INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Safety Julian Blackmon is staying in Indy.

After testing the waters of a tough free agency market, Blackmon decided to return to the Indianapolis Colts with a one-year deal reportedly worth up to $7.7 million.

Blackmon visited the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers looking for a multiyear deal, but ultimately decided that staying with the team that drafted him back in 2020 was the best option.

“This was home, and this is the place where it started and it this is the place I want to finish if I can,” Blackmon said Tuesday after signing his new contract. “Everybody knows how free agency went this year for safeties. We just wanted to be patient with the whole process and we were able to come up with something that everybody was happy with.”

Blackmon finished the 2023 season with a career-best four interceptions. He was one of the few experienced players in the Colts young secondary, and his impact was especially noticed when he wasn’t on the field.

Blackmon’s season ended early after he injured his shoulder during the Christmas Eve game in Atlanta. For the next two weeks, the Colts struggled in the already-streaky secondary — especially in the season-finale loss to the Texans, which cost the Colts a spot in the playoffs.

Visiting other teams was all a part of the plan for Blackmon, who was entering free agency for the first time since being drafted in the third round out of Utah. He wanted to see what the other teams were about. When he found out, it just brought him right back home to Indiana.

“You see how other teams compete, what makes them winning cultures, and, honestly, that’s what made me want to come back, too, at the same time,” Blackmon said. “You see all these other teams that talk about what they have and how they’re in-house. For me, it was like I feel like we have the same thing in Indy. My heart was always like, ‘OK, well, this has been a great process,’ but, at the same time, I want to continue to build with something that I’ve helped start.’”

Blackmon is one of now seven players who Colts general manager Chris Ballard has offered new contracts or extensions this offseason. Blackmon joined receiver Michael Pittman Jr, Zaire Franklin, Kenny Moore II, Grover Stewart, Rigoberto Sanchez and Tyquan Lewis, all returning to the Horseshoe in 2024.

Blackmon was especially excited for close friends Pittman and Moore when he heard about their new deals.

“Man, it was awesome,” Blackmon said. “We all have actually been in contact throughout this whole process, especially Kenny and I. We’re FaceTiming like every day talking about, ‘Man, what it would be like for us to come back?’ Even Pitt, he’s like, ‘Hey, when are you signing back? When are you coming back?’ It was just one those things where all of us were able to just stay together and trust that we all wanted to be back and the fact that we made it happen – it couldn’t be more of a blessing. We’re just all excited to be back.”

As far as his shoulder injury recovery, Blackmon said that he’s “feeling really good” as he sat his sights on the Colts first offseason workouts coming in May.