AFC South

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard suffered a back injury and was scheduled to undergo surgery Tuesday, per Zak Keefer of The Athletic.

There was a silver lining for the Colts star, as Keefer noted he will not require a second surgery on his ankle and should be ready for the 2022 regular season. The three-time All-Pro will miss some of training camp, though, as he recovers.

That Leonard is expected to be ready by the start of the campaign is welcome news for the Colts considering how important he is to the defense.

The 26-year-old has been in the league for four seasons, and his resume already includes the Defensive Rookie of the Year award and three Pro Bowl nods. He led the league with 163 tackles as a rookie and posted an NFL-best eight forced fumbles in 2021.

Leonard finished last season with 122 tackles, eight passes defended, four interceptions and three fumble recoveries.

He is versatile, with the ability to plug holes against the run and drop back into pass coverage. While he didn't have a sack last season, he tallied 15 in his first three years in the league as someone who can also pressure the passer.

Indianapolis could turn to E.J. Speed if Leonard is sidelined for longer than expected. Speed has been in the league since 2019, when the Colts drafted him in the fifth round, and appeared in 44 games with one start.

Still, Indianapolis will be far more formidable on the defensive side if Leonard is ready to go when it starts the season at the Houston Texans on Sept. 11.

Some NFL teams were reportedly concerned about wide receiver Treylon Burks' conditioning during the lead-up to the 2022 NFL draft last month.

According to Albert Breer of The MMQB, Burks had a "weight issue" during predraft private workouts and "labored to get through some" of them, which was a "red flag" for some teams.

The reported issues didn't scare off the Tennessee Titans, who used the No. 18 overall pick to select the 6'2", 225-pound wideout from the University of Arkansas.

Aside from simply using the No. 18 overall pick on Burks, the Titans invested heavily in him as the de facto replacement for A.J. Brown.

Tennessee traded Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles for the 18th overall selection and the 101st overall pick in the third round after being unable to come to terms on a long-term contract with Brown.

Whether fair or not, Burks will be compared to Brown moving forward since the Titans used the pick from the Brown trade to take him.

In terms of his size and the explosiveness he displayed during college, Burks seems to compare favorably to Brown, who averaged just shy of 1,000 yards per season and recorded 24 receiving touchdowns over three years with the Titans.

Burks is coming off an exceptional season with the Razorbacks that saw him record 66 receptions for 1,104 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also rushed 14 times for 112 yards and a score, drawing some comparisons to San Francisco 49ers wideout Deebo Samuel.

Conditioning never seemed to be an issue for Burks at the collegiate level, as he averaged 16.4 yards per catch during his three seasons at Arkansas, proving his status as a downfield threat.

There will be instant pressure on Burks to perform at a high level for the Titans in 2022 given some of the team's losses on offense.

In addition to trading Brown to the Eagles, Tennessee released veteran receiver Julio Jones, leaving it without its top two wide receivers from last season.

The front office tried to address those departures by drafting Burks, acquiring wide receiver Robert Woods from the Los Angeles Rams and signing tight end Austin Hooper.

Since Woods is coming off a torn left ACL suffered in November, Burks will likely be looked upon as the No. 1 option in the passing game from Day 1, which will give him plenty of opportunity to eliminate any lingering concerns regarding his predraft performance.

The Indianapolis Colts agreed to terms on a contract with quarterback Nick Foles on Monday, which Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reported will be for two years.

Following the conclusion of the 2022 NFL draft, the Chicago Bears announced they had released Foles. ESPN's Courtney Cronin reported the move came after Chicago was unable to find a deal to trade the veteran signal-caller.

Many expected Foles to be on a different team when the 2022 season kicked off.

After the Bears signed Andy Dalton and selected Justin Fields in the first round of the 2021 draft, the 33-year-old had fallen to third in the depth chart. He made just one appearance, going 24-of-35 for 250 yards and one touchdown in a Week 16 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

As the offseason unfolded, Foles' status remain unchanged. Fields was set to remain the starter in Week 1, and Chicago signed Trevor Siemian to replace Dalton.

Foles caught lightning in a bottle with the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2017 season as he filled in for an injured Carson Wentz. He threw for 439 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions in the final three regular-season games.

The Arizona product then earned his place in Philadelphia sports lore when he was named MVP of Super Bowl LII as the Eagles lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the first time.

Foles got his chance to be a full-time starter again in 2019, when the Jacksonville Jaguars handed him a four-year, $88 million contract. However, he suffered a broken left clavicle in his first appearance, and he started only three more games for the Jags.

In all likelihood, the door has closed on Foles becoming more than a backup or an emergency starter. He hasn't logged double-digit starts in a season since 2015, and he was largely mediocre when the Bears gave him an extended look in 2020. The 2013 Pro Bowler threw for 1,664 yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions over a stretch of seven starts.

While it's unlikely to energize the fanbase, this signing fortifies Indianapolis' depth at quarterback, and Foles has already shown once that a good backup can be worth his weight in gold.

There's no question about Matt Ryan's status as the Week 1 starter. The 37-year-old didn't have one of his most prolific seasons in 2021 (3,968, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions), but he might be a big enough upgrade over Carson Wentz to make the team a genuine title contender.

The Colts' backup situation was a little less solid, with Sam Ehlinger, James Morgan and Jack Coan all in the mix. For a franchise with short-term ambitions, Foles is a much better fit behind Ryan in the depth chart.

It appears former Chicago Bears quarterback Nick Foles won't be spending much time as a free agent. 

The Indianapolis Colts are "working to add" Foles, according to The Athletic's Zak Keefer, who added it's possible the veteran quarterback will pen to paper by next week.

Colts head coach Frank Reich told reporters last week that the franchise would be interested in adding a veteran to back up Matt Ryan, whom the team acquired from the Atlanta Falcons this offseason.

Adding Foles would make a lot of sense, as he won Super Bowl LII as Philadelphia's starting quarterback with Reich as his offensive coordinator. In addition, the Colts just have Sam Ehlinger and James Morgan behind Ryan on the depth chart. Neither has attempted a pass during the regular season.

After winning the Super Bowl, Foles played one more season in Philly before signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who traded him to the Bears in March 2020. He spent the 2019 season in Jacksonville, completing 65.8 percent of his passes for 736 yards and three touchdowns against two interceptions in four starts. 

Foles has spent each of the last two seasons in Chicago, sharing time at quarterback with Justin Fields, Mitchell Trubisky and Andy Dalton. In 10 games across those two seasons, including eight starts, he completed 65.1 percent of his passes for 2,102 yards and 11 touchdowns against eight interceptions. 

If the Colts fail to add Foles, there are still a number of veteran free-agent quarterbacks available, including Ryan Fitzpatrick, Cam Newton and Mike Glennon. That said, Foles is arguably the best available. 

The Colts finished the 2021 season with a 9-8 record. Indy hasn't made a deep playoff run since 2014, when it lost the AFC title game, but Ryan could be the one to get the team back to the promised land this coming season. 

Tennessee Titans CEO Burke Nihill says Nissan Stadium would need $1.839 billion in renovations to bring the building up to NFL standards by the time its lease is up in 2039, per Jon Styf of the Center Square.

However, the wheels are already in motion for the construction of a new $2.2 billion stadium that could be ready as soon as 2026.

As far as the Titans' current home goes, Nihill called it one of the worst stadiums in the NFL and badly in need of repair:

Nissan Stadium, which is located in Nashville, opened in 1999.

The Tennessean reported that the domed stadium could take 31 months to build.

Styf reported that there's a new Metro Nashville budget request for $2.2 billion for the new stadium. He also noted how the Titans plan to fund the project.

The project will not be funded by general obligation bonds but instead will be funded through revenue bonds based on sales and use taxes, $500 million from the state of Tennessee and unnamed funding from Titans ownership that would amount to an estimated $700 million.

As Chelsea Beimfohr of WKRN-TV noted, either a completely new stadium or a renovation would cost a lot of money, but parts of the stadium are "literally starting to crumble."

Per Teresa Walker of the Associated Press, Nihill said during the Nashville Sports Authority meeting Thursday that the steps are crumbling and that the Titans have worked for the past seven years to repair expansion joints.

The status quo doesn't seem like a viable option given the state of the stadium, but economist J.C. Bradbury of Kennesaw State University tweeted that $1.8 billion for renovations is an exorbitant figure:

The Titans' current home was built soon after the team moved from Houston to Nashville following the 1996 season. They played in Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (1997) and Vanderbilt Stadium (1998) before settling into their current home. Known as Adelphia Coliseum then, Nissan Stadium was built for $290 million after breaking ground in 1997.

The Tennessee Titans are reportedly open to discussing a contract extension with running back Derrick Henry.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported the Titans would consider adding a year or two to his current deal in order to help lower his cap hits the next two seasons ($15 million in 2022, $15.5 million in 2023).

Henry, 28, was limited to eight regular-season games because of a foot injury in 2021. He was the NFL's leading rusher with 937 yards and 10 touchdowns before suffering the injury; he returned to rush for 61 yards and a score in the Titans' AFC Divisional Round loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Negotiating an extension with Henry would be a bit of a risk given his advancing age and recent injury history. It would be an against-the-grain move from the Titans, though Henry has been an outlier-level performer throughout his career.

It's possible the Titans offer a contract that has a lower base salary for 2024 and 2025 in exchange for more upfront money now. None of Henry's salary for this season or next is guaranteed, so an arrangement that protects him against potentially being cut a year from now might be worth taking a pay cut in a few years.

That said, asking a player who remained the most dominant runner in the NFL last season to agree to a pay cut isn't exactly an easy ask. 

Free-agent running back Phillip Lindsay reached a one-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday, per agent Mike McCartney.

Lindsay spent last season with the Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins in a limited role.

Details of the contract are unknown.  

After rushing for over 1,000 yards in each of his first two NFL seasons, Lindsay has ran for only 751 yards over the last two years.

The 27-year-old will join the Colts looking to compete for a backup spot behind workhorse Jonathan Taylor. Nyheim Hines has served as the Colts' primary backup and third-down back over the past four seasons. There's little reason to believe Hines won't have a significant advantage over Lindsay heading into camp.

If that's the case, Lindsay's most immediate competition could be a group of undrafted free agents littered across the Colts roster. D'vonte Price, CJ Verdell and Max Borghi are among the undrafted names that the Colts have brought in as free agents. Deon Jackson, a 2021 undrafted free agent, is also on the roster.