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A Colts interior defensive line group that retains its starters from 2025 and added two new players in the first week of free agency has added another veteran to the mix.
Jerry Tillery, a former first-round pick who has played for four teams since 2022, has signed a one-year deal with Indianapolis, joining fellow former Chiefs interior defensive lineman Derrick Nnadi, who signed a one-year deal to join the Colts last week.
Tillery comes to Indianapolis following one-year stints in Kansas City (2025) and Minnesota (2024), along with a year-plus in Las Vegas (2022-23) that proceeded the three-plus-year start to his NFL career with the Chargers (2019-22). The sometimes, but rarely consistent, starter who’s spent time as a defensive tackle and edge rusher, has appeared in all 17 regular season games in each of the last three seasons with the Raiders, Vikings and Chiefs – totaling 20 starts in the process.
Here’s what you need to know about Indianapolis’ latest signing to bolster its defensive tackle depth:
Tillery has appeared in 113 games and made 53 starts in his seven seasons. The 28th-overall pick from 2019 has recorded 14.0 career sacks – logging 9.5 of those in his first three seasons in Los Angeles. Last season with the Chiefs, Tillery made 1.5 sacks, 20 tackles, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits while forcing a fumble in 17 appearances and three starts.
During his two early seasons as a consistent starter – 2020 and 2021, where he logged 26 starts across 32 appearances – Tillery managed 14 QB hits each season and combined for 7.5 sacks.
He lost his starting spot entering 2022 and was waived by Los Angeles midway through that season before signing with the Raiders days later. Despite making 10 starts in 2023 there, he was onto Minnesota in 2024, where he’d again rise to make 11 starts but was unable to stick there last offseason.
Tillery is 6-6, 300 pounds. He will turn 30 in October of next season.
Tillery joins the Colts on a one-year deal.
Though Tillery’s career as a versatile defensive linemen could allow him to slide into different spots, he slotted last season into the Chiefs’ depth chart as a defensive tackle. It’s become an increasingly crowded position over the past two weeks, with the Colts first trading for ex-Packers nose tackle Colby Wooden then adding Nnadi last week on a one-year deal.
The Colts retain their longtime starters in Grover Stewart and DeForest Buckner, as well as budding 2023 fourth-round pick Adetomiwa Adebawore, who made seven starts last season in place of an injured Buckner, as well as 2025 sixth-round pick Tim Smith,
Presuming Tillery will attempt to make the Colts’ 53-man roster as an interior lineman, it could put him in a three-way battle with Nnadi and Smith for the final spot on the roster, as long as the team’s starters remain healthy and its two young backups in Wooden and Adebawore remain on upward trajectories.
There’s no reason to make too much of a team signing a veteran who on paper seems to face an uphill battle to make the roster when you consider they bring 90 players into training camp. Tillery’s experience – both in age, seasons and roster’s he’s been on – will be an asset for a position with three players still in their rookie deals and two others in Stewart and Buckner entering the final year of their contracts while on the other side of 30 years old.
His track record makes clear he’s been able to stick around in the NFL for seven years for a reason, despite struggling to live up to expectations as a first-round pick, but the Colts’ interior defensive linemen corps will be a tough one to crack in the coming months. Making the roster may be about as much as Tillery can hope for in Indianapolis this season.
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Jerry Tillery, a former first-round pick, signs with Colts; what to know
Continue reading...
Jerry Tillery, a former first-round pick who has played for four teams since 2022, has signed a one-year deal with Indianapolis, joining fellow former Chiefs interior defensive lineman Derrick Nnadi, who signed a one-year deal to join the Colts last week.
Tillery comes to Indianapolis following one-year stints in Kansas City (2025) and Minnesota (2024), along with a year-plus in Las Vegas (2022-23) that proceeded the three-plus-year start to his NFL career with the Chargers (2019-22). The sometimes, but rarely consistent, starter who’s spent time as a defensive tackle and edge rusher, has appeared in all 17 regular season games in each of the last three seasons with the Raiders, Vikings and Chiefs – totaling 20 starts in the process.
Here’s what you need to know about Indianapolis’ latest signing to bolster its defensive tackle depth:
Jerry Tillery stats
Tillery has appeared in 113 games and made 53 starts in his seven seasons. The 28th-overall pick from 2019 has recorded 14.0 career sacks – logging 9.5 of those in his first three seasons in Los Angeles. Last season with the Chiefs, Tillery made 1.5 sacks, 20 tackles, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits while forcing a fumble in 17 appearances and three starts.
During his two early seasons as a consistent starter – 2020 and 2021, where he logged 26 starts across 32 appearances – Tillery managed 14 QB hits each season and combined for 7.5 sacks.
He lost his starting spot entering 2022 and was waived by Los Angeles midway through that season before signing with the Raiders days later. Despite making 10 starts in 2023 there, he was onto Minnesota in 2024, where he’d again rise to make 11 starts but was unable to stick there last offseason.
Jerry Tillery heigh, weight, age
Tillery is 6-6, 300 pounds. He will turn 30 in October of next season.
Jerry Tillery contract status
Tillery joins the Colts on a one-year deal.
Colts depth chart at defensive tackle
Though Tillery’s career as a versatile defensive linemen could allow him to slide into different spots, he slotted last season into the Chiefs’ depth chart as a defensive tackle. It’s become an increasingly crowded position over the past two weeks, with the Colts first trading for ex-Packers nose tackle Colby Wooden then adding Nnadi last week on a one-year deal.
The Colts retain their longtime starters in Grover Stewart and DeForest Buckner, as well as budding 2023 fourth-round pick Adetomiwa Adebawore, who made seven starts last season in place of an injured Buckner, as well as 2025 sixth-round pick Tim Smith,
Presuming Tillery will attempt to make the Colts’ 53-man roster as an interior lineman, it could put him in a three-way battle with Nnadi and Smith for the final spot on the roster, as long as the team’s starters remain healthy and its two young backups in Wooden and Adebawore remain on upward trajectories.
What does IndyStar’s Colts insider Nathan Brown think of the move?
There’s no reason to make too much of a team signing a veteran who on paper seems to face an uphill battle to make the roster when you consider they bring 90 players into training camp. Tillery’s experience – both in age, seasons and roster’s he’s been on – will be an asset for a position with three players still in their rookie deals and two others in Stewart and Buckner entering the final year of their contracts while on the other side of 30 years old.
His track record makes clear he’s been able to stick around in the NFL for seven years for a reason, despite struggling to live up to expectations as a first-round pick, but the Colts’ interior defensive linemen corps will be a tough one to crack in the coming months. Making the roster may be about as much as Tillery can hope for in Indianapolis this season.
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Jerry Tillery, a former first-round pick, signs with Colts; what to know
Continue reading...
