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Colts Lock Up Key Special Teamer, Claim Another Off Waivers
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- Colts Lock Up Key Special Teamer, Claim Another Off Waivers
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The Indianapolis Colts ' season may be over, but they continue to place a premium on special teams for the future, signing linebacker Austin Ajiake to a one-year contract extension as well as claiming linebacker John Bullock off waivers from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers .
Ajiake (6'1", 223, 25 years old) just finished his third season as an undrafted player from UNLV. He originally signed with the Denver Broncos following the 2023 NFL Draft before bouncing from the Las Vegas Raiders , Green Bay Packers , and then the Colts, where he's been since the tail end of the 2023 season, mostly on their practice squad.
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Ajiake has been active for 16 career games — all this season — and totaled 32 tackles, 0.5 sacks, and two QB hits. He's played primarily on special teams, seeing 296 reps in 2025 between the kickoff return and coverage, punt return and coverage, and field goal block units. He was credited with six special teams stops.
Bullock (6'0", 230, 24) is an undrafted rookie out of Nebraska who signed with the Buccaneers a couple of weeks after the 2025 NFL Draft.
He saw just six snaps on defense for Tampa Bay as a rookie (all on run downs), but Bullock played extensively on special teams, playing 252 snaps between the kickoff coverage and return, punt coverage and return, and field goal block teams. He recorded five special teams stops on the season.
Along with Ajiake and Bullock, the Colts also have linebackers Zaire Franklin , Germaine Pratt , Jaylon Carlies , Buddy Johnson, Segun Olubi , and Jacob Phillips on the roster.
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Linebacker will likely continue to be a point of emphasis for the Colts throughout the offseason, as they had just one player (Pratt) rank among the top-10 highest-graded Colts defensive players on the season, according to Pro Football Focus .
The Colts' linebacker group is primed for a makeover, as Pratt, Olubi, and Phillips are impending free agents, and Franklin is the only one with a meaningful cap hit in 2026. His $8,255,000 is just the 12th-highest on the roster, and they would create $5,755,000 in cap space by shedding his contract.
According to PFF, this was comfortably the worst season of Franklin's career, earning career-worsts in overall grade (38.4), run defense (54.9), coverage (29.9), tackling (47.3), missed tackle rate (13.9%), and stops (39).
Jake Arthur has been covering the Indianapolis Colts for over a dozen years and is a member of the PFWA. He's one half of the Locked On Colts podcast and has worked for the Colts' official website, On SI, and more. You can follow him on X @JakeArthurNFL .
