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INDIANAPOLIS – We are a month and a half away from NFL free agency beginning.
Over the next few weeks, you will start to see some teams take care of unrestricted free agents that they want to bring back.
For the Colts, they have 12 unrestricted free agents, with not a lot of guarantees on who to definitely bring back.
Chester Rogers Free Agent Watch
It’s pretty remarkable the value Chester Rogers has had with the Colts since joining them as an undrafted free agent in 2016.
He’s been the team’s punt returner, while also playing the second most snaps of any wideout during that span (hovering just over 40 percent of the team’s offensive snaps each year).
But the need for Rogers appears to have reached a breaking point.
The drafting of Parris Campbell last April seemed to give the Colts their new slot receiver of the future. However, a variety of injuries to Campbell led to the Colts once again relying on Rogers for that role.
At punt returner, Rogers has been the Colts’ main man back there since 2016. But when Rogers went on IR in early December due to a knee injury, that opened things up for Nyheim Hines to get another shot at handling the duties he was drafted for back in 2018.
A second chance for Hines was exactly what he needed to show game-changing potential that Rogers never found in his time as punt returner.
Now that Hines looks to be the team’s punt returner moving forward, and believing that a healthy Campbell satisfies the slot need, do the Colts no longer need Rogers?
Having said that, the staff clearly appreciates what Rogers has brought the Colts, particularly amidst a wide receiver position where that’s been hard to find reliability.
Rogers finished the 2019 season with 16 grabs for 179 yards in 11 games, while averaging a more than serviceable 9.8 yards per punt returner.
Could Rogers return to compete for a roster spot in 2020?
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