It has been officially confirmed that Reggie Wayne officially is done for the season with a torn ACL. The Indianapolis Colts are again scrambling to replace another productive player in their offense. Wayne was the most productive wide receiver on the Colts and he now joins Ahmad Bradshaw, Coby Fleener, and Delone Carter on injured reserve. To this point, the Colts have been able to continue winning and currently sit at 5-2.
The question is how many losses the Colts offense can absorb before they are unable to maintain this type of run and whether or not they will make another move to fill the gap. The Colts traded their first round pick to get Trent Richardson from the Cleveland Browns and had already traded their fourth round pick to the Browns in the previous draft to move up and get an extra fifth round pick.
If the Colts are looking to make a move to add another wide receiver, two possibilities stand out, but seem unlikely for different reasons. Kenny Britt of the Tennessee Titans has been widely reported as being on the trade block because of issues he has had there. There is no question about his talent but off the field and attitude concerns have become a real problem. The other thing that could kill this deal before it even gets started is teams are so reluctant to trade within the division as they then play that team and that player twice per year, which opens either side up for a world of criticism.
The other possibility is the Colts general manager Ryan Grigson could again call up the Cleveland Browns and discuss trading for Josh Gordon. The Browns led by president Joe Banner and general manager Mike Lombardi have set their price for Gordon at a second round pick reportedly. Gordon’s talent on the field is fantastic. He has the ability to be a number one receiver and could be a great fit with Andrew Luck. The problem is that Gordon is one bad drug test from a yearlong suspension and that is a high price to pay for that type of risk, even if he is that talented. The Colts might try to discuss a third round pick and some type of conditional pick, but it seems unlikely.
Having already given up two picks in the draft this coming year in the first four rounds, it becomes difficult to give up any others, even if the talent is good. The lifeblood of the NFL is in the draft and not having assets makes it incredibly hard to operate. The Colts could use a pick or picks to acquire another wide receiver for Luck and the offense, but they may opt to just try to make do with what they have and hope for the best. Wayne is a huge loss for the Colts and is easily the biggest loss they have suffered this year and they might just not be able to do anything about it.