Donald Thomas Among Colts Cuts

The Indianapolis Colts today released G-Donald Thomas and waived G-Harland Gunn, ILB-Nicklas Haag, OLB-Zack Hodges, T-Tyler Hoover, WR-Ryan Lankford, DT-Jeris Pendleton, WR-Ezell Ruffin, ILB-Justin Shirk, TE-Justin Sinz, RB-Abou Toure and C-Brandon Vitabile.

The team placed CB-Tevin Mitchel on the Injured Reserve list and waived-injured CB-Donald Celiscar. If Celiscar clears waivers, he will revert to the Colts Injured Reserve list.

With the moves today, the Colts have reached a 76-man roster. The team has until 4 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, September 1 to reach the league-mandated 75-man roster.

Thomas was signed by the Colts as an unrestricted free agent on March 13, 2013. He has played in 45 games (23 starts) over his eight-year NFL career with Indianapolis, New England, Detroit and Miami. In 2014, he spent the season on the Colts Injured Reserve list. Thomas started two games for Indianapolis in 2013 before being placed on the team’s Injured Reserve list. He was originally drafted in the sixth round (195th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft.

Gunn was signed by the Colts as a free agent on August 21, 2015. He played in 13 games (one start) over the last two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. He spent 11 weeks on the New Orleans Saints practice squad as a rookie in 2012 before being signed to the Falcons active roster. Collegiately, Gunn started 30 games on the offensive line at Miami (FL).

Haag was signed by the Colts as an undrafted free agent on August 17, 2015. He played the last two seasons with the Cedar Rapids Titans of the Indoor Football League. In 2015, Haag played in 13 games and led the Titans with 94 tackles (43 solo), 9.5 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks and two passes defensed. He competed collegiately at Assumption College and the University of Massachusetts.

Hodges was signed by the Colts as an undrafted free agent on May 5, 2015. He compiled 26.0 sacks and 41.0 tackles for loss at Harvard and was a three-time First Team All-Ivy League selection (2012-14). As a senior, Hodges tallied 8.5 sacks and was invited to play in the 2015 Senior Bowl. In 2013, he earned the Asa S. Bushnell Cup as Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year after leading the conference with 6.5 sacks.

Hoover signed a reserve/future contract with the Colts on January 19, 2015. He spent the last two weeks of the 2014 regular season and the entire postseason on the Colts practice squad. Hoover played in 48 games (23 starts) at Michigan State as a defensive end and recorded 93 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, six passes defensed, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

Lankford signed a reserve/future contract with the Colts on January 19, 2015. He spent the entire 2014 season on the Colts practice squad after originally signing with the team as a free agent on May 18, 2014. Lankford played in 43 games at the University of Illinois and finished with 70 receptions for 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns.

Pendleton was signed by the Colts as a free agent on June 30, 2015 after spending each of the last two seasons with Indianapolis. He spent the 2014 season on the Colts Injured Reserve list. In 2013, Pendleton played in one regular season game and two postseason games for Indianapolis. He was drafted in the seventh round (228th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars and spent his rookie year with the team.

Ruffin was signed by the Colts as an undrafted free agent on May 5, 2015. He played in 32 games at San Diego State and caught 111 passes for 1,877 yards (16.9 avg.) and five touchdowns. In 2013, Ruffin was named Honorable Mention All-Mountain West after recording 68 receptions for 1,136 yards (16.7 avg.) and three touchdowns.

Shirk was signed by the Colts as an undrafted free agent on July 2, 2015. He played in 45 games over his four-year career (2011-14) at Bloomsburg and finished with 392 tackles, 45.0 tackles for loss, 18.0 sacks, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one interception. Shirk earned conference honors in each of his four collegiate seasons as he was named First Team All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East twice (2014 and 2013) and Second Team All-PSAC East twice (2012 and 2011).

Sinz signed with the Colts as an undrafted free agent on May 5, 2015. He finished his collegiate career at Purdue with 80 receptions for 670 yards (8.4 avg.) and seven touchdowns. Sinz caught at least one pass in his last 24 games played.

Toure was originally signed by the Colts as an undrafted free agent on May 10, 2015. He rushed for 1,647 yards with 10 touchdowns in two seasons at UT Martin. In 2014, Toure posted the third-highest single-season rushing total in school history with 1,138 yards. Prior to transferring to UT Martin, Toure spent time at Utah State (2012) and Dean Junior College in Massachusetts in 2011.

Vitabile was signed by the Colts as an undrafted free agent on May 5, 2015. In his four years at Northwestern, he started all 50 games he played in. Vitabile was a two-time team captain and earned Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors twice. As a senior in 2014, he was a Rimington Trophy candidate, which is given annually to the nation’s top center.

Mitchel was claimed by the Colts off waivers on August 6, 2015. He was originally drafted by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round (182nd overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft and was waived-injured by the team on August 5th. Mitchel played in 42 games (29 starts) over his collegiate career at Arkansas and finished with 157 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, 18 passes defensed, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and four interceptions (one returned for a touchdown).

Celiscar was signed by the Colts as an undrafted free agent on May 5, 2015. He started 40-of-48 games at Western Michigan and finished with 247 tackles, 10 interceptions and 45 passes defensed. In 2014, Celiscar earned First Team All-Mid-American Conference honors as a senior after recording 17 passes defensed and tying for the team lead with four interceptions.