Chris Ballard on future of Indianapolis Colts' free agent Nick Cross
· Yahoo Sports
Indianapolis Colts' safety Nick Cross is set to be a free agent in the coming weeks.
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If the Colts are unable to re-sign him, they will have a starting role on the back end of the defense that will have to be filled.
“There’s this big pie, and I can slice it up and give you a piece of the pie, but someone (else) might be willing to give you a bigger piece, and if that happens, we’ve both done our jobs," GM Chris Ballard said at the NFL combine on The Fan Morning Show, via the Indy Star.
Ballard continued, "We’ve done our jobs developing you, and you’ve done your job taking the coaching and getting better each and every year, and you deserve that opportunity. So we’ll see what the future holds with Nick. I’m proud of him. I’m happy for him. He made it to free agency on a high note, and we’ll see how that works out.”
Over the last two seasons, Cross has developed into a steady presence in the Colts' secondary. While he can be moved around, the bulk of his snaps came closer to the line of scrimmage in the strong safety role, where he provided a stout presence in the run game from that position.
Cross finished the 2025 season logging 16 quarterback pressures and the fourth-highest run-stop rate among safeties, according to PFF. ESPN's Aaron Schatz wrote recently that Cross performed well in coverage by his DVOA metric.
Given the experience Cross already has under his belt, along with still being only 24 years old, he could have a decent-sized market in free agency.
I would guess that the Colts would like to have Cross back, but the reality is that he could get more money elsewhere.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: NFL free agency: Colts' Chris Ballard weighs in Nick Cross' future