{"id":711860,"date":"2026-01-28T16:34:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T16:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/711860\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T16:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T16:34:18","slug":"3-colts-among-top-free-agents-in-2026-predicting-if-they-stay-or-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/711860\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Colts among top free agents in 2026; predicting if they stay or go"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matt Bowen of ESPN<\/a> recently ranked the top 50 free agents for the 2026 offseason, and near the top of this list were three members of the Indianapolis Colts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, will these key players stay or go?<\/p>\n

Coming in at No. 4 on Bowen’s list was quarterback Daniel Jones. Wide receiver Alec Pierce was No. 6 and offensive tackle Braden Smith was No. 10. No other Colts<\/a>‘ free agents were on the list.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at what Bowen had to say about each player and then predict whether the Colts re-sign them.<\/p>\n

Daniel Jones<\/p>\n

What Bowen had to say: “It’s clear he elevated his level of play and poise under coach Shane Steichen in Indianapolis. Jones’ 64.1 QBR ranked eighth in the league through Week 13, and he threw with a much stronger sense of timing.”<\/p>\n

Prediction: Both Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard have made it clear they want Jones back. Jones has said he’d like to return as well.\u00a0Stay.<\/p>\n

Alec Pierce<\/p>\n

What Bowen had to say: “Pierce has the straight-line speed to lift the safeties, creating open coverage voids underneath for other targets. With more volume and an increased role, he has the skills to produce as a multi-level route runner.”<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Prediction: In Ballard’s words,\u00a0“Alec’s a priority.”<\/a>\u00a0The Colts would be foolish to let him sign elsewhere.\u00a0Stay.<\/p>\n

Braden Smith<\/p>\n

What Bowen had to say: “He is a big-bodied drive blocker at 6-foot-6 and 312 pounds, easily matching power in pass protection. Injuries have been a concern, as Smith has missed 17 games over his past three seasons.”<\/p>\n

Prediction: Rookie Jalen Travis proved to be a capable starter in Smith’s absence.\u00a0Go.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: 2026 NFL free agency: Predicting if Colts’ top free agents re-sign<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matt Bowen of ESPN recently ranked the top 50 free agents for the 2026 offseason, and near the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2059],"tags":[4994,4973,5422,2005,2772,7,2714,2004,392,2381,1989,14245,6,4975],"class_list":["post-711860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indianapolis-colts","tag-alec-pierce","tag-braden-smith","tag-chris-ballard","tag-colts","tag-daniel-jones","tag-football","tag-free-agents","tag-indianapolis","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-indianapoliscolts","tag-jalen-travis","tag-matt-bowen","tag-nfl","tag-shane-steichen"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115973696780754156","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}