The Colts have acquired 27-year old QB Drew Stanton and a 7th round pick in 2012 from the Jets for a 6th round pick in 2012.  Stanton didn’t get into any games for the Lions last year.  He has played in 13 games (4 starts) in his first four years in the NFL and he has completed 104 of 187 passes (55.6%) for 1,158 yards with 5 TD passes and 9 INTs (63.1 QB Rating).  Stanton has also carried the ball 30 times for 166 yards (5.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Stanton is 2-2 (50%) as a starting QB in the NFL so far in his career.  Stanton will likely back up Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III (depending on who the Colts take with the first overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft) for the Colts in 2012.  The price was right, so I like this deal for the Colts.

The Colts have signed 27-year old WR Donnie Avery.  Avery played in 8 games for the Titans last year and he caught 3 passes for 45 yards (15.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has now played in 39 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has caught 103 passes for 1,308 yards (12.7 avg) with 9 TD grabs.  Avery has also carried the ball 14 times for 99 yards (7.1 ypc) with 1 TD run so far in his career.  This was a good low risk/high reward move for the Colts as Avery has been a solid WR when healthy so far in his career.

32-year old G/T Ryan Diem has decided to retire from the NFL.  Diem played in 11 games (all starts) for the Colts last year.  He played in 157 games (150 starts) in his 11 years with the Colts.  Diem likely wasn’t in the Colts’ plans for 2012, so it made sense for him to walk away playing his entire career as a Colt.  He will be missed as he was a solid player over his career with the Colts.

The Colts have signed 27-year old center Samson Satele.  Satele played in 15 games (all starts) for the Raiders last year.  He has now played in 78 games (74 starts) in his first five years in the NFL.  Satele is a much stronger run blocker than Jeff Saturday was, and that played a big part in this signing.  The Colts want to change from a finesse team to a power oriented team on both sides of the football, so this signing makes perfect sense.

The Colts have signed 26-year old safety Tom Zbikowski to a 3-year deal.  He played in 14 games for the Ravens last year and he had 23 tackles and 1 sack.  He has now played in 53 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 88 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss, 2 interceptions and 4 passes defensed.  This is not much of a surprise as Zbikowski played under Colts’ new head coach Chuck Pagano in Baltimore.

The Colts have signed 27-year old G/T Mike McGlynn.  McGlynn played in 7 games (4 starts) for the Bengals last year.  He has now played in 26 games (18 starts) in his first four years in the NFL.  McGlynn can played anywhere on the O-Line, including center.  He will likely start somewhere on the O-Line for the Colts and I really like this pickup for them.

The Colts have acquired 27-year old OT Winston Justice from the Eagles for a sixth round pick in 2012.  Justice played in 6 games (1 start) for the Eagles last year.  He has now played in 47 games (31 starts) in his first six years in the NFL.  Justice is a big guy at 6’6″, 320 pounds which is the kind of offensive linemen that the Colts are looking for as they want to be more physical in the running game starting in 2012.  The price was right for Justice, so I like this move for the Colts.

The Colts have signed 31-year old DE/DT Cory Redding to a 3-year, $10.5 million dollar deal.  Redding played in 15 games for the Ravens last year and he had 43 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 6 tackles for a loss, 1 fumble recovery and 2 passes defensed.  Redding has now played in 131 games in his first 9 years in the NFL and he has 306 tackles, 25.5 sacks, 43 tackles for a loss, 4 forced fumbles, 9 fumble recoveries, 12 passes defensed and 1 interception.  This was a solid picked up for the Colts as Redding was in Baltimore with head coach Chuck Pagano when he was the defensive co-ordinator there.

The Colts have re-signed 33-year old WR Reggie Wayne to a 3-year, $17.5 million dollar deal.  Wayne played in all 16 games for the Colts last year and he caught 75 passes for 960 yards (12.8 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  Those were impressive numbers when you consider the lousy QBs that were passing to Wayne last year.  Wayne has now played in 173 games in his first 11 years with the Colts and he has caught 862 passes for 11,708 yards (13.6 avg) with 73 TD grabs.  Wayne is #2 in Colts’ history in receptions, receiving yards and TD grabs…..trailing only Marvin Harrison.  This was an outstanding move for the Colts as Wayne still has a lot left in the gas tank.

The Colts have released 26-year old QB Curtis Painter.  Painter played in 9 games (8 starts) for the Colts last year and he completed 132 of 243 passes (54.3%) for 1,541 yards with 6 TD passes and 9 INTs (66.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 17 times for 107 yards (6.3 ypc) last year.  Painter played in 11 games (8 starts) in his career with the Colts and he completed 140 of 271 passes (51.7%) for 1,624 yards with 6 TD passes and 11 INTs (60.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 20 times for 111 yards (5.6 ypc) for the Colts.  The Colts were 0-8 in games started by Painter, so they aren’t going to miss him one bit.