Colts among top salary cap spenders at cornerback for 2026 NFL season

How much of the Indianapolis Colts' 2026 salary cap space is devoted to the cornerback position?

For this season, the league-wide salary cap was set at $301.2 million, and of that, $42.61 million will go towards the cornerback unit for the Colts, according to Over the Cap.

Compared to the rest of the NFL, the Colts rank sixth in salary cap spending at this position, and that figure accounts for only 14.1% of the team's allotted cap space.

Colts salary cap breakdown at cornerback

Charvarius Ward, who is in Year 2 of a three-year deal, accounts for nearly half of that total cap space, carrying a cap hit in 2026 of $19.88 million. Among all cornerbacks, Ward's cap hit is the sixth-largest.

Sauce Gardner agreed to a new deal with the Jets before eventually being traded to the Colts. However, with the way the contract is structured, his cap hit for this season is quite modest at $9.5 million. That said, it jumps to $20.95 million in 2027.

League-wide, Gardner ranks 23rd in salary cap hit this season among cornerbacks.

Jaylon Jones, who is in the final year of his rookie deal, has a cap hit of $3.7 million, while Justin Walley is in Year 2 of his rookie contract and carries a cap hit of $1.464 million. Mekhi Blackmon is in the final year of his current contract and has a $3.67 million cap hit.

The rest of the Colts' cornerback room is either made up of players on minimum deals, like Cam Taylor-Britt, who carries a $1.262 million cap hit, or UDFAs, like Jai'Onte' McMillan, who has a cap hit of $885,000.

This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Colts among top salary cap spenders at cornerback for 2026 NFL season