Outside of trading for quarterback Matt Ryan, the Indianapolis Colts have quietly added pieces this offseason to improve their overall roster. That has continued this week with the signing of another under-the-radar player.
NFL insider Adam Schefter of ESPN reported on April 12 that the Indianapolis Colts have agreed to sign linebacker Brandon King to a one-year contract. A career special teams ace, King has won two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.
Former New England defensive specialist and two-time Super Bowl champion Brandon King reached agreement on a one-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts, per his agent @Seanstellato.
The compensation details of the deal were not disclosed.
With the addition of King, the Colts have added three defenders in free agency since April 5. Newly signed safety Armani Watts is also expected to primarily play special teams this fall.
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King to Help Colts on Special Teams
King will be entering his eighth NFL season in 2022. He battled back from a quad injury to play in 16 games last season. The ailment sidelined him for the entire 2019 and 2020 seasons.
But in his other five NFL seasons, King has dressed for at least 13 games each year. He has posted 52 combined tackles and forced a fumble in his career. King also has recorded eight combined tackles in 12 career playoff games.
To say King has made a career out of being a special teams specialist would be an understatement. He has played just two defensive snaps in the NFL — both of which came last year. But Bill Belichick and the Patriots continued to find a spot for him on the roster because of his contributions on special teams.
King played a career high 69.93% of New England’s special teams snaps in 2021. His 307 snaps ranked fourth-most on the Patriots special teams unit. He recorded 10 combined tackles in 2021, which was two shy of a career high.
The addition of King bolsters an already very good special teams unit in Indianapolis. Rick Gosselin of Sports Illustrated ranked the Colts special teams unit the second-best in the NFL last season behind only the Baltimore Ravens.
Next Steps for Colts in Free Agency
While the Colts have signed three players within the last week, there is still plenty of potential work for general manager Chris Ballard before the start of the 2022 NFL Draft on April 28.
Excluding the contracts for King and safety Rodney McLeod, who Indianapolis signed on April 8, the Colts have approximately $21.7 million in available salary cap space for the rest of this offseason. Overthecap reports that is second-most among all 32 NFL teams as of April 12.
But of the teams with more than $20 million in cap space, the Colts have the fewest players signed (60). In fact, the Cleveland Browns are the only other team with more than $20 million in space and still fewer than 70 players signed to contracts for the 2022 season.
The Colts possess seven picks in the 2022 NFL Draft. That, along with the finalized contracts for King and McLeod, will bring Indianapolis up to 69 players.
That means Ballard still has about 21 players to add to bring the total roster size up to 90 players for the start of training camp.
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Colts Finalizing Deal With Former Patriots’ 2-Time Super Bowl Champ: Report