Colts bring E.J. Speed back on 2-year deal,

[JAFF]

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...l/70006158007/

INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts retained a key piece of their linebacking corps late Monday night, only hours after losing former starter Bobby Okereke to the New York Giants.

Indianapolis re-signed strong-side linebacker E.J. Speed to a two year-deal worth up to $9 million, a source confirmed to IndyStar, ensuring that the Colts have a three linebackers returning for the key spots in their base defense, even after Okereke’s departure.

As long as three-time All-Pro Shaquille Leonard is fully healthy after undergoing November surgery to repair a nerve issue in his back, the projected Indianapolis starters at linebacker will be Leonard on the weak side, Zaire Franklin in the middle and Speed on the strong-side, the spot he held in 2022.


NFL free agency 2023:Colts linebacker Bobby Okereke signs four-year, $40 million deal with Giants

Leonard said in January that he believed the surgery, his second in the span of half a year, had corrected the issue.

“What I will say, it is different, because we’ve made progress, and he’s made progress,” Colts general manager Chris Ballard said at the NFL scouting combine. “It’s a day-by-day thing, and he just continues to work through it. We’ll hope for the best. I know he’s working hard and doing everything he can to get back right.”


Bringing back Speed ensures there is experienced insurance at the position.

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Brought in as a fifth-round pick in the 2019 draft, Speed is following the same path as Franklin, playing a key role on special teams for a couple of seasons before developing into a key

Speed played 314 snaps on defense last season and 384 on special teams, handling both roles well.


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Defensively, Speed made 55 tackles, a sack and forced two fumbles. In the kicking game, Speed finished with eight tackles, good for second-most on the Colts’ special teams units, where he’s always been a difference-maker, both in coverage and on the team’s return units — he scored two touchdowns off blocked punts in 2021.


Initially brought in because of his similar athletic profile to Leonard, Speed has carved his own path in Indianapolis, and the Colts now have a full complement of linebackers in the fold, although Ballard could always add another linebacker in the draft, where he’s been highly successful over the years.

Beyond Leonard, Franklin and Speed, Indianapolis also returns special teams ace Grant Stuard and developmental rookie JoJo Domann at linebacker, plus Lawrence Central product Cameron McGrone, who was signed off the New England practice squad late in the season.

And as the dust settled on the first day of the NFL’s negotiating period, the Colts news has focused primarily on their own in-house free agents, following the pattern Ballard has set over the years in Indianapolis.

The Colts headed into this week with 17 free agents, and four have found their landing spots already. Indianapolis is bringing back Speed and defensive lineman Tyquan Lewis, but the Colts have lost Okereke to the Giants and reportedly lost cornerback Brandon Facyson to Las Vegas after just one season in Indianapolis.

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

More details about Speed's new contract:


https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/st...CwzaqDmbQtAAAA

E.J. Speed's deal:

$2.92 million signing bonus

2023
Base: $1.58 million ($1 million of base guaranteed)

2024
Base: $3.5 million

Can earn up to $500K in playing-time incentives in '23 and '24.

[Chromeburn]

He’s now the third LB. Hoping he takes another step like Franklin.

[JAFF]

Star news

Focus on what’s in front of him, rather than what’s behind.

Keeping his eyes forward is what got him here, what led to the Colts linebacker signing a two-year, $8 million contract with another $1 million available in playing-time incentives to stay in Indianapolis beyond his rookie contract.


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Speed set the foundation for a second contract with what he did on special teams. He locked it into place by finally proving last season that he can be a consistent piece on defense.

“Sometimes you feel like people put a box around you,” Speed said. “When you can break through the box and become something more than what’s expected, it’s always a warm feeling.”

Colts Insider: How Zionsville's Brian Mason ended up coaching for hometown Colts

The opportunity to prove Speed could be something more than a special teamer has always been there.

Indianapolis general manager Chris Ballard has made it a staple of his regime. Ballard believes that special teams can be a critical incubator for raw, late-round prospects who need time on the field to develop but aren’t ready to contribute on offense or defense.

The belief was a big part of the interview process the Colts conducted in the search to replace former special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone.

“Overall, special teams is going to be about fundamental development,” Ventrone’s replacement, Brian Mason, said. “All those fundamentals, the game of football as a whole, there’s going to be a lot of carryover.”

Another Colts linebacker might be the best example of that vision.

Zaire Franklin spent his first three seasons in Indianapolis as a special teamer, entrenched himself as a leader and then proved in 2021 that he could handle a role on defense, stepping into the lineup as a strong-side linebacker.

Franklin signed a three-year, $10 million contract at this time a year ago, found himself forced into a bigger role by Shaquille Leonard’s injury and made the most of it, racking up a team-record 167 tackles as a starter in the middle.

Leonard’s injury also gave Speed an opportunity.

A raw, unpolished talent when the Colts found him at a Lone Star Conference pro day in 2019 and subsequently plucked him in the fifth round, Speed has always had a similar athletic profile to Leonard, but he spent the first three years of his career playing almost exclusively on special teams.

Speed played just 180 snaps on defense in his first three seasons as a Colt, and 65 of those came in the Christmas night game in Arizona in 2021 when Indianapolis was decimated by COVID-19.

When Leonard was able to play only 74 snaps last season, it opened the door for Speed to step into Gus Bradley’s defense as the team’s starting strong-side linebacker; he responded by producing 55 tackles, seven tackles-for-loss, two forced fumbles and a sack in 314 snaps.

“I can do a lot, Gus has expressed to me plenty of times that he trusts me,” Speed said. “We’ve already made plays together as a coach and player.”

A breakout like Franklin’s 2022 season might be hard to replicate.

Leonard has been optimistic that he’ll be back to full strength after undergoing a second surgery in November to relieve the pressure two discs in his back were putting on his nerves, and if he’s healthy, the three-time first-team All-Pro will team with Franklin in the starting lineup.

Right now, Speed projects to be the team’s starting strong-side linebacker again.

But considering where he came from — a relative unknown coming out of Tarleton State, a special teams-only player his first three seasons — signing his extension Wednesday was a milestone.

The rare experience that can make Speed look back, if only for a moment.

“It’s been a lot of hard work put into this to get to where I’m at today,” Speed said. “I’m just grateful for the Colts organization for trusting in me, and putting me in those positions to show I am who I say I am.”

In Indianapolis, the special teams units are designed that way.

But the player still has to take advantage of the opportunity

[Lov2fish]

I really wanted to keep Okereke if we could, but if Speed makes even a little more improvement next year I will be excited. He has continually gotten better and I suspect he will continue to do so. If he does have another good year we won't be able to keep him when his contract is up without getting rid of Leonard, providing Leonard is even playing. Never know with a back injury

[Colts And Orioles]

o


Speed made a bone-headed late-hit that cost the Colts' defense 7 points on the first drive of the game against the Rams on Sunday ...... now, he's chiming in on the Colts' upcoming game against Derrick Henry and the Tennessee Titans.



EJ Speed Keeping Colts-Titans Rivalry Alive With Statements About Derrick Henry

(By Jaleel Grandbury)

https://horseshoeheroes.com/posts/ej...y-01hc0ng2jp04

o

[Colts And Orioles]

o


(vs. STEELERS, 12/16)


Of the 10 tackles that Speed made today, 9 of them were solo.

o

[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles

o


(vs. STEELERS, 12/16)


Of the 10 tackles that Speed made today, 9 of them were solo.

o

Dude was a beast today.

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

Dude was a beast today.

Probably felt bad after that special teams mistake he made last week.

[HoosierinFL]

Originally Posted by Chromeburn

Probably felt bad after that special teams mistake he made last week.

He didn’t play last week. Different speed.