The Indianapolis Colts announced on Wednesday that the team has waived cornerback Mekhi Blackmon and signed fellow cornerback Kenneth Harris in a corresponding roster move.
As a former 2023 3rd round pick of the Minnesota Vikings, the 27-year-old Blackmon was traded to the Colts last late August for a 2026 6th round pick ahead of the former’s final 53-man roster cuts.
For a banged up Colts cornerback room, he ended up playing reasonably well in relief last season, recording 64 tackles (50 solo), a sack,
2 interceptions, and 7 passes defensed during 17 games (11 starts) in Indianapolis.
However, Blackmon struggled mightily in coverage through his two preseason games, having a handful of defensive penalties. Had Blackmon remained halfway decent through preseason, he’s still probably on the Colts final 53-man roster—at least until final cuts came in early next week.
As his replacement, the Colts signed Kenneth Harris, who is a 6,’0”, 192 pound undrafted rookie cornerback out of Oklahoma State and Arkansas State that largely spent this offseason with the New England Patriots (via Colts.com):
“Harris, 6-0, 192 pounds, participated in the New England Patriots’ 2026 offseason program and training camp. He was originally signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent on May 8, 2026. Collegiately, Harris played in 59 career games (29 starts) at Oklahoma State (2023-25) and Arkansas State (2020-22) and compiled 113 tackles (92 solo), 61.5 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, 28 passes defensed and three interceptions. In 2025, he saw action in 12 games (11 starts) and totaled 33 tackles (27 solo), 2.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack and five passes defensed.”
This is likely one of those situations where after his incredibly rough preseason showing to-date, the Colts already knew they weren’t keeping Blackmon, so they’re giving him a head start to find a job elsewhere while finding another option for depth.
Although at this late stage of preseason, Harris faces a really uphill battle to make the Colts’ final 53-man roster, he could still be a potential option to be re-signed to the team’s practice squad if he performs well during the upcoming preseason finale. The bottom of the Colts roster remains entirely fluid right now.
