Carson Towt
Getty
The Colts are signing former Notre Dame basketball player Carson Towt in free agency
The Indianapolis Colts have made some explosive moves to begin the offseason, but the two biggest of the bunch have seen them keep both Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce in town. In order for the team to improve, though, it has to find a way to improve the overall talent level of its roster, which means bringing some external free agents to town.
On Tuesday, the Colts ended up making one of the more unique signings the NFL has seen this offseason. That’s because the team ended up bringing former Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball star Carson Towt in as an undrafted free agent, despite the fact that he has never played football in his life.
Colts Sign Carson Towt in Free Agency
Towt has spent the past six years playing college basketball with Notre Dame and the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. Known for his rebounding prowess, Towt turned heads in the 2024-25 campaign when he led the nation with 12.4 rebounds per game for Northern Arizona, which helped him land at Notre Dame this season.
While he didn’t have as big a role with the Fighting Irish as he did with the Lumberjacks, Towt still made a big impact this season for his new team (5.9 PPG, 9 RPG, 1.7 APG, 61% FGM). However, a career in the NBA did not seem likely, so Towt began exploring the possibility of playing in the NFL. The only problem was that he has never played football before.
Towt, however, has a unique physical profile (6’7, 225 lb.) that caught the attention of several teams at the 2026 NFL Draft Combine. With other former basketball players having made successful transitions to football, Indianapolis decided to take a flier on Towt, as it signed him with the intent of developing him as a tight end.
“We have signed undrafted free agent TE Carson Towt,” the Colts announced in a post on X.
Could Carson Towt Actually Pan Out for the Colts?
Carson Towt
GettyThe Colts are signing former Notre Dame basketball player Carson Towt in free agency
Towt proved he has the hand-eye coordination needed to haul in rebounds at a high level in the game of basketball, so who’s to say he can’t pluck footballs out of the sky for Indy? Developing him is obviously going to take some time, but Towt has the physical profile needed to be a weapon on offense for the Colts. If the coaching staff can round out the edges and get him familiar with what it takes to be a successful tight end, this move suddenly becomes quite interesting.
There’s very little risk associated with bringing Towt to town, especially at this point in the offseason. If he doesn’t pan out, there’s virtually no harm in signing him, as the team can move on from him at any point in time without assuming any sort of financial harm. For the time being, Towt’s development will be worth keeping tabs on, as he’s one of the more intriguing players attempting to find his way in the NFL right now.