Grover Stewart

Career StatsC+

Year	Team	GP	Sacks	Tkl	TFL
Career		141	13.0	409	67.5
2025		17	0.5	55	9
2024		17	3.5	74	18
2023		11

Current Contract

Contract Value Index (CVI)

The Colts secured a fair deal with Grover Stewart's three-year, $39M extension that earns a C+ CVI, landing right in the sweet spot for a solid starter at defensive tackle. At $13M per year, Indianapolis is paying market rate for a player who consistently delivers above-average interior line play without reaching elite status — a sensible investment in positional stability rather than a premium splash. Stewart's deal reflects smart roster construction, as the Colts locked up a dependable 30-year-old defender before he could hit free agency while avoiding the inflated contracts that often plague the DT market. The $18M in guaranteed money provides reasonable security without creating long-term cap issues, giving Indianapolis flexibility if Stewart's production declines in the back half of the deal. This represents exactly the type of methodical, value-conscious move that builds sustainable defensive depth, even if it won't generate headlines or dramatically elevate the unit's ceiling.

Performance Analysis

Grover Stewart earns a C+ grade as the anchor of Indianapolis's defensive front for the better part of a decade. His 409 tackles, 13 sacks, and a monstrous 67.5 tackles for loss across 141 career games make him one of the most consistent run-stuffing defensive tackles in the NFL. Stewart has been an ironman for the Colts with 17 games in each of the last two seasons, providing the kind of reliability that coaches dream about from their nose tackle. The tackles-for-loss number is genuinely elite for an interior lineman and speaks to his ability to win at the point of attack and disrupt running plays. Stewart may not generate the flashy sack numbers, but his run defense has been the foundation of Indianapolis's front seven for nine seasons and counting.

Current Sentiment

Public perception around Grover Stewart has surged in recent weeks, earning a B sentiment grade that reflects a genuine wave of fan and media enthusiasm for the nine-year veteran defensive tackle. The catalyst is unmistakable: Stewart's interception of a tipped pass became an instant viral moment, with the NFL world celebrating what several outlets framed as a historically significant play — one headline going as far as calling it the most consequential single moment by any player in Colts franchise history based on sheer physical spectacle. That sentiment grade sits notably above his C+ performance grade, which tells you exactly what this is — a feel-good narrative spike driven by one electric play rather than a sustained body of work, and his 2025 season stats of 55 tackles, 0.5 sacks, and 1 interception across 17 games reflect a solid-if-unspectacular run as an above-average interior lineman. The contrast is sharpest when you factor in that at least one prominent piece explicitly placed Stewart among players who "fleeced the Colts" in 2025, a thread of criticism that runs counter to the celebratory noise but hasn't been loud enough to drag the overall narrative down. With the Colts currently sitting at 8-9 and holding the eighth seed in the AFC, finishing with a seven-game losing streak, the offseason roster churn — cutting Jack Wilson, Bill Murray, and Viliami Fehoko Jr. while adding depth pieces on the offensive side — keeps the focus on organizational uncertainty more than any individual player. Stewart's narrative, for now, is riding high on the strength of one memorable moment, but the underlying performance questions and the team's broader struggles mean this sentiment bump is best read as a short-term surge rather than a rebranding of his legacy.