Jacob Phillips

Career StatsC-

Year	Team	GP	Tkl	Sacks	INT
Career		20	88	3.0	—
2025		2	1	0.0	0
2024		4	9	0.0	0
2023		1

Current Contract

Contract Value Index (CVI)

Jacob Phillips' $1.1M deal lands at a C+ Contract Value Index, signaling a measured outcome for Indianapolis. The contract itself is neutral on value—a minimum-level agreement for a veteran depth piece—but the underlying performance and roster context tell a far more troubling story. Phillips posted just one tackle across two games in the 2025 season before landing on injured reserve for the remainder of the year, a truncated sample that aligns with his career-long pattern of modest, non-descript production as a six-year veteran. At 27 years old and operating on a one-year deal, Phillips has never established himself above organizational depth-chart territory despite years of opportunity, a reality that the Colts' recent linebacker acquisition of Bryce Boettcher and broader defensive roster churn only underscores. The CVI grade reflects fair market pricing for his role and salary, but the sentiment collapse and preseason-cut watch framing signal that Indianapolis views him as expendable heading into 2026 training camp; unless he returns to full health and delivers a dramatic preseason performance, his roster standing remains genuinely precarious rather than secure.

Contracts in the Same Value Band

Other same-position deals the Contract Value Index also places in the C band — a quick read on where Jacob's contract sits relative to comparable money.

Performance Analysis

Jacob Phillips is a five-year veteran linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts who has appeared in just 20 career games, limiting his ability to establish himself as a consistent NFL starter. The 27-year-old has shown flashes of productive play but remains largely unproven at the position, with his latest season representing a concerning downward trajectory. Phillips carries a C-minus grade into 2025, reflecting a player still searching for consistent impact and stability in his professional role. Phillips' current-season film presents a mixed evaluation. He excels in tackle production, averaging 6.57 tackles per game—well above the NFL average of 2.19 and approaching elite territory at 7.32—suggesting solid run-defense instincts and gap integrity. His sack rate of 0.29 per game also rates above average, outpacing the league mean of 0.15, indicating adequate pass-rush ability for a linebacker. However, his pass defense remains a concern, with just 0.14 passes defensed per game falling below the NFL average of 0.18, and his tackle-for-loss output of 0.21 per game trails the league standard of 0.27, suggesting occasional lapses in disruptive play. The trajectory is troubling, as Phillips has declined from a C-minus grade in 2024 to a D-plus in 2025, indicating deteriorating overall performance rather than growth. For Phillips to remain relevant in Indianapolis' linebacker rotation, he must stabilize his consistency and improve his play-making frequency beyond run defense. The Colts will likely continue evaluating whether his tackle volume translates to genuine two-down impact or represents inflated opportunity usage in a defensive scheme misalignment.

How Jacob Compares at the Position

Jacob Phillips ranks 178th of 339 graded linebackers by performance. That slots Jacob between Elijah Ponder (C-) just ahead and LaCale London (C-) just behind.

Current Sentiment

The public narrative surrounding Jacob Phillips has collapsed to about as low as it can get for a player still nominally on a roster, and the sentiment reflects a player whose NFL future is genuinely in question. His late-season placement on injured reserve became the defining story of his 2025 campaign, with beat reporters and national analysts seizing on it as confirmation of what many had suspected — that Phillips has never managed to climb beyond the organizational depth chart's lower rungs in six professional seasons. That characterization is hard to dispute given his D+ performance grade, which aligns directly with a media narrative that describes modest, non-descript production and a role that has never meaningfully expanded despite years of opportunity. His 2025 season — just one tackle across two games before landing on IR — provided almost no evidence to shift that perception, and the preseason-cut watch framing that multiple outlets have applied to him reflects genuine skepticism rather than routine roster speculation. The Colts' recent organizational housekeeping, including a string of outright releases at tackle, guard, and defensive end, signals an active roster-trimming posture that only amplifies how precarious Phillips's standing is heading into 2026. With training camp still months away and Indianapolis already identifying younger and cheaper options at other positions, the needle on Phillips points toward irrelevance unless a remarkable offseason changes the conversation entirely.