INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts have trimmed their roster down to 53 players ahead of the upcoming season.
The Colts waived a total of 21 players, released six others and placed two players - punter Rigoberto Sanchez and safety Armani Watts - on injured reserve. Linebacker Shaquille Leonard was activated from the physically unable to perform list and the team acquired another linebacker, Grant Stuard, in a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Indianapolis also receives a seventh-round pick from Tampa Bay in next year's draft in the Stuard trade, while sending the Buccaneers a sixth-round selection.
Sterling Weatherford, an undrafted free agent linebacker from Cicero, was among the players waived by the Colts on Tuesday. He played four seasons at Miami (OH) after graduating from Hamilton Heights High School in 2017.
As of Tuesday, here are the 53 players on the Colts roster:
QB: Sam Ehlinger, Nick Foles, Matt Ryan
RB: Nyheim Hines, Deon Jackson, Jonathan Taylor
WR: Parris Campbell, Ashton Dulin, Dezmon Patmon, Alec Pierce, Michael Pittman Jr., Mike Strachan
TE: Mo Alie-Cox, Kylen Granson, Jelani Woods
OL: Wesley French, Will Fries, Ryan Kelly, Quenton Nelson, Danny Pinter, Matt Pryor, Bernhard Raimann, Braden Smith
DL: Ben Banogu, DeForest Buckner, Byron Cowart, Eric Johnson II, Tyquan Lewis, Yannick Ngakoue, Ifeadi Odenigbo, Dayo Odeyingbo, Kwity Paye, Grover Stewart
LB: JoJo Domann, Zaire Franklin, Shaquille Leonard, Bobby Okereke, E.J. Speed, Grant Stuard
CB: Tony Brown, Brandon Facyson, Dallis Flowers, Stephon Gilmore, Kenny Moore II, Isaiah Rodgers Sr.
S: Julian Blackmon, Nick Cross, Trevor Denbow, Rodney McLeod, Rodney Thomas II
The roster is rounded out by kicker Rodrigo Blankenship, punter Matt Haack and long snapper Luke Rhodes.
The Colts open the season on Sept. 11 in Houston, then travel to Jacksonville to play another AFC South rival, before returning home to Indianapolis for their home opener Sept. 25 against the Kansas City Chiefs.