Indianapolis Colts sign former Michigan State defensive lineman to a deal.

Several reports on Sunday night stated that Mike Panasiuk, a former defensive lineman for Michigan State, had signed a contract with the Indianapolis Colts. MLFootball on X was the first to report on the signing (previously Twitter). Panasiuk, a four-year letterwinner on the defensive line for the Spartans, most recently started all ten games during the regular season for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the United Football League at centre. The native of Roselle, Illinois, was selected to the first-ever First-Team All-UFL offence after his stellar 2024 year.

Prior to the USFL and XFL merging, Panasiuk was named First Team All-XFL offence in 2022 while he was a player for St. Louis in the XFL. He was also invited to a minicamp tryout with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Panasiuk originally signed with the Las Vegas Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2020 after being passed over in the draft. But Panasiuk’s time in Vegas was short-lived as the Raiders cut him before the 2020 NFL season. After that, Panasiuk signed with the Carolina Panthers, where he was a member of the practice squad for the whole season.

After switching from defensive tackle to offensive line, Panasiuk worked out at centre during his rookie season in the pros. The former Spartan did not make the 53-man roster of the 2021 Panthers in his second season, despite the position change.

After participating in 51 games and tallying 100 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, four sacks, two interceptions, six passes defended, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery, the former 247Sports four-star recruit concluded an extremely successful career at Michigan State. According to Pro Football Focus, Panasiuk also added three All-Big Ten Honourable Mentions, was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team Honourable Mention in 2016, and was chosen to the Second-Team All-Big Ten as a junior in 2018.