Perhaps the most stunning move made by the Indianapolis Colts was the decision to waive cornerback JuJu Brents before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. roster cut deadline. The Indianapolis-native was selected by the Colts in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Reminisce back to when the Colts made 12 selections in the 2023 NFL Draft. There was so much optimism when Indianapolis took quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. fourth overall, followed by Brents with the No. 44 overall pick. The Colts 2023 draft class appears
as an organizational disaster because half of the picks are no longer on the active 53-man roster and receiver Josh Downs is the lone selection that emerged to be a solidified NFL starter. Indianapolis must take a $2.6 million dead cap hit to release Brents, who is the sixth player from that calamitous class that the Colts have decided to move on from.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard confessed the team was “not close” to contention and needed to get better in the secondary during his end-of-season press conference in January.
“At the end of the day, I did not give them enough and we have got to do better defensively,” Ballard said. “From a player acquisition standpoint and from a play standpoint.”
The Colts took a different approach in free agency to add more experienced veterans and signed Charvarius Ward and Xavien Howard. The Colts also traded a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings for cornerback Mekhi Blackmon on Monday.
Brents started in eight games during his rookie season, but has missed 23 of a possible 34 career games due to a plague of injuries that have kept him sidelined. Indianapolis tried to search for a trade partner to work out a deal for the third-year pro, but there were no suitors willing to take the bait.
Brents raised red flags during the pre-draft process after he underwent wrist surgery, which caused him to miss multiple practices before his rookie season. He suffered a hamstring injury during 2023 training camp, which caused him to miss the first two games of his rookie season. Brents missed another six games while dealing with a quadriceps injury, then sat out of the 2023 regular season finale with another hamstring injury.
The injuries continued to pile on as Brents suffered a broken nose during the 2024 preseason, which kept him sidelined until the season opener against the Houston Texans in front of a home crowd. Brents played 66 snaps during the Week 1 loss, but he tore his meniscus and MCL in his right knee, which caused him to miss 15 more games in his second NFL season.
The 25-year-old hometown kid entered his third training camp in a make-or-break situation with a chance to compete for a starter job, but Brents pulled his hamstring on July 29, which caused him to miss most of training camp.
In 11 career games, Brents has 50 total tackles, six pass deflections, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
