This offseason has marked a stark contrast to years past, because there are a number of starting positions up for grabs regarding the Indianapolis Colts–whereas typically, there’s usually only been one or two under general manager Chris Ballard, who’s admittedly wanted more open competition throughout his entire roster.
The Colts didn’t make a ton of external noise this offseason, as their biggest moves were re-signing both starting quarterback Daniel Jones and lead wide receiver Alec Pierce to lucrative
multi-year deals, as well as trading a pair of longtime veteran pillars to other NFL teams: Michael Pittman Jr. (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Zaire Franklin (Green Bay Packers).
However, there was one under-the-radar veteran pickup at wide receiver, which it’s worth highlighting here, the Colts starting outside WR2 position opposite Pierce is currently up for grabs.
The Favorite: Nick Westbrook-Ikhine
The 29-year-old former Indiana University standout was signed to a modest 1-year, $1.402M deal, as he looks to rebound from a quiet sole season with the Miami Dolphins in 2025.
Specifically, Westbrook-Ikhine caught just 11 receptions for 89 total receiving starts during 15 games (3 starts) this past season for the Dolphins before being released in mid-February of this year.
However, the 6,2″, 211 pound wideout is just a year removed from a breakout 2024 season for the Colts’ rival Tennessee Titans, in which he recorded 32 receptions for 497 total receiving yards and 9 touchdown receptions in 17 games (9 starts). That earned him a short-lived 2-year, $6.5 million contract from Miami back in mid-March of 2024 before his recent offseason release.
Like the man, he’ll be helping to replace, Pittman Jr., Westbrook-Ikhine is a pretty big bodied wideout himself, with reliable hands, who’s a consistent red zone threat and willing run blocker along the outside.
The Challenger: Ashton Dulin
Similarly to Westbrook-Ikhine, Dulin is another former undrafted free agent, only he was originally signed by the Colts back in the 2019 offseason coming out of Division II Malone University.
Since then, Dulin has worked his way on the Colts’ active 53-man roster as a core special teams player, where he continues to add a lot of versatility and value to the club as a gunner, speed demon, and kick returner.
However, he’s only continued to improve and get better, as he’s even worked his way on the field with the Colts first-team offense as a rotational wideout in more recent years–even making 2 starts each of the past two seasons for the Horseshoe. This past season he had 5 receptions for 106 total receiving yards (21.2 ypr. avg) in 12 games.
Outlook:
It’ll be interesting to see if one of Westbrook-Ikhine or Dulin can win the starting outside WR2 outright by separating from the other, or whether this will ultimately end up being more of a ‘wide receiver-by-committee approach’ throughout 2026 with rookie 7th round diminutive speedster Deion Burks even getting some deep looks or wide receiver screen/gadget opportunities situationally.
Make no mistake about it, Pittman Jr. leaves some big shoes to fill for the Colts wide receiver room next season. Even though Pittman Jr.’s receiving production no longer matched his increasingly large salary cap hit (which is why he was traded to Pittsburgh), he still did a lot of the little things that helped the Colts offense out there.
As the initial frontrunner headed into Colts camp, Westbrook-Ikhine from a playing style perspective, can help do some of the little things that Pittman Jr. did so well that didn’t show up on the box score–albeit at a discounted and likely lesser rate.
Meanwhile, Dulin’s been here long enough to not exactly bet against him–only continuing to stick and improve.
The Colts will likely also be looking to both slot wideout Josh Downs and 2nd-year tight end Tyler Warren to replace the lost receiving production from Pittman Jr. with bigger roles from each this upcoming campaign.
