Colts waive WR Griff Whalen; sign TE Justice Cunningham from practice squad

It isn’t often that a 7-3 team in the NFL makes a roster move that causes people to double-take, but the Indianapolis Colts did just that on Tuesday afternoon.

For the non-diehards, Indianapolis waiving WR Griff Whalen probably doesn’t move the needle, but for me, it was shocking. Whalen, a 23-year-old slot receiver, was a teammate of quarterback Andrew Luck at Stanford, and he was a legitimate factor in the team’s offense at times this season.

Whalen caught 1 pass (on 3 targets) for 6 yards on Thursday night against Tennessee, but for year, the 5-foot-11 receiver has 9 catches for 102 yards, and he had been showing significant promise by most accounts. It seems to be odd timing (especially with Reggie Wayne out for the season) for Indy to be releasing a pass-catcher, but apparently, signing tight end Justice Cunningham from the practice squad was a higher priority.

Cunningham, who happens to be “Mr. Irrelevant” from the 2013 NFL Draft, comes from South Carolina, and he hasn’t been on an active roster to this point in his career. I can’t see a path to playing time for Cunningham with Coby Fleener and company in his way, but alas, here we are.