Colts Bring Back Wide Receiver Marcus Johnson

INDIANAPOLIS — Marcus Johnson’s absence from the Indianapolis Colts, it turns out, was short-lived.

The Colts today announced they have re-signed the veteran wide receiver. Terms of the deal were not immediately released.

Johnson, who will be 26 by Week 1 of the 2020 season, is entering his fourth NFL season. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016 after going undrafted out of Texas, and worked his way up to the active roster the following season, playing in 10 games with the Eagles in 2017 before he was traded to the Seattle Seahawks the following March.

Then, just before the start of the 2018 season, Johnson was dealt again, this time to the Colts and first-year head coach Frank Reich, who had familiarity with Johnson from the 2016-17 seasons while serving as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator.

Johnson would play in five games with the Colts in 2018 — logging six receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown — before suffering a season-ending ankle injury Week 6 against the New York Jets.

Johnson started the 2019 season on the Colts’ practice squad, but was elevated to the active roster on Nov. 9. He would play in eight games with six starts in Indy last season, finishing with 17 receptions for 277 yards and two touchdowns.

Johnson entered the offseason a restricted free agent-to-be, but did not receive a tender offer from the Colts, making him an unrestricted free agent once the new league year began on March 18.

Now officially back with the Colts, however, he re-joins a wide receiver group that should once again feature plenty of competition this offseason. While guys like T.Y. Hilton, Zach Pascal and Parris Campbell at this point seem to have their respective positions locked in, that leaves seven players currently battling for about two or three spots on the 53-man roster by the time Week 1 rolls around.

Other wide receivers on the Colts’ offseason roster currently include Rodney Adams, Ashton Dulin, Daurice Fountain, Malik Henry, Steve Ishmael, Johnson, Artavis Scott and Chad Williams.