The Colts have claimed 31-year old LB Kevin Bentley off waivers from the Jaguars.  He played in 1 game for the Jaguars this year and he had 1 tackle.  Bentley has now played in 133 games in his first 10 years in the NFL and he has 413 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries, 9 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.  The Colts have also signed 24-year old CB Brandon King off the Dolphins’ practice squad.  King played in 4 games for the Colts last year and he had 1 tackle.  The Colts hope that Bentley and King can help them out the last few weeks on D.

The Colts have signed 24-year old safety Jermele Hines.  Hines played in 5 games for the Panthers earlier this year and he had 3 tackles.  Hines was drafted in the fifth round by the St. Louis Rams.  Hines has been well traveled in his rookie season, but the Colts might give him a legit look as they have been lousy against the passing game this year.

The Colts have signed 25-year old cornerback Morgan Trent.  Trent played in 6 games earlier this year for the Bengals and he had six tackles.  He has now played in 30 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has 60 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception and 7 passes defensed.  The Colts need all of the help in the secondary that they can get, as they are giving up 260.0 yards passing per game this year.  With that in mind, I like this signing for the Colts.

UPDATE:  (11/15/2011) – The Colts have released Morgan Trent.  He didn’t get into any games for them.

The Colts have re-signed 27-year old G/C Jamey Richard.  Richard played in 14 games (4 starts) with the Colts last year.  He has now played in 39 games (11 starts) in his first three years with the Colts.  This was a good move for the Colts as Richard knows the system already and he could be needed right away due to Joe Reitz’ recent surgery.

The Colts have signed 28-year old DT Daniel Muir.  Muir was one of the Rams’ last cuts before the 2011 season started.  Muir played in 14 games for the Colts last year and he had 38 tackles and 3 tackles for a loss.  He has now played in 36 games in his first three years with the Colts and he has 93 tackles, 1/2 a sack, 1 pass defensed and 6 tackles for a loss.  This was a good move for the Colts as they can use the help on the interior of the D-Line.

The Colts have signed 24-year old linebacker A.J. Edds off the Patriots’ practice squad.  Edds missed his rookie season in 2010 due to injury.  He played in 2 games for the Patriots this year and he had 1 tackle.  The Colts are hoping that Edds can help them out on special teams while also providing some depth at linebacker going forward.

The Colts have re-signed 28-year old QB Dan Orlovsky, who was let go by the team in the final cutdowns.  Orlovsky has played in 13 games (7 starts) so far in his NFL career and he has completed 150 of 272 passes (55.1%) for 1,679 yards with 8 TD passes and 8 INTs (71.3 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 7 times for 29 yards (4.1 ypc) in his career so far.  But, Orlovsky is 0-7 as a starting QB in his NFL career.  With Kerry Collins suffering from a concussion, Orlovsky could very well find himself as the #2 QB behind Curtis Painter in next week’s Monday Night Football Game in Tampa Bay.

The Colts have signed 24-year old cornerback Stevie Brown.  Brown played in 15 games for the Raiders as a rookie last year and he had 30 tackles and defensed 2 passes.  Brown will help the Colts on special teams and they need all of the help they can get after watching Josh Cribbs run wild on them last weekend.  Brown will also give the Colts solid depth at safety.  I like this move for them.

The Colts have signed 38-year old QB Kerry Collins.  Collins came out of retirement to join the Colts, so I’m thinking that Peyton Manning isn’t going to be ready for the season to start.  He played in 9 games (7 starts) for the Titans last year and he completed 160 for 278 passes (57.6%) for 1,823 yards with 14 TD passes and 8 INTs (82.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 10 times for 1 yard (0.1 ypc) last year.  Collins proved last year for the Titans that he still has something left in the gas tank.  Collins has now played in 194 games (177 starts) in his first 16 years in the NFL and he has completed 3,439 of 6,163 passes (55.8%) for 40,441 yards with 206 TD passes and 195 INTs (73.9 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 372 times for 687 yards (1.8 ypc) with 10 TD runs in his NFL career.  Collins is 81-96 (45.8%) as a starting QB in the NFL.  Instead of fighting for the #2 job, Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky are now fighting for the #3 QB job on the Colts in 2011.  The Colts made a smart move in signing Collins as he is a huge upgrade over Painter and Orlovsky.

The Colts have signed 31-year old DE Tyler Brayton.  Brayton played in 15 games for the Panthers last year and he had 22 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 passes defensed and 3 tackles for a loss.  Brayton has now played in 125 games in his first 8 years in the NFL and he has 283 tackles, 15.5 sacks, 18 tackles for a loss, 5 forced fumbles, 6 fumble recoveries, 16 passes defensed and 1 interception.  The Colts needed some depth at DE,  so this was a good signing for them.