{"id":750337,"date":"2026-02-13T23:28:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T23:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/750337\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T23:28:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T23:28:26","slug":"two-colts-contributors-floated-as-free-agent-fits-for-bitter-rival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/750337\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Colts Contributors Floated as Free Agent Fits for Bitter Rival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Free agency has pros and cons for every NFL team. With it comes massive opportunities to sign new talent to boost rosters. <\/p>\n

However, it also means that various in-house players might not get re-signed due to different cap situations. <\/p>\n

For the Indianapolis Colts<\/a>, it’s all about re-signing Daniel Jones<\/a> and Alec Pierce<\/a>, as they’re essential to the team’s success for this upcoming season. <\/p>\n

But some talents won’t see themselves in a Colts uniform when the 2026 season starts. Fox Sports and Greg Auman has two key defenders heading to a bitter AFC South foe in free agency<\/a>: the Tennessee Titans. <\/p>\n

Safety Nick Cross<\/a> and defensive end Kwity Paye<\/a>. Let’s get to it. <\/p>\n

Safety | Nick Cross \"Colts<\/p>\n

Oct 19, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Indianapolis Colts safety Nick Cross (20) celebrates an interception in the first half against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

“Cross, still only 24, has had a busy past two years with the Colts, totaling 266 tackles and four interceptions. Indianapolis has bigger free agents to worry about, but Cross had success with two different coordinators and won’t break the bank, drawing $6\u20138 million a year.<\/p>\n

If he doesn’t stick in Indy, he’d be a smart play for the Titans, where Gus Bradley knows him well and the front office has ample cap space to rebuild their defense with young potential.”<\/p>\n

Cross started his career with the Indianapolis at just 21. Immediately, he was tasked with playing heavily, but he showed he wasn’t ready for that level of performance. Cross would log a stat line of 17 tackles and a fumble recovery. <\/p>\n

2023 saw Cross as more of a rotational defender, but 2024 was where the NFL world was introduced to his potential. <\/p>\n

Cross put up an impressive stat line of 146 tackles, six tackles for loss, three interceptions, and five pass breakups. <\/p>\n

Even with Lou Anarumo’s new defensive scheme in 2025, Cross played great, posting 120 tackles, 2.5 sacks (career-high), and a 72.0 Pro Football Focus run defense grade. <\/p>\n

Cross isn’t going to cost a ton, so the hope for Anarumo’s defense is that the Colts can secure his services to continue pairing him with Cam Bynum<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But if Chris Ballard decides that Cross is expendable, given his ties to Bradley, the Titans could be the perfect suitor for the young safety who may still be on the way to his prime. <\/p>\n

Sign Up For the Colts Daily Digest – OnSI\u2019s Indianapolis Colts Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n

Defensive End | Kwity Paye \"Colts<\/p>\n

Buffalo Bills tight end Quintin Morris (85) pulls on the facemask of Indianapolis Colts defensive end Kwity Paye (51) as he moves in to tackle Buffalo Bills running back James Cook (4) on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, during a game against the Buffalo Bills at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. | Grace Hollars\/IndyStar \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

“Paye, 27, had only four sacks in a disappointing 2025 after totaling 16.5 between 2023-24, a former first-round pick who managed to play a career-high in snaps while matching his career lows in sacks and tackles for loss.<\/p>\n

Will he have a market based on the production he showed in previous seasons? Perhaps. Spotrac has him generously at $17.8 million a year, but he’s not expected back with the Colts \u2014 there’s a chance he could reunite with Indy defensive coordinator Gus Bradley with the Titans.”<\/p>\n

Paye has been a staple of Indy’s defensive trenches since he was drafted with the 21st overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. <\/p>\n

While Paye isn’t a bad player, it’s fair to say he isn’t excellent, either. Paye is best at defending the run, but this isn’t enough to warrant the Colts re-signing him. <\/p>\n

Paye led Indianapolis in sacks during the 2024 season with 8.0, but 2025 was different. For a defensive front that had almost no pass-rushing juice outside of Laiatu Latu<\/a>, it should have been a year where Paye proved he was worth Indianapolis taking on his fifth-year option. <\/p>\n

Sadly, Paye only secured 4.0 sacks and even took steps back as a run defender, which is the thing he does best as a defensive end. <\/p>\n

Samson Ebukam<\/a> and Tyquan Lewis<\/a> are also free agents, so don’t be shocked if the Colts decide to let all three walk to retool the trenches for new position coach Marion Hobby. <\/p>\n

Like Cross, Paye has ties to Bradley, and the Titans signing him would allow a seamless transition to Tennessee’s defense. <\/p>\n

Recommended Articles <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Free agency has pros and cons for every NFL team. With it comes massive opportunities to sign new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":750338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2059],"tags":[2005,7,2004,392,2381,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-750337","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indianapolis-colts","8":"tag-colts","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-indianapolis","11":"tag-indianapolis-colts","12":"tag-indianapoliscolts","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116065923100709133","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750337","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=750337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}