We know who many of the Indianapolis Colts’ unrestricted free agents are this offseason, but which players are restricted free agents?

An unrestricted free agent is a player with four or more years of accrued NFL experience. These players are able to negotiate with any team and can sign where they please.

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Restricted free agents have, well, more restrictions.

What is a restricted free agent?

A restricted free agent (RFA) is a player with three accrued years of NFL experience. The RFA’s current team has the option of placing one of three tenders on that player: a first-round tender, a second-round tender, or a right of first refusal tender.

If no tender is placed on an RFA, they then become an unrestricted free agent. However, if one of those tenders is placed on the RFA, they can then negotiate with other teams, but there is a caveat.

If the tendered RFA receives an offer from another organization, the current team has the opportunity to match the contract. If they do, then the RFA returns to the original team. But if they don’t, whatever tender was placed on the RFA, the original team will get that as compensation from the new team.

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For example, if another team is willing to sign away a player with a first-round tender, the new team would have to give the original team a first-round draft pick in return.

If the RFA receives a tender but does not get an offer from another team, they will then re-sign with the original team and receive a one-year contract at a predetermined amount set by the NFLPA based on which tender was utilized.

Who are the Indianapolis Colts‘ 2026 restricted free agents?Which of the Colts’ unrestricted free agents will return?

Realistically, all of the players listed above could be back. However, I don’t expect the Colts to place a tender on any of them.

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The right of first refusal tender — the cheapest of the three tenders — is projected to cost $3.54 million this season. If any of those players were free agents, I don’t see them earning that contract value on the open market.

So for any of these players to return, the Colts will have to go through a roundabout process to make that happen. They’ll have to decline putting a tender on these players, at which point they become unrestricted free agents, and then the Colts can negotiate new deals with them.

I would guess that Olubi, Goodson, Ogletree, Mitchell, and Tenuta are players that GM Chris Ballard would prioritize bringing back. They have experience and won’t break the bank.

This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Colts roster: Predicting which restricted free agents stay and go