Indianapolis Colts: 5 Cut candidates sitting on roster bubble

2. Chad Kelly, QB

The Colts sealed Chad Kelly’s fate when they drafted Jacob Eason with a fourth-round pick a few months ago. While he’s extremely raw and far from guaranteed to hold a significant role in the NFL, Eason boasts potential Kelly can’t compete with. As a former seventh-round pick who spent part of last season on the practice squad, there’s no chance Kelly makes the final roster.

Based on his junior season in college, I expected Kelly to go higher than the seventh-round in 2017. However, three years and one trespassing charge later, Kelly hasn’t played a meaningful snap in the NFL. Neither has Eason, but the Washington product has top tier arm strength, and that’s enough to stick around for several years in Indianapolis.

Philip Rivers is Indianapolis’ starter in 2020 with Jacoby Brissett coming off the bench. Both veterans enter free agency next spring.

1. Rolan Milligan, S

Barring any unforeseen changes, Rolan Milligan should make Indianapolis’ opening day roster as the team’s fourth safety. Why is he in this article then? Because his replacement is currently rehabbing from an injury and should make his debut after the season’s first six weeks.

The Colts selected Utah’s Julian Blackmon in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. The rangy safety tore his ACL during his senior season, meaning he’ll likely begin 2020 on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.

Players who begin the season on the PUP list must sit out the first six weeks. They don’t count against the roster limit during this time. However, when the player returns, his team must make room. Once Blackmon gets off the PUP list, he’ll take Milligan’s roster spot.

Milligan is in the final season of his current contract. An undrafted free agent from 2016, Milligan originally signed a deal with the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas eventually cut him before the 2016 season. Milligan spent all of 2017 and a chunk of 2018 bouncing around Detroit’s active roster, practice squad, and the waiver wire. Eventually, Indianapolis picked him up, and the process of ping-ponging between the roster and practice squad continued.

Milligan saw his first NFL regular-season action in 2019, playing 13 percent of Indianapolis’ defensive snaps and 39 percent of the team’s special teams snaps. He finished the season with 15 tackles.

With Malik Hooker entering his rookie deal’s final season, the Colts want Blackmon taking snaps in the second half of his rookie campaign. He’s in the team’s long-term plans. Milligan isn’t.