The Indianapolis Colts are moving in two directions at once: clearing out one receiver addition and still looking for another before the trade deadline.
On Friday, the Colts released Darius Slayton, ending a brief stint that was supposed to help offset the loss of Alec Pierce. Pierce’s injury had already weakened Indianapolis’ passing attack, and Slayton was brought in to help cover that absence for an unknown period of time. Instead, he never became part of the weekly plan.
Slayton was a healthy scratch for two games, then hurt his knee in practice. That sequence left the Colts with little reason to keep waiting, and his release adds another entry to a roster-building stretch that has not gone smoothly.
The timing matters because the receiver room was already one of the Colts’ biggest concerns in the offseason. It still ranks 29th in the league among 32 teams, and the move on Slayton does not change that reality. It only sharpens the question of what Indianapolis does next.
General manager Chris Ballard has already seen one receiver addition fail to gain traction. As one source put it: “The Colts already added to the group by signing Allen, but he hasn't clicked in the Colts' offense, and talk of acquiring another wideout is making the rounds.”
That leaves the Colts in a familiar spot: one move has been undone, and another is being discussed before the deadline arrives.
The front office has also shown it is willing to churn the roster quickly. Indianapolis released linebacker Germaine Pratt and later brought him back after he went unclaimed. Slayton’s exit fits that same pattern of short-term adjustments, but the receiver situation is the one that keeps pulling the Colts back into the same problem.
Alec Pierce’s injury exposed how thin the passing game already was. With Pierce sidelined, the Colts tried to patch the hole with Slayton. That did not last long, and now the team is again weighing outside help.
One name in that conversation is Kendrick Bourne, who could add value to the Colts’ offense. He is not being framed as a headline-grabbing fix, but as a receiver who could bring experience and production to a room that has not found enough of either.
The larger issue is that the Colts have not solved the position through the offseason, through the Slayton signing, or through the addition of Keenan Allen. They have already used one draft pick on CJ Allen in the 2026 NFL Draft, but the immediate problem remains the same: the receiver group is still near the bottom of the league, and the next move has to do more than simply replace the last one.
For Indianapolis, the deadline now sits between two versions of the same question. Was releasing Slayton a correction, or just the latest reset before another gamble?