Tag: Laquon Treadwell

The Indianapolis Colts announced on Saturday that they will be elevating wide receiver Laquon Treadwell from the practice squad for Sunday’s matchup with the Bills.

Each week, every NFL team can elevate up to two players from the practice squad to the active roster for the upcoming game. Each practice squad player can be elevated up to three times over the course of the season. This will be Treadwell’s first elevation.

Treadwell, a former first round selection by Minnesota in 2016, was signed by the Colts just before training camp began. He was released during roster cutdowns but immediately signed to the practice squad, where he has remained all season.

Over the previous two seasons with Baltimore and Seattle, Treadwell caught seven passes for 58 yards, appearing in 10 games on offense during that span. His most productive NFL season came in 2021 with Jacksonville, where Treadwell totaled 434 receiving yards with a touchdown.

With Michael Pittman already ruled out, it’s not surprising that the Colts need added receiver depth. But what is interesting with this move is that the team may opt to have Treadwell available over rookie Anthony Gould.

Over the last several weeks, the Colts have had five receivers active on Sundays, with Gould being the one who has ben inactive. By adding Treadwell to the mix on Sunday, the Colts are either going to go against what has been the norm and have six receivers active, or Treadwell will get the go-ahead over Gould as another boundary option in Pittman’s absence, with Gould being a slot option.

Inactives will be announced by the Colts 90 minutes prior to the 1:00 PM ET kickoff time.

(This article was updated to provide additional information.)

On Wednesday, the Indianapolis Colts announced that they signed former first-round pick and wide receiver Laquon Treadwell and released wide receiver Xavier White to make room on the roster.

Over the Cap now has the contract specifics for Treadwell.

If on the roster, Treadwell will earn a base salary of $1.21 million this season. His cap hit will be just below $1 million at $985,000. As expected, none of his contract is guaranteed, so there aren’t any salary cap ramifications if the Colts were to release him.

Treadwell was the 23rd selection in the 2016 NFL draft by Minnesota. He appeared in 53 games over four years with the Vikings, catching 65 passes for 702 yards (10.8 YPC) and two touchdowns.

Since then, Treadwell has bounced around, playing for four different teams over the last four seasons. In 2020 he was with Atlanta. In 2021 it was Jacksonville. In 2022 Treadwell was with Seattle, followed by Baltimore in 2023.

During that four year stretch, Treadwell appeared in 28 games, catching 46 passes for 541 yards and three touchdowns. Of those 541 yards, 434 of them came with the Jaguars.

“[He’s] really a determined guy,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said last summer. “Wants to be really good. Physical practice, worked hard in the workout, came out here — pretty much knew what he was doing after getting here less than 24 hours ago. He didn’t make a mistake out there. I think that says a lot about who he is.”

The contract says it all but this signing was a swing by GM Chris Ballard on a former first-round talent in an effort to help elevate the competition on the back end of the receiver depth chart.

With Michael Pittman, AD Mitchell, Josh Downs, Alec Pierce, and Anthony Gould, along with Ashton Dulin, a core special teams contributor, now healthy, one could easily say that there may not even be a roster spot available at this position group. But that will be determined by what takes place on the field over the next several weeks.

In addition to what Treadwell does on offense, special teams contributions will likely be quite important as well. He played 87 special teams snaps with the Ravens last season.

With the first training camp practice taking place on Thursday, the Colts made a last-minute roster move, announcing that they signed former first-round wide receiver Laquon Treadwell.

The corresponding roster move to make room for Treadwell was releasing wide receiver Xavier White, who was signed following the 2024 draft as an undrafted rookie.

We have signed WR Laquon Treadwell and waived WR Xavier White.

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) July 24, 2024

Treadwell was the 23rd overall pick back in the 2016 NFL draft by Minnesota. He spent his first four seasons with the team but could never gain consistent traction.

During that span, Treadwell appeared in 53 games, including 16 starts, catching 65 receptions on 107 targets at only 10.8 yards per catch with two touchdowns.

Since that final 2019 season with Minnesota, Treadwell has bounced around, spending 2020 with Atlanta, 2021 with Jacksonville, 2022 with Seattle, and 2023 with Baltimore. He’s appeared in 28 games over the last four seasons with 46 receptions for 541 yards, 434 of which came in 2021, and three touchdowns.

The Colts’ receiver room already is fairly crowded with the additions of Adonai Mitchell and Anthony Gould in the draft, who will join Michael Pittman, Josh Downs, and Alec Pierce. Also returning from injury will be Ashton Dulin, a core special teams contributor.

Realistically, making the final roster will be a challenge, especially given that the Colts rarely put four receivers on the field together at one time last season.

At the end of the day, roster construction is a 365 day a year job in the NFL, with many GMs frequently churning the back end of their depth charts, particularly at this time of the year. Like everyone else, Treadwell will have the opportunity to earn a role on this team, but most likely, GM Chris Ballard saw the chance to upgrade the back end of the roster and took a swing on a former first-round pick.