NFL Power Rankings: Colts in for Lamar Jackson?
The Indianapolis Colts have been relatively quiet as we come to the end of the second week of the NFL Free Agency period.
Quiet enough that Dan Hanzus of NFL.com can't help but wonder if there's something in the works with the Colts and Lamar Jackson as he ranked Indianapolis 31st in his post-free agency Power Rankings.
Are the Colts lying in the weeds for Lamar Jackson? You have to figure someone will eventually make an aggressive play for a 26-year-old former MVP, and Indianapolis checks all the boxes. Premium draft capital? Check. Ample salary-cap space? Check. Need at quarterback? Check. Scheme fit? Check. What we don't know is what Jim Irsay thinks about Jackson, and whether the owner and GM Chris Ballard would consider meeting his salary demands. Rarely does a struggling team get the chance to reboot the machine and upload itself back to relevance with one seismic transaction. Opportunity knocks. -- Dan Hanzus, NFL.com
The Baltimore Ravens placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on Jackson, meaning they have the right to match any offer Jackson receives on the free-agent market.
If they decline to match that offer, the team acquiring Jackson would send the Ravens two-first round draft picks.
The picks aren't an issue. Two-first round draft picks is a bargain for acquiring a player like Jackson, but teams may be unwilling to do the heavy lifting of negotiating Jackson's contract for the Ravens.
If Baltimore gets serious about trading Jackson, and the longer this drags on the more serious they may become, the Colts would be an ideal fit for all the reasons Hanzus outlines above.
Meanwhile Indianapolis is doing their due diligence on this crop of quarterbacks. Mel Kiper's latest mock draft on ESPN has the Colts swapping places with the Arizona Cardinals and taking Kentucky's Will Levis at No. 3.
It's no surprise that the Colts haven't made a serious move in the power rankings. They finished the season poorly, and they haven't made any significant moves in free agency.
It's been quiet.
But maybe that silence is speaking volumes about Lamar Jackson.
We should know one way or the other before the day ends on April 27th.
That's the first day of the NFL Draft. By the end of that night, it should be pretty clear who will be the Colts' starting quarterback in 2023 whether it's a rookie or a trade has been made.
