The Colts released quarterback Nick Foles to clear salary cap space on Friday, a move that was expected after Indianapolis selected Anthony Richardson in the first round. Bryan Woolston/Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts released veteran quarterback Nick Foles on Friday, saving about $2 million in salary cap space while creating room for the 12 rookies it added last week in the draft.

Foles lost both of his starts in 2022, his only season with the Colts. He left the second game with injured ribs, then missed Indy’s final game also because of injured ribs. The release was expected after the Colts selected former Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson with the No. 4 overall pick.

The Super Bowl 52 MVP started 58 of 71 career games during an 11-year career that took him from Philadelphia to St. Louis to Kansas City, Philadelphia again, Jacksonville, Chicago and finally Indy. Foles completed 1,302 of 2,087 passes for 14,227 yards with 82 touchdowns and 47 interceptions after the Eagles drafted the former Arizona star in the third round in 2012.

Indy cut longtime veteran Matt Ryan in March after the four-time Pro Bowler struggled with turnovers last season.

Those two moves leave Indy with three quarterbacks on the depth chart – Richardson, Gardner Minshew and Sam Ehlinger, who was one of three starters the Colts used last season – and assures the team of having a seventh consecutive season with a different opening-day starter.

Ehlinger is entering his third season with the Colts after starring at Texas. Ehlinger and Foles both attended Westlake High School in Austin, Texas.

Foles’ release was the latest in a flurry of roster moves this week.

Indy also announced before its rookie minicamp began Friday that it has signed seven draft picks – cornerback Darius Rush, safety Daniel Scott, tight end Will Mallory, running back Evan Hull, defensive end Titus Leo, cornerback Jaylon Jones and tackle Jake Witt. Scott, Rush, Mallory and Hull were fifth-round picks, Jones went in the sixth and Witt was taken in Round 7.

Indy also said it has signed 15 undrafted rookies including former guards Emil Ekiyor and Harris LaChance, four receivers and two linebackers.

Earlier this week, Indy waived defensive end Kameron Cline, tight ends Nikola Kalinic and Jalen Wydermyer, linebacker Forrest Rhyne, defensive tackle Chris Williams, running backs Darrynton Evans and Aaron Shampklin, cornerback David Vereen and receiver Kristian Wilkerson.

COMMANDERS: Chase Roullier’s time in Washington is over after a six-year stretch that included him becoming the team’s starting center and signing a lucrative extension before injuries derailed his career.

The Commanders announced they released Roullier with a post-June 1 designation.

Releasing Roullier after June 1 for salary cap reasons allows the team to save $8.37 million next season, with $4 million of dead money, according to the site Over The Cap, which tracks NFL salaries.

Even though coach Ron Rivera last week said it was “too early” to discuss the future of Roullier and other veteran players given draft picks and free agent signings, those additions foreshadowed the end for the 29-year-old in burgundy and gold.

The Commanders signed Nick Gates away from the New York Giants to be Roullier’s replacement and drafted Arkansas’ Ricky Stromberg in the third round to be a potential long-term solution in the middle of the offensive line.

Roullier looked like an impressive draft find before being sidelined by injuries. After getting picked in the sixth round in 2017, the Wyoming product quickly became Washington’s starting center.

He signed a four-year extension worth just over $40 million in January 2021 and has played 10 games since, first because of a broken left fibula and then a right knee injury. Roullier opened training camp last year on the physically unable to perform list and came back to start the first two games of the regular season before going down again and making the Commanders turn to a rotating cast of characters at center.

JETS: Head Coach Robert Saleh has seen all he needs to know that Aaron Rodgers is all in with the New York Jets.

For one, the four-time NFL MVP has been practicing with the team during voluntary workouts, something Rodgers hadn’t done his last few offseasons with Green Bay.

But there’s something else. And it goes far beyond the football field.

“You just see a fire in a guy’s eye when you’re sitting and talking to him,” Saleh said Friday after the team’s first rookie minicamp practice. ”He’s coming to win. You can just feel it in his voice. You can see it in his eyes and the way he’s going about his business.”

Rodgers was acquired last week by the Jets, who got a player they believe will help them snap a 12-year playoff drought that is the longest active slump in the NFL – and lead them deep into the postseason.

But these are the early days of that journey, and there were some who wondered about Rodgers’ commitment to the process – especially since he stayed away from the Packers the past few years until mandatory practices. At his introductory news conference last Wednesday, the 39-year-old quarterback said he intended to be around the Jets often throughout the offseason.

That has been the case so far. Rodgers has also been taking in his new town with his Jets teammates, attending two Knicks playoff games and a Devils-Rangers postseason showdown at Madison Square Garden.

“As a coach, you want them all here all the time, but I just felt like for him, he’s a very smart individual, very deep and very thoughtful,” Saleh said. “So I was never worried about whether or not he was going to be here. I always felt like if he did want to be here, he was going to be here, if he decided to be a Jet.

“Because he is so competitive and he does understand that he has to get acclimated to the new building. He’ll have to get the receivers acclimated to him and he’ll have to get the verbiage and get everybody in to help him get everybody on the same page.”

The Jets are holding rookie minicamp this weekend with their draft picks, including first-rounder Will McDonald, taking the field along with undrafted free agents. But Rodgers and the veterans practiced and held meetings earlier in the week, and the quarterback made an immediate impression.

“I’ve never been around a quarterback quite like him, personally,” Saleh said. “All his experience, his communication. … He practically is another coach out there. He’s pretty impressive.”