guys just talk because they talk all the time. They just, they don't know how to not talk, right?

Kenny Moore is very deliberate. If he has something to say, it's because he really means it and he wants people to listen. And I think I've always appreciated that about him. Here's a guy that three times has been nominated as the Walter Peyton Man of the Year by the Colts as well, which I think says a lot. And I also think that there's something to the fact that,

you know, here's essentially a D2 guy from Val Dostin-Nowher State, right, who has earned everything, you know, undrafted cut in camp and then came here to the Colts. and then the rest is history and has become a Pro Bowl player as well. I just think you get a little bit more boost from somebody like that, credibility-wise, than you get from some of the other guys as well. But Jake, am I right in saying, I don't think you can understate what Kenny Moore has meant in that locker room as a voice

and as a leader? Yeah, like I mentioned earlier, he's not like a big rah-rah guy. He leads by example, but I do think he doesn't put up with the BS. Like, I think he's on the leadership council. you know, he's been a captain. He very much is like a respected voice and pulse in that locker room. And, you know, he, I think you just said he was deliberate with how he speaks. He is probably the athlete who every answer he gives is completely well thought out.

And he actually, he wants to give you the best answer. And from how he feels about it, it's not always pretty. Like I remember 20, 24, when things really started going to hell, basically. I asked him in the locker room because I think I just, I had talked to one other player just before him. And they were like, I don't get

how this game went this way. We just had a great week of practice. Blah, blah, blah. I asked Kenny, I was like, you know, we just heard that you guys had a great week of practice. And no one knows how this game ended up this way. How do you feel? and that's when he came out with the, I don't think everyone had great effort. I don't think everyone really came to, you know, came to the plate

and is putting their best foot forward and everything. And that was a huge turning point in the season. It didn't save their season by any means, but I think it really opened some eyes even internally. And without like saying his name directly or anything, there were guys speaking after that near the end of the season, whether it was Chris Ballard, Shane Steichen de Forrest Buckner, guys who acknowledged that that tone was, you know, they were

correct. They had some soul searching to do. There was some accountability and complacency, you know, that needed to be totally reset. And we saw the way that they approached last offseason, not only getting better competition in there from outside players, but guys who had won some stuff. before. Like Charverius Ward was a very accomplished player from where he'd come from. Cam Bynum was just with the playoff Vikings.

Like they brought some guys in that had done some winning before, some more winning than the Colts had been doing. And a guy like Kenny Moore really kind of opened things up on that. Now the Pandora's box kind of open because then you get Pat McAfee kind of blowing the lid on some things as well. So it really opened everything in the entire Colts sphere. But he is the kind of guy. that has the courage to come out and say stuff like that when someone someone or a group of players needs to be called out

Kenny has the cachet to do that I think he's been around since 2017 so he's probably one of like the five longest tenured players in that locker room um he shoot he has influence even outside the building like I've talked to a ton of undersized cornerbacks and defensive backs over the years and a lot of them say that Kenny Moore is someone they watch a and model their game after because you have to know how to use your body in certain ways if you're an undersized corner going against guys who are six to four, you know. So Kenny has a ton of pull and a ton of influence both inside and outside the locker room. And this would be just as grueling of a decision as it would be Michael Pittman Jr. I just think it's a little less likely that they move on from Kenny.

But yeah, they would be losing something, a big presence in the building if they moved on from. Yeah, I kind of want to preface what I'm going to say with, I think Kenny Moore is a great dude. I think he's been a great leader in this locker room and just a fantastic player to watch and everything, right? But I would say the one argument, I guess, against keeping him would be just wanting to shake up that leadership counsel. Not even that Kenny is the one at fault here, right? But just the fact that it's been the same guys for the last six years and they haven't been good in these last six years. right so it's not even shaking it up to be like kenny you're the reason for it but more so like we've had you know pitman uh taylor nelson kenny like all these guys have been like their

leadership council guys for the last five six years and what's it gotten them it's gotten them playoff no playoff appearances and pretty much all them multiple late season collapses whether it's your starting quarterback in there or a backup quarterback in there like at some point you've got to have that kind of accountability on the roster and Kenny is one of the easier guys to move on from this off season. That would be like the only argument against him, I think, because I think if you're just doing logistically from the player that he is, very good player. I just think they need changes in that leadership room and, you know, other guys will talk about in this series from linebackers to wide receivers. Maybe those are the guys that you move on from instead.

But yeah, I think Kenny's been fantastic. Like Derek said, Walter Payton Man of the Year, for multiple seasons. Clearly, a guy who speaks his mind in the locker room. And I've never seen him not have effort on the football field. Someone who watches every single step, every single snap. I totally get when he was calling guys out the end of 20-24 season, like Giants hanging like 50 on them. Makes sense why you would call out your team for something like that, right?

But I've never seen him with a lack of effort or not. I mean, he's always mixing it up in the run game as a 5'5 foot 9, 100. 180 pounds soaking wet corner. You know, like he, he mixes it up in the run game better than most slot corners. And more slot corners are playing, or like safeties in college coming in here at 210, 205. He's doing this at 180 pounds. So very, very respected player, very good on the field, very good off the field. I want Kenny Moore in here going forward.

But when it comes to the leadership, I think the leadership needs kind of a shake-up because the leadership has been so stale for multiple years now in Indy. So, like, if that were, if they do cut them, like, I wouldn't really worry too much about the leadership void because they probably need a void there, I guess, going forward. Well, if you want to create accountability, you cut somebody that didn't expect to be cut. And sometimes that comes from a leadership council.

It comes from a guy that most of the players thought, you know, had a solid spot. It was going to be on the team and then boom, you cut them because it creates that atmosphere that, well, I better make some plays so my ass is gone too. And I don't see that on the Colts. And I'll also throw this in is, you know, with the average career being three and a half years, It's not based on talent, by the way. But those that make it past three and a half usually make it to seven. And he's going on, what, nine or ten?

This is about to be his ninth season. This will be his ninth year, yeah. 20, 20, 26 would be. He's definitely played past the average. So he has true value to the team. Now, you could be, you know, a hard-nosed type of coach like Bill Belichick and his rule is cut him a year earlier than you really want to, you know, or trade them so that you can keep that nice youth movement going.

I don't know the cults well enough to know if they would pull a Belichick move like that. But leadership is, I don't know if it's one of those quantifiable things that management looks at. as being important as much as your play on the field. I know that I'm exaggerating a little bit, but you could be a mass murderer. And as long as you make plays on the field, they'll find a way to keep you. Now, but I mean, I think character does matter most of the time.

They would like good guys. They don't want all choir boys. They got to have some dogs on the team. But I would say if I was a teammate of Kenny, I would appreciate somebody who didn't talk that much, but when he did talk, said something. Yeah. And to me, that's as valuable as his play.

Yeah. And I can see where Zach's coming from. And I feel sort of the same way in the sense that look, we're going to get through this series and talk about a couple of other people as well. I'll be honest, guys, I would be pretty disappointed if they just ran the whole thing back. I just think not because Michael Pittman Jr. is not still a good, effective player. Kenny Moore is not still a good effective player. Grover Stewart's not still a good effective player.

But I just think that the message that it sends, I think there's an element of everybody being comfortable. And we've kind of talked about that where, you know, the general manager doesn't face any consequences and doesn't seem like the Colts are real interested in ever upsetting the status quo. I know they were aggressive in free agency last year, but that's not because they necessarily moved a bunch of people out. I mean, we all knew Ryan Kelly was they were moving on from, right?

Everybody knew that. He knew that and we were in the middle of the season. So I think just the statement that it would make if you were just like, yeah, you know what? Like Pittman Jr., we're not paying you this and we're done. We're going to move everybody up on the wide receiver depth chart and then use another draft pick on some hyper athlete in, day two or whatever else.

And just, I do think that there is a positive to, I don't know if sending that message is the right thing, Alan, kind of like you talked about, but just something just to change it up and shake it up a little bit. Yeah. And they have three leadership council guys whose contracts are kind of in question, especially if you need to open up cap space to improve this front seven that was not great last year, right? And that is Zaire Franklin, Kenny Moore and Michael Pittman Jr., if they run all three of

them back at the contracts they're making or, you know, just bringing all these guys back, I do think that that would be a mistake. I think you at least need to move on from one of these guys send that message that way, whether it's a big one with Pittman Jr. because, you know, again, he can't play at that $29 million cap hit. So if he's not willing to take a restructure or a pay cut, like Allen said, then you probably have to move on from him. But if it's not him, then at least I or Franklin where, like, the play hasn't been good enough to kind of go with him on the leadership council, not really getting the results there

and trying to move on from there. But I think they have a good opportunity to send a message to this next season that they're trying to be like win now with where like, hey, we're going to shake some of these things up. And I think that they have an opportunity with one of those three guys. Kenny Moore would be my least likely one on there,

but the other two I think are certainly up for grabs. This from jokes and a point who is very active. We appreciate all of our YouTube comments. makes some great points. Jokes make some great points. And great jokes. But he writes something here and like, look, conventional wisdom, I understand this take.

Without results, this whole thing gets blown up anyway. So it's not smart to purge good guys. Look, I've been hearing that at West 56th Street for years now, that, oh, it's results time or else this whole thing's getting blown up. And just keeps coming right back again. So, yeah, I think that that is a good take, that that should be the approach to this. season. But man, if they didn't blow it up after 2022, then, you know, I'm not so sure that things

are going to get blown up. But when we come back on the show, we will talk about the franchise tag window opening. There are two Colts that are really an option for this distinction, which is something that the franchise doesn't use very often. And we'll discuss when we return next right here on the Colts Squad Show. This portion of the Colt Squad Show brought you by Indeed, workplace chaos, deadline stacking up, inbox overflowing, and the one position you have to fill. well, it's still sitting open. When the pressure's on and you need the right hire, this is a job for sponsored jobs.

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Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on the Locked on Colts squad show. Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed, sponsored jobs. Back on the locked on Colts squad show, about halfway through this Tuesday edition, appreciate you being here. We've got Zach Hicks.

We've got Jake Arthur. We've got Alan Pinkett. We've got me. And we've got you. And again, can't tell you how much we appreciate the sport, especially in the off season. We're talking Colts football here in February. So franchise tag window season.

Just opened up today and last for the next couple of weeks. and the Colts have two guys. I don't think it's any secret who those two are. It's quarterback Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce that would potentially be candidates to be tagged. The number for quarterbacks, I don't have it in front of me. I think it was around $47 million, if I'm not mistaken. And the wide receiver number was closer to, I think, what Alec Pierce's market honestly would be, which is $29 million.

But Zach, look, this is, I hit my camera again. Darn it, I'm sorry, I'm going to ask you the question, then I'll come back in. I have a camera problems tonight. Zach, this is something that the Colts haven't used a whole lot. They used it on Michael Pittman Jr. two years ago and then they signed them like a week later. I think the last player and Jake, you can check my work on this. I think the last player to actually play under the tag.

Wasn't it McAfee? Am I right about that? I know he was the last guy to get tagged before Pitt. Yeah, I'll hear me. I'll say a player. We'll have our locked on Colts. Well, now I have to know. verify. We'll see what happens. What I was trying to say is the Colts don't use this very much.

Zach, do you expect them to use it on either of those players here moving forward? I think ideally the Colts wouldn't want to use the franchise tag. I think Chris Bowd has been very open and clear about it. The last couple years, what I asked is like, hey, would you use a franchise tag? And he says, he always says something along the lines of like, we don't like to use it, but it is a tool that you can use as a team. and the Colts typically use it more like a tool than what we saw like with the Bengals last year, right? Where they were using it to hold Trey Hendrickson hostage there in Cincinnati, right? Where it's like they didn't really want to pay him. And he wanted a long-term deal so it became the standoff. The Colts don't really use the franchise tag to be like this standoff thing,

like be a mercenary for us for one more season and then move on. The Colts use it as a tool to set up the long-term contract like they did with Michael Pittman Jr. a couple years ago where they wanted to make sure they kept him under control and make sure that he's not open on the market. And then they parlayed that into discussion about a long-term deal and finally got one under the books. I think if they were to use it on, say, and Alec Pierce, that would be the situation where, hey, we couldn't come to an agreement. We're like 85% of the way there. Let's make sure we get him locked in, make sure no one else is going to even be able to talk to him. And then we'll discuss a long-term deal and make sure that you're not playing on that.

tag because look, $29 million is awesome, right, for a wide receiver, but one-year contracts are terrifying for players because it takes one injury to just not get near your market value, that long-term security, which I know NFL teams are killing players nowadays because they're putting guarantees only for one year or guarantees for only two years. So every contract is essentially one or two years at this point. But it is nice to have some of that security, especially in a small market team that usually lets players play out their contracts. Look what they just did. with Samson W.com last year, no right to play on that contract, but the Colts let him play it out because they're the small market team that runs it like a family business. All this to say, though,

the Colts are certainly open to using the franchise tag. I don't really think Daniel Jones is going to be the guy. I know a lot of insiders really want to push that, and I think that's more of agent trying to push that a little bit through the insider, saying that Jones is a candidate. I do think Pierce is a very real candidate, though. 25-year-old wide. receiver coming off his first thousand yard season. If you count his ability to draw past interference, he's got like 2400 yards. Because he's drawn like 400 yards of pass interference the last two years, right? He's got like 24 total 200, 200 yards over the last two seasons with the Colts, averaging nearly 12 yards per target the last two seasons. He's an ascending young player

and that's just the going right for ascending young players. So I don't think he plays at 29 million, but I think it parlayes into a 25 million per year contract at wide receiver for him over the next three or four seasons. So I could totally see Pierce being tagged. I don't think it's even realistic with Jones. I think they're on the near the finish line with a contract as we speak when it comes to Jones. So I don't even think it's part of the discussion. But yeah, I think worst case, they'll tag Pierce and then extend him later in the offseason. That's where I'm at.

I think they're probably close enough with Jones to where, number one, with the Achilles, they don't have to worry as much about a competitive market for him. Not that other teams wouldn't want him, because, like, he should be considered him and Willis should be considered the top quarterbacks on the market.

But with Pierce, you really risk getting run out of the gym for money on that. Because, like, there's plenty of teams that could want, like most teams should want Alec Pierce to be completely honest with you. Any team that has money, you would want Alec Pierce, especially if you have a good quarterback. So I think it's a lot more, it's a much better option for Pierce,

just because you do not want him to get to the open market. And you've had a good relationship with him over the life of his rookie deal. Like he's been a good draft and develop story. Like you told him when you drafted AD Mitchell, nothing changes for you, just get to work. And then he responded by having two career years. So I think just as much as they want him back, he would like to be back as well. So I think in good faith, as long as you use that franchise tag as a bridge to get to a multi-year deal, which like Zach said, the Colts don't use it as a hostage situation like a lot of other teams do.

They use it legitimately to buy them time for a multi-year deal because it's only until the summer that you have that deadline to reach a multi-year deal before you have to play on the tag or another one. one-year deal basically. And then you can't renegotiate until after the regular season end. So they have all the all the want to in the world to get this done with both guys. But I just think it's it makes a lot more sense for Pierce. Like I wouldn't be surprised if they're super close on Jones. Like I don't I don't even know why there hasn't been anything said yet because I mean the social team, which they are very careful about letting anything get out social. The social team already makes it seem like Jones is in the bag. They've been talking about him as QB1 and all this stuff. So yeah, it's a, I imagine that it would be a lot more competition

for Pierce. And so you kind of need all the tools at your disposal. So from a player standpoint, there are pros and cons with the franchise tag. I guess a pro would be you're getting the money that you should get on the market because it's based on, you know, an average. So you get that market value. And let's face it, all guys play great in their contract year. You know, it's, I mean, you would love to have five one-year contracts with there being some caveat saying it's going to be a one-year contract. But we're going to bring you back next year and renegotiate. again, that would be the best of both worlds.

Because players, I guess the con is the lack of stability. A player wants some stability. They want to know that they're going to grow with this organization. And sometimes it takes more than one year for you to make an impact on the team. You know, hence Leitu Latu. I think him going into his third year, I mean, he needed those two years of development, and he still gave something back to the Colts in terms of getting pressures on the quarterback, but he should explode this year. No, he has nothing to do with the franchise tag,

but the franchise tag can be good in terms of, like I say, money because you're getting market value, but not having the stability is not great. And yes, the Colts, I would agree, are they are not a team that would use it to hold a player hostage, but the cowboys would. Some teams do. Some teams definitely use it that way. I'm actually curious your perspective on that, Alan, like, because there have been some people in recent years that have said, like, abolish the franchise tag, right? You're holding players hostage.

But like, if I was being held hostage for top five at my position money, I don't know if I would really call it hostage, so to speak. you would like to at least test your options and get that long-term stability. So what's your kind of take on just the franchise tag in general, Alan? I like the fact that it's market value, but, you know, it's one of those desperation things where you know that you have to play with urgency. Every practice has to be with urgency because you're not just playing for that one season. and you're playing to get extended.

And sometimes that pressure is good. You know, I only did one year contract where I kind of bet on myself and it ended up working out. I sort of preferred two-year contracts after that. But a one-year contract, you're putting a lot of pressure on yourself. But pressure sometimes is, that's a man-made thing. you're just challenging yourself. But I guess in the cold situation,

it would be challenging yourself. Other organizations, it is being held hostage. And even though you're getting paid, you know, maybe it's not improving your situation, even though you're getting paid. And you can be getting paid millions and be unhappy as hell. because you know that if you went out on the open market, you could get more.

So I've got mixed emotions about the franchise tag. I don't see it as something that necessarily needs to be abolished. But, you know, it depends on the organization in terms of how they view the franchise tag. I know a lot of players in the past have basically said, like, The lack of security because, like, if they go out, like, they played out their initial contracts. Now you're paying them for one more year. Well, what if they go out and get hurt? You're not going to want to sign them to a multi-year deal if they blow their Achilles.

Yeah. So I know that's always been like an age-old debate from the employer perspective as well that I've heard. Yeah, I think the thing I like about is at least if you're going to hold them hostage, so to speak, you're paying them top five money at their position, right? So they're at least getting something out of it, right? they're getting maybe a bigger contract than what they would get otherwise. Right. Yeah, I do think that it's like, look, the player has the right to negotiate and get the best deal possible.

They want to stay with you. They can negotiate the long-term deal with you. But I at least like that. It kind of has that like two-sided aspect to it where you get paid pretty big. But I don't think as of right now, and Derek, you can correct me here. I don't think anyone's been officially tagged yet, right? Like today was the first day. And I know we're all expecting George Pickens to be tagged.

But I don't think anyone else. I don't think anyone has been tagged yet. And not that I've seen. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, not that I've seen so far. I don't think teams are rushing to tag guys the second that the window opens. The Cowboys are going to rush to tag George Pickens.

It will be within the first couple days because they have no, they have no intention of extending him, but they also don't want to lose him. So they're going to tag him at some point here. I think they're going to tag him within the first week. And then all the other tags will come on the last two days because they're actually trying to negotiate with their guys. Well, but here's the thing. The long-term contract doesn't mean anything either.

Because you can get a five-year contract. If they cut you in year two, you can kiss those other three years goodbye. You know, so you think you have stability. But I guess what has to happen is you got to just get results in order to maintain that contract. It stinks, sounds. Doesn't you know those NBA guys, those MLB guys? Yeah.

signed for 56 million. Guess what they're getting? 56 million. Every other major sport is, like, jokes, as always, has a great in here. The franchise tag and also just the way that you guarantee money is designed to protect organizations, right? The NFL does a better job protecting organizations over players than any other sports league because of the guarantees, because of outs and contracts, because of franchise tags. So if you are pro organization over anything else, You got to love how the NFL does it. Oh, yeah.

And they love to hold on to their money a lot of times. Oh, yeah. Don't we all? A Michael Bidvin, Jr. trade idea and a new team for the reigning Super Bowl MVP. We'll talk news and notes when we wrap up the Colts Squad Show next. This portion of the Colt Squad Show brought you by Fanduel. The winter games are officially here. And if you're anything like us, you're locking in for events.

You only get to see on the biggest stage every four years. And that's why following the winter games on Fandul just makes sense. from metal counts to individual events to finding your angle on the sports you care about most. Fandu gives you more ways to stay connected to the action. I saw the women's hockey team, Team USA, taken on Canada in the gold medal match. Coming up on Thursday, I can't wait for that. Hockey's awesome. It's great sport to watch live.

Shout out to Zach, because I know he's an actual hockey fan. Unlike me, I'm a fake fan. And I just like watching all the crazy crap that the Olympians do, man. The dudes and the women that get on skis and then they start sprinting on skis or they have the horse pull them on skis or really anything that's just weird involving skis. That's fun. The luge, any of those Winter Olympic events, really, really cool. And Fandul keeps the Olympic experience engaging from start to finish.

So if anything, it's a pot sweetener with our friends at Fandul. The winter games are on and there's no better way to file them than with Fandul. Fan Duel, play your game. Back for a final time here on the Locked on Cold Squad show alongside the Locked on Colds Daily duo of Zach Hicks and Jake Arthur. with former NFL or Alan Pinkett. I'm Derek Schultz. You guys have seen that right,

where the horse pulls them on the skis and you're like, what are we doing here? Is this a sport? What is this? What year is this? Anything is a sport, man. That's Northern European right there. That is Scandinavian activities

if I've ever heard of it. Norway wins out every year. Hey, you don't see me and many brothers being pulled by over there. Alan, we got to figure out something that we can do, okay? We're not very athletic here. We got to figure out something. Yeah. You don't see many brothers into winter Olympics, period.

Alan, we get to see you play football on Sundays. You get to see guys that look like me, Jake, and Derek in the Winter Olympics. Like, this is what it's for. Well, I will say this. I am totally, totally impressed by, like, the figure skaters. I mean, this stuff they do on skates, I couldn't do in my sneakers. You know, some of the moves they make it. It's just, it amazes me in hockey, too.

Hockey too, because, you know, now that's as physical a sport as you're going to get. And you're going and leaning in on somebody when you're on skates or you're trying to get away from somebody on skates, and you've got to stick that you're trying to control this little puck with. So I give my props to the Winter Olympians because they are, I'm just in amazement over the skill level that you have to have. And skiing bumped that or bobsled bump it 60 miles an hour down a little tube. Hell with that.

How fast they get going, man. I don't even drive my car that fast. It's insane. You would do that on skis or on a snowboard. News and notes time, as we always do to wrap up Tuesday's show. And, you know, as we said, this is sort of a deadish period in the Colts news cycle outside of the fact that we'll probably get some friends. franchise tag news coming up here around the rest of the league.

But it's kind of the rumor time as well. And this is more just for fun and for kicks than anything else because a lot of these don't end up coming true. But I just kind of like to see what some of the national folks say. And Bill Barnwell of ESPN had mentioned a potential swap where the Colts deal, Michael Pittman Jr., along with a seventh round pick. And they get back a fifth and Xavier Leggett from Carolina. he talked about the savings associated with Legat, who's still young,

who's has been whatever, he's okay, I guess. But this just kind of shows why you need shows on locked on cults, and no offense to Bill, who I think does a great job. But he mentioned something about with the Colts needing to pay Alec Pearson, quitty pay, and I was like, it just shows, you know, the national guys can't possibly cover all teams, right? The Colts don't need to give Quitty pay anything. He almost certainly won't be back.

next year. But, you know, we'll talk about Michael Pittman Jr. probably on Thursday show. I don't want to spoil it. But in our next sort of questionable cult chapter, there will be one for Michael Pittman Jr. And Zach would, if they were to decide to move on and not restructure, I think we've talked about this. He would be a trade candidate, yes, to get something back. Yeah. And I want to prepare everybody. Again, in the NFL, you don't trade for players. You trade for contracts. You trade for a one-year, $24 million contract is what you're trying to sell around the league when it comes to Michael Pittman Jr.

And getting fifth in Leggett is probably more than I think you would get for it. I think the fifth straight up is probably the best you could probably get for Michael Pittman Jr. So again, the appeal in trading Michael Pittman Jr. has nothing to do with like getting this player off of your books. It's about getting that contract off of your books, getting the $24 million out of here and getting another young player back. and that would be a potential fifth round pick, potential sixth round pick, whatever it would be.

So to get a player like Leggett, who cheap, very cheap contract, a player who similar, I don't want to say skill set as Pittman Jr., because he hasn't shown it as much as Pittman in the NFL, but a big-body guy can run after the catch a little bit. I think it makes sense if Carolina were down and the Colts just couldn't get anything done with Pittman

in terms of restructuring or extension, and Pittman said, no, I need to play at $29 million or else, then I think that this would make a lot of sense for the Colts. It'd probably be more than what they could get, though, when it comes to trading. And again, people would probably scoff at that saying, no, Zach, Pittman's been this thousand-yard receiver multiple times in his career,

but a number one receiver in the Colts for the last, you know, four years, but there's been better receivers on more team-friendly contracts traded for less, you know? It's just how it is. uh it's all about the contract so yeah if the colts needed to trade pitman junior and they could get a former top 50 pick on a rookie contract plus a fifth rounder for him i think that would be on the higher end of expectations on what you could get back i don't mind legett but it's like why don't you guys want bryce young to have separators like what are we doing like can you give the man an

explosive receiver like uh but no i mean look get it's fine i don't like legate as much as i like pitman but i like the price tag drastically more you know what i mean i guess it eliminates the need to like replace pitman with someone in the draft or like a cheapy and free agency all right it doesn't it doesn't move the needle much for me because it's like legate hasn't really caught on in two years in carolina either it's not like you're getting some young star but like maybe a change of scenery would help a little bit zach i haven't like followed him closely. He has issues coming down with the ball. Is that right? He has some gaffes where he just does not complete the play very well. Is that right? Yeah. And I also want to say that in his same,

I want to say it was in his same draft class. Jalen Coker was like an undrafted free agent. Yeah. And Coker is like everyone's favorite there. He's way better than Ligette. So he's kind of got passed up on the depth chart by Coker and then obviously by McMillan, who they took in the top 10 last year. Yeah. He's fine. Like, he's all right. He's all right.

He's like a fine, like wide receiver three, wide receiver four to have. Like he can give you 400 yards, 500 yards in a season. Is he, he's not much of a separator. He hasn't really translated the run after catch ability that he had in college. But he's a big body. And if you want to get some wide receiver screens going to him and some in breaking routes, I think he could do that. I think he could play the pitch.

Pittman role, not as well as Pittman, obviously, but that's why Pittman's making 24 million. And Leggett's not next contract is going to be like four million, five million. You know, like there's a reason for that. But, yeah, I mean, he's not awful. He's just not, like, very good either. Well, you want to send a bad message to the players on the team? You know, three away Pittman for a lesser receiver. Yeah, I think they would do better.

Yeah, well, yes, and money rules the day. No doubt about that. That's why I said in the beginning of the show, it's an unfortunate reality that you don't get released because of a lack of talent. A lot of times you get released because you're making too much money. And the salary cap exists. You know, I look at some of the receivers that are coming out of college, and I think that they are much better equipped now coming out of college.

You know, I think way back when I played, you had smaller receivers. You didn't have the six-four or a bunch of six-four receivers. But I just think the art of catching the ball, you know, and I attribute it to like an Odell Beckham, everybody's making one-handed catches now. They practice catching, you know, one-handed. All these guys are making circus catches now. So I think the level of talent coming out of college into the pros is good. And the thing that probably sucks for Pittman is he's a very good receiver, but he's not a number one.

He's not a number one like the number ones you see across the league, which kind of makes him expendable. It's too bad because I think he's a fairly good athlete. and you know but if he's not a true number one then they don't want to pay him number one money yeah he's not a 29 million dollar cap hit player i think that's really kind of what it comes down to right he's also slowed down a lot the last two yeah okay if we look at what he looked like uh with carson wents in 2021 uh we look at like even some of the 2022 season uh in that dreadful law loss season uh he had more vertical juice yeah had more down the field stuff and he wasn't kind of just like he was a better separator than what he is

now. I think the back injury definitely slowed him down. He had a bit of a resurgence earlier this season where he had a couple of touchdowns and I think he was looking like it was going to be his most touchdowns on the season. I think he might have had his most touchdowns in the season this year. What did you say? He tied it. Tied it. Okay. He tied it. So he looked well in pace though to break that. But he's still not the guy that he was prior to that bad. injury that he had in 2024. Not that he's bad by any means, but he's not. The days of, yeah, I think the days of him being a 1,000-yard season, like 1,000-yard guy, aren't really there unless you're just force-feeding him targets. You know, I think he's more

like a Jacoby Myers type of player, which is a good player to have, a very fine player to have, not for $29 million against the cap, though. So it just comes down to like what you can negotiate from that. Like, you don't like to take a player's money, from him, but do you want to put another extension on it? This is more of a conversation for Thursday, so I don't want to go into it. But I think trading him is a very realistic and logical decision the Colts could come to this offseason. It would make them a little bit worse on offense, but say that you needed that money

to make the front seven better, it could make them better next season, you know? So I totally would understand moving him, even if it's only for like a fifth round pick, which it might end. up being and a rookie contract I like Liggett. This is not necessarily related to the Colts, but final two minutes of the show, I did find this noteworthy because here's the guy that just won the Super Bowl MVP, but reports are that the Seahawks will not be using the franchise tag on Kenneth Walker the third.

And if they're not going to do that, then it looks like they are willing to lose him in free agency. Sounds like a good running back class, Zach. You know, you've probably dovin, dovin, dived into it more than any of us. have on here, but it wouldn't be the first time. I mean, we have seen Super Bowl MVP's changed teams before as reigning Super Bowl MVP's, but an interesting one out there in Seattle. Yeah, I remember the great Malcolm Smith, I believe, changed teams from Seattle after his Super Bowl MVP about 10 years ago. Raiders? Yeah, bad time. The Raiders soon afterwards. Yeah. Um, Walker is fascinating to me because I'm watching that Super Bowl and I'm like,

this has to be the best and the worst vision I've ever seen from a running back in one game. Because did he ever hit one hole that he was supposed to hit in that game? I don't think he did. Every single run, it was I'm going to walk up to the line and I'm going to try to bounce it to the outside. And it worked in that game. But I was pulling my three strands of hair out in that game watching it because it's like, can you hit one hole that you're designed to hit? But I think he's a good player. He's patient.

He's strong. He's fast. And like you said, Derek, he's going to be part of a pretty good running back free agency class, but also draft. class as well with, not Julian Love, Love at the top, though. Jeremiah Love. Jeremiah Love. So, yeah, I think that they're going to be, I think there's going to be a lot of options for teams to get running backs.

And I know Seattle has a ton of money. They can extend them. They don't have to resort to the franchise tag. But even if they do lose them, they have Charbonnet. They have options to replace them as well. So good running back class in free agency. And I think in the draft, it's as good as you can use. usually get from a draft. I think Love is probably the only, like,

legit Bell Cow caliber guy, but a couple good players I can fill roles on, on day three when it comes to running back in this draft. I'll go fast. Kenny Walker frustrates me. You know, I see some of the decisions that he makes, and you know that the speed that you have at linebacker, you can't outrun those dudes. Quit trying to bounce it and you end up losing four or yards and just stick with, you know, being tackle for a one yard loss. But he constantly, constantly breaks that role.

Yeah, explosive runner, but had to have a horrible success rate in that Super Bowl because it was like losing five yards or gaining 20. That was the only options on every run it felt like. It was such a weird game, though, that it felt like it was, if you're going to be weird, that was the game to be weird just to try anything with the way those two defenses were really bawling out. Thanks so much for joining us here on this latest edition of the Colts Squad Show. We'll be back with you Thursday night at 9 o'clock as our questionable Colts series continues as part of our offseason schedule.

But as always, the Colts new cycle never really goes quiet. Keep it locked on Jake and Zach every day on Locked on Colts. And be sure to follow at Lockdown Colts on socials and check out our other great content on YouTube and TikTok. And we'll see you next time right here on the squad show.