A Tale of Two Veterans
Alie-Cox In, Gay Out as Roster Shuffle Continues Heading Into the Draft
The Colts dealt with the futures of two well-known veterans — they cut Matt Gay, and they re-signed Moe Alie-Cox. While neither move was a shock, both were very mild surprises.
Mo Alie-Cox Re-Signs with Colts
Every Colts fan knows the MAC story. He was a popular power forward at VCU, and like quite a few at his position, he shifted to a football TE when it looked like the NBA wasn’t going to happen for him.
After a year on IR and then two as a part-timer, MAC became the Colts’ starting TE in 2020, then signed a three-year, $17.55M contract in 2022, and found himself an unrestricted free agent this offseason. With no significant interest from other teams, he came back to the Colts on a one-year deal.
So, what happened to this fan favorite that made him a dud in free agency this year? Well, look at it this way. Among players the NFL calls TEs, the most productive receiver in 2024 was Brock Bowers (a rookie the Colts reportedly had tried to trade up to select), who caught 148-112-1,194-5. The 32nd most productive TE, the Browns’ Jordan Atkins, caught 54-40-390-2. MAC checked in at 21-12-147-1, good enough for 54th. And it wasn’t like MAC missed time. He played in all 17 games, starting 13, while serving as the Colts No. 1 TE.
While Colts fans like that MAC has the ability to rip open a defense with a deep catch, the problem is that he doesn’t make many of them. In fact, he doesn’t make that many catches at all. In seven seasons, all with Indy, MAC has caught 171-114-1,433-15 — except for the TDs, that’s comparable to Bowers’ rookie season. MAC’s best season, 2020, saw him catch 36-31-394-2, about equivalent to Atkins’ 2024 — although it’s important to note that Atkins was Cleveland’s No. 2 TE last season, after David Njoku, who caught 90-64-505-5, and the Browns had a horrendous year at QB. So, while 2024 was a bad year for MAC, it wasn’t as far off from his norm as many might believe.
Clearly, those numbers are not befitting a No. 1 NFL TE, and certainly does not represent the kind of security blanket young QB Anthony Richardson needs at the position.
Along with his ability to get deep, MAC’s saving grace has been his blocking. In fact, he isn’t quite as good as many fans believe, but he can be a force. The problem with that is that TEs don’t really block that much anymore, especially not on pass plays. It’s nice that he can block well, but that’s not enough for him to start at TE in 2025 (maybe 1981, but not 2025).
With all that said, MAC’s abilities make him an excellent candidate for a TE3 on any NFL team. And that’s what the Colts, with any luck, are getting. But even if they have to roll him out as TE1 again, at least they are no worse off. In fact, they might be considered ahead of the game. Since I’ve heard that his new deal is for $2.2M, it represents a significant savings on the $5.92M he made last season.
MAC’s re-signing should not be a big surprise to Colts fans. Of course, the team is still likely to pursue a TE early in the draft, perhaps even with their first-round pick, but not every rookie can hit the ground running the way Bowers did. If, or when, the Colts draft a TE1 candidate, MAC will be there to back him up or to start at the position until the prospect is ready to take over.
Look at it this way: If the Colts had signed an outside free agent TE who is a powerful blocker, has some speed and has okay hands for just $2.2M, fans would be delighted. The best part is that this one already knows the playbook.
Colts Cut Matt Gay
When Ballard signed Gay to a four-year, $22.5M contract in 2023, there were many critics rumbling that no kicker was worth that kind of money (their careers tend to go up and down), and that Gay wasn’t even one of the best kickers around.
Looks like the critics were right. In his two seasons with the Colts, Gay went 68 of 69 on extra points, and 64 of 78 on field goals. The problem is that, these days, kickers are expected to be able to boom 50-plus-yard attempts regularly, and Gay sank just 11 of 22, including just 3 of 9 in 2024. Similarly, he’s not been great kicking off.
What made him expendable was the re-signing of Spencer Shrader. Kicking for three teams, including the Colts, as a rookie in 2024, Shrader hit 6 of 6 extra points and 3 of 3 field goals, although he made no attempts over 50 yards. In the 2024 preseason, with the Colts, he went 4 of 4 on extra points and 2 of 2 on field goals (1 of 1 more than 50 yards). In college play, he was not the most accurate guy around, but had a big leg and improved as he went along. On career attempt of more than 50 yards, he hit just 5 of 11, but as a fifth-year senior at Notre Dame in 2023, he made 4 of 6.
And, as you might expect, he is a stronger when it comes to kickoffs.
While this looks like a simple handoff from Gay to Shrader, I expect the Colts will find some summer competition, probably a UDFA like Arizona’s Tyler Loop or Gino Garcia out of Texas Tech.
The primary effect of the move will be to the Colts’ accounting. Cutting Gay will leave him with $4M in dead money, and create $2.75M in cap space.
But, perhaps the best part is that the people who still find his last name hilarious and a source for endless (and I do mean endless) gags won’t comment so much on social media.
Update: Gay signed with San Francisco.
Joe Flacco Signs With the Browns
I was sure Flacco was going to retire. He’s 40, has won a Super Bowl, and made more than $180M from his NFL career. With his skills diminishing, what does he have to prove?
But the Browns came calling. And, if you’ll recall, he had something of a magic season in for Cleveland in 2023 before signing with the Colts. In relief of the much-hated Deshaun Watson, Flacco led the Browns on a 4-1 streak that assured them a playoff spot. So, there’s a lot of goodwill there, and another $4M.
With the condition the Browns are in, I don’t expect much from Flacco this time around in Cleveland. If he wins the starting job over Kenny Pickett or whomever they have yet to acquire, that would say more about Pickett than it would about Flacco.
Stat of the Week
The eight veteran free agents who have signed elsewhere accounted for 4,449 snaps for the Colts in 2024 (1,676 on offense, 1,986 on defense and 787 on special teams):
E.J. Speed LB 1,083 (1,011 defense, 72 special teams)
Dayo Odeyingbo DE 837 (746 defense, 91 special teams)
Kylen Granson TE 705 (440 offense, 265 special teams)
Grant Stuard LB 571 (229 defense, 342 special teams)
Ryan Kelly C 501 (501 offense)
Joe Flacco QB 467 (467 offense)
Will Fries G 285 (268 offense, 17 special teams)
Sam Ehlinger QB 0
Of the veteran free agents, who have yet to sign anywhere, there are also some familiar faces:
Julian Blackmon S 1,129 (1,084 defense, 45 special teams)
Taven Bryan DT 504 (340 defense, 164 special teams)
Mark Glowinski G 355 (355 offense)
Trey Sermon HB 278 (245 offense, 33 special teams)
Ronnie Harrison S 200 (3 defense, 197 special teams)
Trevor Denbow S 141 (141 special teams)
Wesley French C 0
Juwann Winfree WR 0
It’s not out of the question that Blackmon, Denbow or perhaps French could be re-signed by the team.
And, with the cuts:
Raekwon Davis DT 396 (349 defense, 47 special teams)
Matt Gay K 152 (152 special teams)