Zak Keefer

zak.keefer@indystar.com

Now they can shove 8-8 in their rearview mirror. No longer is their coach’s future murky (he’s staying); no longer is their star quarterback’s kidney lacerated (it’s healed); no longer does the weight of a Super-Bowl-or-bust storyline hover over these Indianapolis Colts (let’s start with a playoff spot).

Now this franchise can move on from the enormous letdown that was 2015. They can refocus, retool and ready themselves for 2016. A fresh start. A new chance. A revived sense of hope.

The first step will be molding their roster for the coming campaign. The Colts will face delicate quandaries on a number of aging veterans whose production is fading: Cut them or keep them (and their enormous contracts)? Indianapolis was the oldest team in football in 2015. They can’t be moving forward.

“We’re going to have to get probably a little bit younger,” owner Jim Irsay conceded in January.

It starts with free agency and stretches into April’s NFL draft, where the Colts own the 18th pick in the first round. What changes this offseason is the money they’ll soon dish out to quarterback Andrew Luck: His salary skyrockets from $7 million in 2015 to north of $16 million this year. Gone are the days the Colts were afforded salary cap flexibility because their star QB was toiling on his rookie deal. Luck is going to get paid. Soon. Then everything changes.

That means the moves the Colts make around him are all the more significant. Now, more than ever, they can’t afford to miss.

What will this team look like come training camp? A look at who should stay, and who should go:

Who returns

>> Adam Vinatieri, kicker (free agent): The ageless field goal ace is 43 but kicking like he’s 33. Oldest player in football? No matter. Vinatieri, a free agent come March, told IndyStar on Tuesday he intends to return for a 21st season – and maybe more.

It’s one thing if a player is aging and not able to produce like he once could. It’s another if they’re aging and still among the best in the league at their position. Vinatieri is the latter. The Colts would be foolish to let him sniff free agency. Bring him back for a 21st NFL season.

>> Frank Gore, running back: Unlike Vinatieri, Gore isn’t a free agent. But any uncertainties over whether or not the Colts should pony up the $4 million cap hit for Gore’s services in 2016 should be squashed with one number – 967. That’s how many rushing yards Gore mustered playing behind a leaky offensive line and a carousel of quarterbacks. “Toughest 967 I got,” he fumed after the end of the season. It’s the first time Gore hasn’t hit 1,000 yards in a season in five years.

Gore wasn’t the issue. Forget his age – he’ll be 33 at the start of next season. Forget the commonly-held notion that running backs aren’t worth anything after they turn 30. Gore proved throughout the season to be as tough as they come, reliable Sunday after Sunday, every bit the dedicated pro the Colts expected him to be when they inked him to a three-year deal during the 2015 offseason. Give this man some holes to run through, and he’ll produce.

>> Art Jones, defensive end:

Jones’ career in Indianapolis has unfolded like a nightmare. He was healthy for all of 69 of the 528 snaps he took in 2014, hobbled throughout the season by a right ankle injury that he couldn’t shake. It got worse in 2015. Jones tore ligaments in his left ankle in the team’s third preseason game in St. Louis; he wouldn’t play a meaningful snap all year. That’s over $12 million in salary for two years’ work and, through nothing but bad luck, one healthy game.

“This won’t be the last you hear of me,” Jones declared after suffering his season-ending injury last August.

Like Gore, the Colts would have to cut Jones (and eat more than $3 million) if they don’t want to dish out the $5.6 million he’s due this year. It wouldn’t be a wise move. Jones is just 29. He’s been robbed of healthy seasons the past two years. He’s also a luxury on a team that needs to improve its pass rush; with Jones in the lineup last fall, there’s no way Indianapolis would’ve finished 22nd in the league in sacks.

Jones deserves a chance to be the player the Colts signed him to be two years ago.

>> Coby Fleener, tight end (free agent):

Even Fleener was reticent to evaluate his 2015 season after it ended. He caught passes from five quarterbacks and played under two offensive coordinators; stability was impossible to attain. Was he great? Mediocre? Lousy? Impossible to say.

Regardless, Fleener enters this offseason as an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career.



“The business side of things will take care of itself,” he said in early January. “It’s out of my control. I pay someone to deal with (my contract).”

Fleener, chosen in the second round of the 2012 draft, is the only non-specialist on the Colts roster to not miss a game the past three seasons. On his side: He’s a versatile tight end, at his best a matchup nightmare for defenses, not to mention a seven-year teammate of Andrew Luck. (Only Griff Whalen can say the same.)

If the Colts have to choose between their two young promising tight ends – Fleener and Dwayne Allen – Fleener appears the better fit, at least based on how the two have been used in recent seasons. Don’t expect Fleener to end up anywhere but Indianapolis in free agency.

Who doesn’t return

>> Andre Johnson, wide receiver:

The writing was on the wall from Week 1 in Buffalo. Johnson’s no longer the threat he once was. His underwhelming 2015 (41 catches, 503 yards, four touchdowns) was eerily similar to Reggie Wayne’s 2014 campaign. When it goes, it goes fast. For Johnson, it’s already gone.

The Colts will have to eat $2.5 million in dead money if they release Johnson, which they are likely to do. With T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief and Phillip Dorsett, this team has its young trifecta of receivers in place. That makes Johnson expendable.

>> Trent Cole, linebacker: Easy call. The Colts can shave $6 million from their salary cap by cutting Cole, who was largely ineffective in his first season in Indianapolis. Lured from Philadelphia last offseason to pair with Robert Mathis and form the team’s pass-rushing punch, Cole never lived up to the two-year, $16 million deal he signed. Part of it was a lack of playing time, particularly on third downs. Part of it was Cole’s performance. He’ll turn 34 come October. Don’t bet on him being in Indianapolis.

>> Greg Toler, cornerback (free agent):

In Toler’s defense, the chips were stacked against him. Under former defensive coordinator Greg Manusky, the Colts employed a heavy dose of press coverage, leaving Toler and fellow corner Vontae Davis in one-on-one matchups on the outside for the bulk of the game. It was sink or swim. Davis swam. Toler mostly sank – especially in games played in Pittsburgh.

After three up-and-down years in Indianapolis, Toler will be a free agent come March. On his side, cover cornerbacks are a pricey commodity in today’s pass-happy NFL; that’s why the Colts are paying Davis more than $8 million next season. Toler’s a sound player but far from elite, and he is routinely victimized by the game’s top wideouts (see: Brown, Antonio). Opponents’ game plans became increasingly obvious: Avoid Davis and attack Toler. It usually worked.

Whether the Colts are ready to start 2015 third-round pick D’Joun Smith at cornerback remains to be seen. But Toler’s time in Indianapolis, it appears, has run out.

>> Bjoern Werner, linebacker: It’s time for the Colts to cut their losses with their 2013 first-round pick. Maybe Werner, like former Colt Jerry Hughes, blossoms elsewhere. Maybe he doesn’t. But it’s a certainty that he’s not going to do so in Indianapolis. In 38 career games with the Colts, Werner has just 6½ sacks. He spent most of 2015 toiling on special teams.

>> Dwayne Allen, tight end (free agent):

“It’s not you. It’s us.” The Colts might as well tell that to Allen, whom they’ve grossly misused in recent seasons. So desperate for pass protection last fall, the Colts slid Allen in as a sixth blocker for the bulk of the season and all but forgot about him in the passing game. Allen bit his lip best he could, but his frustration was evident. As the weeks wore on, it became increasingly evident he will be playing football somewhere else next fall.

Asked after the season if he knew how little he was targeted in the passing game, Allen shook his head. The answer? Just 29 throws. All season.

“Targeted (29) times? Wow, that many?” he said with a sarcastic smile. “I didn’t know it was (29). They count some throwaways, though, if I was in the vicinity.”

That, right there, is everything when it comes to Allen’s impending free agency. It’s unlikely he returns, and it’s hard to blame him. Don’t be surprised if Allen signs elsewhere and, in the years to come, becomes one of the game’s top tight ends.

Could go either way

>> Matt Hasselbeck, quarterback (free agent):

Late in the year, Hasselbeck seemed unsure of what would come next. One minute, he was swiping the program from the stadium, mindful it might be his last game. The next he was sounding like a 40-year-old quarterback who still had the itch to play. Hasselbeck resoundingly proved his worth in 2015; by season’s end, though, it was clear how fragile he is at this stage of his career. He was knocked out of four straight games to close his season.

My guess? Hasselbeck walks away, head held high, a magnificent career behind him.

>> Jerrell Freeman, linebacker (free agent): Freemen sought a long-term extension last offseason that he never received. As a restricted free agent, he had little leverage. So he settled for a one-year deal and stayed in Indianapolis. After four solid seasons in Indianapolis – Freeman was the very first player Ryan Grigson signed after becoming general manager in January 2012 – it’s unlikely he earns the contract he wants.

>> Dwight Lowery, safety (free agent): Are the Colts ready to slide in second-year player Clayton Geathers at the second starting safety spot? They might just be. Geathers put together an impressive rookie campaign and figures to be a key cog in this Colts defense for years to come. Lowery was excellent last fall, snagging four interceptions after being signed by the Colts late in the free agency period. But it might be time for Geathers to show what he can do.

Other free agents

Billy Winn (defensive end)

Lance Louis (guard)

Charlie Whitehurst (quarterback)

Ahmad Bradshaw (running back)

Boom Herron (running back)

Colt Anderson (safety)

Akeem Davis (safety)

Jack Doyle (tight end; restricted)

Andy Studebaker (linebacker)

Call IndyStar reporter Zak Keefer at (317) 444-6134. Follow him on Twitter: @zkeefer.