The Indianapolis Colts have had an active offseason, especially in terms of addressing their secondary.
Their two biggest free agency offseason signings were safety Cam Bynum and cornerback Charvarius Ward. Both will be day one starters and will drastically improve one of the team’s most significant weaknesses from last season. The team still needs more depth at safety, though, and they could find the solution in a player who was already with the team last year.
The Colts should bring safety Julian Blackmon back for another year
The Colts drafted Julian Blackmon in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He spent the last five years with the Colts and appeared in 66 games. He’s been one of the top players in a Colts secondary that didn’t have much going for it over the past few years. At first, the Colts’ signing Bynum seemed to point towards them not needing Blackmon anymore, but the longer he sits on the free agency market, the more it makes sense for the team to bring him back into the fold.
Blackmon has played both FS and SS for the Colts over the past five years. And though FS has been his most prominent role, his best season with the team came while playing SS in 2023. The team’s lack of options to play single high moved him back to FS in 2024, but with Bynum now here, he could be a solid fit to start at SS. This would move Nick Cross into the third safety role with the team, which some may argue is the best fit for his skill set. Even if the Colts would rather start Cross, they won’t find a better player than Blackmon to elevate their defense. He could very well be the final touch on their new look secondary, that on paper already looks poised to be the best the team has had in a decade or longer.
