{"id":218300,"date":"2025-02-22T10:00:44","date_gmt":"2025-02-22T15:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=218300"},"modified":"2025-02-21T21:57:13","modified_gmt":"2025-02-22T02:57:13","slug":"sam-ehlinger-listed-as-free-agent-the-colts-should-re-sign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/22\/sam-ehlinger-listed-as-free-agent-the-colts-should-re-sign\/","title":{"rendered":"Sixth-Round Pick Listed As Free Agent the Colts Should Re-Sign"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s unclear which free agents the Indianapolis Colts will re-sign this offseason. Vignesh Mulay of Horseshoe Heroes<\/a> named Sam Ehlinger as a player the team should bring back.<\/p>\n

\u201cEhlinger has been a respected member of the organization for four years, and seems to have a strong personal relationship with Richardson,\u201d wrote Mulay. \u201cHis return could be a big boost for the team\u2019s culture. Re-signing Ehlinger to keep him in the building as the 3rd-string QB would be a low-risk move that could have some intangible upside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Re-signing Sam Ehlinger certainly isn\u2019t one of the Colts\u2019 main goals this offseason. However, it wouldn\u2019t be shocking if such a move is made.<\/p>\n

Sam Ehlinger Listed as a Free Agent the Indianapolis Colts Should Re-Sign<\/h2>\n

His Career Thus Far<\/h3>\n

Sam Ehlinger played at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. He broke school records held by future NFL signal-callers Drew Brees and former Colt Nick Foles.<\/p>\n

Ehlinger played collegiately at the University of Texas. He passed for 11,436 yards and 94 touchdowns during his four seasons with the Longhorns. He also won MVP of the Sugar Bowl<\/a> and Alamo Bowl and was named Second-team All-Big 12.<\/p>\n

The Colts then selected Ehlinger in the sixth round (218th overall pick) of the 2021 NFL Draft. In his first preseason game, led the Colts to an impressive 23-18 comeback victory over the Carolina Panthers<\/a>. Ehlinger beat out Jacob Eason for the No. 2 spot behind starter Carson Wentz.<\/p>\n

Ehlinger backed up Matt Ryan during the 2022 campaign in which the Colts went 4-12-1. He started three regular-season games that season, \u00a0losing each contest. Ehlinger had a decent outing in his debut versus the Washington Commanders<\/a>, completing 17 of 23 pass attempts for 201 yards. But he struggled mightily against the New England Patriots<\/a> with a 15\/29 and 103-yard performance. Ehlinger <\/u>did not start any games in 2023 or 2024.<\/p>\n

Should the Colts Hold onto Him?<\/h3>\n

Anthony Richardson<\/a> was the Colts\u2019 starting quarterback last season. Veteran Joe Flacco<\/a> was the primary backup, and Sam Ehlinger was the No. 3. Then undrafted free agent Jason Bean<\/a> served as the team\u2019s practice squad quarterback.<\/p>\n

Richardson is expected to start again in 2025. Flacco, who\u2019s set to be a free agent, will either retire or likely sign with another team. The Colts will bring in someone to compete with Richardson this offseason. That newcomer could beat out Richardson for the starting job or become his primary backup.<\/p>\n

Sam Ehlinger is also an impending free agent. It makes sense to re-sign him. He can compete with Bean for the No. 3 spot in training camp and has a close relationship with Richardson. James Boyd of The Athletic<\/a> wrote about the two quarterbacks’ bond:<\/p>\n

\u201cBut even with all of that in mind, this is the main question that could determine whether Ehlinger stays or leaves: How much is his bond with Richardson worth to the Colts? Ehlinger\u2019s close relationship with the most important player in the franchise could \u2014 and probably should \u2014 make him an offseason priority. If Indianapolis is truly committed to cultivating an environment for Richardson to thrive in next season, it can still nail down a legitimate backup while giving Ehlinger a raise to return as QB3.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richardson, who the Colts drafted in 2023, has had a disappointing career thus far. But keeping a close friend like Ehlinger around could help keep him motivated to become the star he\u2019s supposed to be.<\/p>\n

Main Image: Eric Canha – USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Backup quarterback Sam Ehlinger was listed as a free agent who the Indianapolis Colts should re-sign this offseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4890,"featured_media":218571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[9564,7800,8061],"class_list":["post-218300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colts","tag-anthony-richardson","tag-indianapolis-colts-news","tag-sam-ehlinger"],"modified_by":"Isaac Zuniga","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4890"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218300"}],"version-history":[{"count":45,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218573,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218300\/revisions\/218573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}