Colts sign former Alabama defensive back to active roster
The Indianapolis Colts have signed Ronnie Harrison to their 53-man active roster, the NFL team announced on Tuesday.
But there’s something different about Harrison in his latest NFL opportunity: The Colts list the former Alabama standout on their roster as a linebacker. In his previous five NFL seasons and in the 2023 preseason for Indianapolis, Harrison played safety.
Also on Tuesday, Indianapolis waived three-time first-team All-Pro Shaquille Leonard, who had started nine games for the Colts this season at weakside linebacker. On Indianapolis’ latest depth chart, Harrison appears as a backup at weakside linebacker.
Harrison signed with the Colts as a free agent on Aug. 14, but he didn’t survive the cut from preseason to the regular season. Indianapolis quickly re-signed him for its practice squad. Harrison has spent the season there, but he has not played in 2023.
By joining the active roster, Harrison becomes eligible to make his 2023 debut on Sunday, when the Colts host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Harrison played in 16 games, with five starts, for the Cleveland Browns in 2022, when he was on the field for a career-low 259 defensive snaps while also appearing on 152 special-teams plays.
Harrison entered the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018 as a third-round draft choice from Alabama’s 2017 CFP national-championship team.
After he started 22 games in two seasons with Jacksonville, Harrison went to the Browns in a Sept. 3, 2020, trade, just 10 days before Cleveland kicked off its season.
Harrison reached Cleveland’s starting lineup in the fifth game of the 2020 season and made an immediate impact with a 47-yard interception return for a touchdown in a 32-23 victory over the Colts. A concussion and a knee injury caused him to miss five games after reaching the starting lineup, including the final four of the regular season. Harrison made it back on the field for the Browns’ two playoff games.
In 2021, Harrison played in 12 games and started 11 in the Cleveland secondary before an ankle injury caused him to miss the final five games.
