Colts Reserves Marvell Tell III, Rolan Milligan Become Team’s Second, Third Opt-Outs
INDIANAPOLIS — Two more Indianapolis Colts reserves, second-year cornerback Marvell Tell III and third-year safety Rolan Milligan, have decided not to play this NFL season.
Head coach Frank Reich announced the opt-out decisions on a Wednesday Zoom video conference call. Third-year reserve linebacker Skai Moore was the first Colts player to make that decision, which was announced on Tuesday.
Tell, a 2019 fifth-round selection out of USC, made the rookie transition from safety to cornerback and appeared in 13 games with 23 total tackles. The 24-year-old defender was expected to provide secondary depth this season.
Cornerback Marvell Tell III was selected in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft.
Matt Kryger/USA TODAY Sports
Milligan, who signed a one-year contract to return for his third season, played in 11 games last season with 15 total tackles. The 25-year-old defender was initially undrafted in 2018, and eventually landed on the Colts practice squad, where he spent much of that season. He also was to provide depth.
Both played a lot on special teams. Tell ranked fifth with 199 snaps and Milligan ranked ninth with 166 snaps on special teams, per Pro Football Reference.
Reserve safety Rolan Milligan, who re-signed in the offseason, played in 11 games in 2019.
Matt Kryger/USA TODAY Sports
Reich said he spoke to all three players.
“These guys are family to us,” Reich said. “We respect their decisions, personally support them. We want them and their families to stay safe and healthy. We’ll maintain contact with all of them, but also understand their decision.”
While it was uncertain whether Moore would make a Colts regular-season roster with several linebackers ahead of him on the depth chart, Tell and Milligan were expected to be backups to starters. That means they were going to get snaps.
“This year more than any year, I just think more guys are going to get opportunities this year,” Reich said. “That’s why you’ve really got to respect the guys who opt-out for the personal reasons that they’re opting-out because they’re potentially missing an opportunity. These guys were probably going to play. These guys were good football players. We had three good football players who opted-out, but understandably so. We respect those decisions.
“This is a year where we’re preparing like everyone on our team is going to play and they need to be ready to play. And so the way you get ready to play is compete. You compete out at practice, you compete against one other out at practice, out there at that field that I’m looking at right now. That’s what we’re looking forward to doing it.”
The NFL deadline for players opting out is 4 p.m., Thursday (EST).
Reich said he doesn’t know if any other players will make the same decision.
“I really don’t know what to expect,” he said. “Of course, my mind-set is, ‘No, I’m not expecting any,’ but these are personal decisions. We’ll just see. I obviously would like to talk to everyone before they make that decision, but I understand the dynamics of that. We’ll respect whatever decisions are made.
“We’re optimistic that we think we’re in good shape, but you never know. The deadline is tomorrow at 4 o’clock. We’ll find out in the next few hours.”
(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)
