Colts Linebacker Skai Moore Opts Out

Third-year backup linebacker Skai Moore has 10 games experience as a reserve with most of his NFL career spent on the Indianapolis Colts practice squad.

INDIANAPOLIS — Third-year reserve linebacker Skai Moore became the first Indianapolis Colts player to opt-out on the 2020 season, the team announced on Tuesday afternoon.

LB Skai Moore has informed the team he will opt out of the 2020 season. pic.twitter.com/dKV9RCPj2H

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) August 4, 2020

Moore, 25, was on the bubble to make the Colts’ regular-season roster. He had three total tackles in 10 career games as a reserve. Undrafted out of South Carolina in 2018, he’s spent much of his time on the practice squad.

The Colts have a returning trio of starting linebackers in All-Pro Darius Leonard, Anthony Walker Jr., and Bobby Okereke. The list of backups consisted of E.J. Speed, Matthew Adams, Gerri Green, Zaire Franklin, and rookie sixth-round selection Jordan Glasgow.

The NFL and NFL Players Association agreed to a 4 p.m. Thursday deadline on players deciding to take the opt-out option on the 2020 season. As of Tuesday morning, 45 players had opted out.

Before Moore, the Colts were one of eight teams without an opt-out player.

The NFL and NFLPA agreed on Tuesday to two exceptions for opting out after the deadline — a new diagnosis of a player with a high-risk condition and if a player family member dies or is hospitalized or moved to a medical facility because of COVID-19 or a related condition.

High-risk players receive a $350,000 stipend if opting out before the deadline. If the player is less at risk, the stipend is $150,000. Which category Moore was classified is unknown.

The Colts placed two young reserves, wide receiver Malik Henry and cornerback Jackson Porter, on the reserve/COVID-19 list last week. That list of NFL players was at 84, as of Monday.

(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)