Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS -1/13- Free Agents The Indianapolis Colts Should Be Targeting

Episode Date: January 13, 2017

Today Matt runs through his top #FreeAgency options at each position of need for the #Colts. There are a host of old timers out there, but the Colts should be looking towards high upside and youth instead of 30-somthings who're coming off one good season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No, I'm not for sale. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back to Locked On Colts, ladies and gentlemen. I'm your host, Matt Dainley. And tonight, we are going to go through some of my top three agents at each position of need for the Indianapolis Colts. If you guys haven't read my piece on fanragsports.com, go check that out.

It'll be kind of similar, but I'm just kind of going to go through these guys in my own words here and explain to you kind of my thought process on these a little bit more in depth. So first, let's look at outside linebacker. When we talked to Ollie Connolly earlier last week, you know, he kind of said there were so many old guys that are on this list that, you know, it's kind of, it is kind of fruitless, you know, to, to try to target some of these guys. But what I did do overall is try to target guys in 26, 27, uh, age range and younger, and not go after any of these old guys. I'm not going to do these in any specific order, but I'm going to kind of go through some of the guys that are at the top of the list for me. So Nick Perry out of Green Bay, 11 sacks, 52 tackles, 16 QB hits, and he's 26 years old. This guy is something else. I mean,

for his age to be getting to the quarterback that often, you know, in that defense as well. He's a guy who could be young enough, decent enough, and he's good against the run too. So this is not a one-way player. And quite honestly, none of these guys are, you know, trying to figure out what he's going to get paid because he's getting paid $5 million a year currently right now. So we kind of have to think about that too. We've got, you know, what, seven picks and possibly eight, depending on if we get an extra compensatory pick in the draft. So we've kind of got to figure that out. We've got what, close to 60 million to spend. Okay. They have to leave, I presume that they have to leave around 25 million to sign in-house guys and also get tertiary signings as well as signing

the draft picks. So that's kind of where I'm at a maximum of about $35 million is all we can really spend. So Nick Perry is a possibility, no doubt about it. What is he going to be looking to get paid next year? I don't know. I'm not really good at projecting that kind of stuff. So I'm going to say with the year he had this year, with his age, I'm going to say somewhere between seven and nine. Okay. That might be a little high, maybe as low as six. It's kind of hard to tell. But like I said, young guy, very productive, and he's good in both aspects. He can cover, he can rush the passer, and he can play well against the run. So Nick Perry's one of those guys that I had that I think. Now, I still think the Colts need to bring back Eric Walden. They just don't have anybody right now. He's 31 years old.

He's not a pass rusher regardless of his 11 sacks on the season. Those are inflated because of because of the coverage sacks, him running down the line of scrimmage when the quarterback is stepping up into the pocket. Either way, it's a productive season for him. So you've got to consider him as well. 42 tackles, not a terrible year. You've got to get somebody back in house regardless at this point. They really don't have much

else on the roster. Chandler Jones, this guy's going to be extremely expensive in my opinion. 11 sacks, 49 tackles on the season, 19 quarterback hits. He's looking at somewhere of a market value between $15 and $17 million in my opinion, depending upon how you really, you know, he's going to get overpaid, and his market value is saying that he's somewhere around there. So where do we go from there? That's expensive. The Colts really, I don't think, can afford that. So as far as I'm concerned, Chandler Jones is off the board. $26 would be a hell of a grab, but I don't think he's coming. Melvin Ingram. This guy's a bit of a different story.

27 out of San Diego, eight sacks on the year, 19 QB hits also, 60 tackles, six forced fumbles on the season. So the guy is active, you know, very handsy and stuff. He also is an expensive guy, but he's in the market value between, I would say somewhere between 12 and $14 million at the most. Really productive guy. Again, good pass rusher regardless of how many sacks he had on the season. Ingram played in all 16 games this year.

He's a guy that I want. Every time I watch him, I think that he's playing just crazy, balls-out football. That's what I want. I want a guy that can want. Every time I watch him, I think that he's playing just crazy balls out football. That's what I want. I want a guy that can play in all aspects. And I like Nick Perry the same, but Ingram brings a little bit extra as far as I'm concerned in the pure pass rusher realm of that sort. So that's a guy that I'm looking at as well. Now, Jamie Collins, another guy, 26 years old, three sacks on the season, six QB hits, played 15 games. He is not necessarily a pure pass rusher, so he's a little harder to figure out in all of this. Also, he's in that similar range to Melvin Ingram.

He's an expensive guy, so it's going to be kind of difficult to see where these guys are at. You know, they're just going to be all expensive. They're all going to bring different positives and negatives to the team. And, you know, this is a group of guys that we really could use. Now, let's move over into inside linebacker a little bit. At inside linebacker, one of the biggest names on this board is Zach Brown from Buffalo. Almost 150 tackles, four sacks, seven QB hits, two forced fumbles, and a pick. Like I said, 27 years old, and this guy's a monster. If you've watched Buffalo at all, granted, they have a solid front seven, so it's easier to work with a group like that. But man, think about his age, how productive he is, and how we could just get rid of DeQuell Jackson in the process. I mean, DeQuell's aging 33. I

think he's going to be 34 next year. Saves somewhere around $6 million off the cap if we can get rid of him. Bringing a guy like Zach Brown, and that basically pays for him. I mean, that seems like a win-win to me. I think they need to go balls out for Zach Brown. Just my opinion. That's the guy I want more, I think, than anybody. Another guy that I look on here is Gerald Hodges, 25 years old, out of San Francisco. You didn't hear a lot about him because San Francisco's defense overall was pretty terrible, but Hodges was one of the top-rated guys on Pro Football Focus's grading level, and the guy was extremely productive throughout the season. Was much better of a tackler than he was a cover guy, but there's other guys that can do that too. Hodges could cover. He just wasn't one of the top guys. He was one of the top five or six against the run,

I believe, throughout the league. But another guy, Kevin Minner from Arizona, 26 years old, he had four sacks and seven QB hits, 82 tackles on the season. He's more of a run stopper. Also productive from that inside linebacker spot. Was a solid tackler, not a guy that is going to bust the middle every single time and kill the gaps, but a guy who can do that and he can cover. And he can cover pretty well. He was actually one of the better rated cover guys at the position as well. So he's a guy that I would like to keep my eye on. Sean Spence, another guy. Not quite to the other three, not to the extent of those guys,

but he's 26, 54 tackles, three sacks, five QB hits, two fourth fumbles. Again, these guys are all young, all productive, guys that could really kind of bounce around in a scheme that allows them to move in and out and shift with a three or four man front and just all upgrades as far as I'm concerned. And, you know, for the most part, a few of these guys are not going to be that expensive. So all of these guys, pretty much guys to keep your eyes on. You know, I think that if Lawrence Timmons was a couple years younger, I would love for them to go all out for him, but he's going to be A, expensive, and B, he's going to be 31 next year. So not quite where I want him. Another guy to keep your eye on,

maybe Nick Ballor, another guy from that inside linebacker position at San Fran. 83 tackles. Not a huge name. Again, not quite as good as Hodges, in my opinion, but a guy who would still be an upgrade as the number two in that position from anything that we've got at this time. So moving on into the secondary. One of the guys that sticks out to everybody, the biggest free agent name right now from L.A. is Tremaine Johnson. He is going to be a boatload of cash. Take him off your list.

He's solid. In fact, he's good. I'm not going to say he's solid. Real good cover corner. More than willing to come up and play against the run. Only one interception though. One of those guys is more of a deflection type guy defending the pass as opposed to intercepting it. His ball skills, kind of iffy, but really, really, really good in the sticky man type role.

Another couple guys that I got my eyes on, Marcus Cooper out of Arizona, 26 years old, 69 tackles, four picks this year. A lot of these guys you probably haven't heard much about, like I said. There's a couple of these guys that are obviously headlining these things, but keep your eye on Marcus Cooper. Still would be an upgrade as far as I'm concerned at the second in the secondary would allow them to kind of let him take over the nickel role or be able to shove Robinson into the nickel role and allow him to be that cornerback too and always keep in mind guys Vontae's getting older okay he's pushing 30 he's injured constantly they need to get a guy who's young who could easily take over that

number one slot when necessary. They can't continue to rely on guys that they've signed to end season and so on and so forth. Logan Ryan, I would say he would probably be the 1A for me, or the 1B, I'm sorry. He is one of the best tacklers at the position in the league, period. 92 tackles on the season, one sack, three QB hits, two picks, fourth fumble out of New England. I don't see Logan Ryan leaving New England. I just don't. But if he does, the Colts need to scoop him up.

Very good in man. He can also play zone effectively very good in being able to read and react especially along the boundary he's a very good guy he kind of takes the the space away from the receiver if they're trying to use the boundary you know a lot of time you'll see receivers when they're running up the rail, they'll be just inside the numbers to give their quarterback room to throw between there and the sideline. And Logan is a guy who is very good about squeezing that and forcing those guys closer to the boundary on their routes.

That's important, believe it or not. And you may not see him defend a pass or intercept a pass in that situation, but he's giving that receiver very little room to work with, and if they do go up high to get the ball, he can push them out of bounds. It's an incomplete pass. Logan Ryan, my 1B. A.J. Boye, 1A, right here. This guy has had a fantastic season.

The only thing that worries me about Boye is the fact that he is just really coming out this year. He's played some games previous to this year, obviously, and has played pretty stinking well. But you just kind of get worried about that guy that just all of a sudden peaks hardcore. But maybe he's just peaking because he's gotten more playing time this year. I don't really know how to quantify that. But A.J. Boye, a fantastic cover corner. Again, plays solid in zone, backs up well, can play off man, does a good job all the way around. He would be a premier grab for the Colts in free agency. Now, one of those guys that I'm kind of back and forth on is Stephon Gilmore. You guys heard me talk about a couple of these guys the other night to Jonah

Tolles. Gilmore, first of all, I think he's going to be too expensive. Second of all, I just don't like the fact that he gives so much up underneath and gives up so many free balls. He does gamble a little bit more than a lot of these corners, which is something that I don't think the Colts really need at this point. I just want a guy who's going to be there. If you get beat and you make the tackle, so be it. But getting beat bad and giving up a touchdown is unforgivable in my opinion, especially in today's NFL when anything could be the difference in the game. So I'm not high on Stephon Gilmore, although if they could somehow work him into calming down a little bit,

I think that he could be a possible alternative as well. So now we'll look into the safeties. We'll keep just riding back, and then we'll get to the D-line here in a moment. Bradley McDougald out of Tampa Bay, 26 years old, good tackler. A lot of his tackles I kind of feel for him because that front seven, you know, was pretty leaky at times this year. And Bradley McDougald would be a very good pickup, okay? He's not going to break the bank.

He's not a guy who is going to probably have an all-pro season, but he's very active, very active, can play in that nickel role if need be. I don't think that they would use him there that much, but he could play that. He's very quick, and he can lay the wood. So that's always a positive. Obviously, Eric Berry, 28 years old, with 77 tackles and four interceptions this year, he's the big boy on the board. I don't see Kansas City ever letting him go. He's going to retire a chief as far as I'm concerned. So I kind of displaced him in my head. I don't think too much about him uh I don't worry that he's there

or that he isn't but he's a guy that I just don't see uh being around when it comes down to it so I kind of have pushed him out of my head but if for some reason he walks and tests free agency then I think the Colts need to go all in on that guy. Now looking at a strong safety option here, Tony Jefferson out of Arizona, another guy. Granted, a lot of these guys out of Arizona, so one of them is going to be open because they simply can't sign all of them. 96 tackles on the season, no picks but two sacks, four QB hits, two forced fumbles, played in 15 games.

Again, that's another thing I'm looking for. I want to see guys who play a lot. 24 years old, really a solid guy, like I said. Good coverage, good tackler, still young, can grow. We need youth in the back end especially. I think that he's a guy that the Colts could look at. Now, there's another guy here that may surprise a couple of you, but DJ Swearinger out of Arizona also. He may be the guy to hit the market and may be the guy who

actually ends up getting a lot of the attention. But I personally think that Jefferson would be the better pick in that regard. He had three interceptions, Swearinger did, but I think he's overrated. I'm not a big fan of him. But, you know, it's just one of those things. It's kind of a pick-your-poison type deal. There's a few other guys on there that could be possibilities. I'm just not huge fans of them, but those are kind of my guys at this moment. Now, defensive end I don't think is a huge need at this point. I think that they've kind of got the defensive ends that they need in there. Henry Anderson, he can kind of slide into also to like a three or four tech. Arthur Jones, we don't know if he's going to be there or not, but some guys keep your eyes on here. If they are cheap enough and they do

present an opportunity to get them in the building. William Golston, he's 25 out of Tampa Bay. His stock has gone up crazy. He had four sacks, eight QB hits, 50 tackles on the season. That's pretty nice for a defensive end. Also, Andre Branch. I'm not a fan of Andre Branch. I watched him too many years in Jacksonville, and he just looked like a guy out of his realm.

But he looked pretty good this year in Miami. Six sacks, 13 QB hits, a couple forced fumbles as well. He's only 27. One of those guys, you know, maybe keep your eye on, but I'm not too worried about him. One of the guys that I think is going to fall under the radar that I think I hear him get talked about a little bit, but not a ton, Jabal Sheard, 27 years old, five sacks, nine QB hits on the season. This guy is a ball player.

One of those guys you heard us talking about it the other night. We want guys who can play football. Jabal Sheard is a pure football player, not a pure defensive end, not a pure edge rusher, not this or that. That guy just flat out plays football. I want those guys on my team. Jabal Sheard, especially with his tutelage in New England, I want that kind of a guy on my team. When we look at defensive tackle,

Brandon Williams is going to be an expensive guy out of Baltimore. I don't think the Colts are going to be able to grab him, but if they can save some money other ways and other places, I think he's a guy that they could possibly bring in. He's 27, 51 tackles on the season, only a sack and two QB hits, but you don't get a ton of that from your defensive tackles, especially in Indianapolis. That's not their role so much. But look at another guy here,

Jonathan Hankins. Really good run stopper out of New York for the Giants. He's going to be kind of expensive. He's played in a really good system this year, and he's been really productive. Three sacks, 10 QB hits. But the guy is kind of the tale of both worlds worlds here he can both rush the passer and play against the run he's very good against both still 25 years old he's going to be expensive though as well maybe not quite as expensive as Williams but he's going to have he's going to be a couple bucks one of the guys that I think is just completely under the radar now this is one of the guys that the closest thing that I've gotten to 30 is Nick Fairley 28 old. I know he's on his third team in New Orleans. Put all that out of your brain. That means absolutely nothing, and let me tell you why. Seven sacks, 22 QB hits.

The Colts D-line this year didn't hit the quarterback 22 times combined. Nick Farrelly is a guy who can play nose tackle. He's not a pure nose tackle. He can roll out to a two to three technique anywhere you need him around that defensive line. He would be a guy. He is a brute. He's an absolute football player like we talked about. That's his deal. I think he'd be kind of cheap, man. I mean, I'd really like to have him on my team. I, I, I just think that he's a guy that could possibly, you know, make a real difference in, uh, in what the Colts do this year. So that's kind of the guys that I'm thinking about on the defense. Now, running back wise, Le'Veon Bell's already getting sewn up. He's not going anywhere. He's staying in Pittsburgh.

Le'Garrett Blount's out there. He's 30. No thanks. Who do I want? Christine Michaels looking good in Green Bay last week. He hasn't done anything consistent. But the guy that I'm looking for is Latavius Murray out of Oakland. 25 years old, almost 800 rushing yards, about 270 receiving yards, 12 rushing touchdowns.

Had a couple fumbles this year, but Latavius Murray and Frank Gore or Latavius Murray and Robert Turbin in the Colts' backfield would open up so much. I mean, the Colts need that second-level kind of guy, and Latavius Murray is that second-level cut kind of guy. I think that he would bring a ton to that backfield. He would be, I think he's one of these guys that might get slightly overpaid. He's somewhere in the range of about three and a half to four million dollars. I think he could, you know, depending on the market for him and who's really going after him, I think he could get up to as much as five a year. I hope that he doesn't, and I hope the Colts could scoop him up.

He would really enjoy playing, I think, inside, you know, on the turf in Indianapolis. But that basically at running back, that's the guy I want, period. I mean, unless that you think Eddie Lacy would be worth it, 26 years old, he'd be expensive. He's not getting paid much right now, but his market value is still going to be there, you know, unless he doesn't last, unless he just gets picky and doesn't sign anywhere. Maybe Eddie Lacy's overrated a little

bit. That's possible. But, you know, Christine Michael, he would be a nice backup, backup plan. But I think the Colts are just about bit about better off just grabbing Turbin rolling with Jordan Todman as their third guy who can play special teams but if they can get Latavius Murray everything else is out the door it doesn't make a difference you take Latavius Murray in a heartbeat if if it's me and and you do what you got to do I don't think that there's any two ways around that. Wide receiver, there's a few guys here that fall in this range.

Terrell Pryor in Cleveland, he's interesting, but you just hear so much about what a jerk he is and everything. I don't want that in the Colts locker room. Maybe that's overstated a little bit as far as dueling personalities, so to speak, but I don't think it is. You don't want a guy who's pissing people off in the locker room all the time or anything like that. If his teammates love him and he's just a jerk to the opposition, whatever. I couldn't care less, as long as he's not costing the team any flags. You know, we don't need anybody like that. We don't need a Terrell

Owens attitude on the team. You know, if he wants to produce like Terrell Owens attitude on the team. If he wants to produce like Terrell Owens and have the attitude, we may have to let that slide, but otherwise, no thanks. Another guy here who is 24 years old, 726 yards, 17 yards a catch, nine scores on the season, Kenny Stills out of Miami. He's going to probably be one of those guys who gets overpaid. If he doesn't, I think the Colts need to really put a hurting on him. I just can't trust right now that Moncrief's going to stay healthy. I think that Stills is very similar to a Moncrief. You know, skill set could be debatable back and forth, but he's built similar to him. He's got the speed.

He's a good hands catcher. I want a guy like that on my team. Also, Robert Woods, he's 24. For some reason, he's going to be expensive out of Buffalo. But they need one of these younger guys if they're going to get anybody. Otherwise, I think that, you know, pretty much what they've got is okay, but we really need Dorsett to step up and play to his complete and total ceiling. Because if he doesn't, the Colts are absolutely screwed,

and that's not going to help anything at all. Because we can't go back and forth uh to and from you know all these guys it's just not it's just not working now uh other than that as far as like offensive linemen and stuff i i think that the colts could use one more guy uh whether they want to do it now or somewhere in the draft. I'm kind of on the fence about that, but I personally don't have a great grasp on ranking a lot of these guys because I don't know a ton about them, but I'll give you some guys that are in that mid-20s range. You can kind of think about them what you want to think about them. Luke Jokels, 25 out of Jacksonville. Chance Wormack, 25, out of Tennessee.

Ron Leary, 27, out of Dallas. Kevin Zietler, 26, out of Cincinnati. Tim Lolito, 27, out of New Orleans. Austin Pastor, 26, out of Cleveland. And Eric Cush, 27, out of Chicago. Larry Warford, out of Detroit, he's 25. There's a few other guys, but they've also got Hugh Thornton sitting on IR or was sitting on IR this year.

If they really just want another body, I think they should just sign him for the league minimum and kind of move on. I guess that's like guard, but if you want a tackle or if you're looking for that kind of a guy to bring in, you've got Mike Remmers out of Carolina, Byron Bell out of Tennessee, both 27. Jordan Mills, 26, out of Buffalo. And there's really just Earl Watford, 26, out of Arizona. There's a few guys on here.

Ricky Wagner, 27, out of Baltimore. Like I said, I don't know a ton about those guys, but that's the age range we're looking for. And these guys hopefully are looking at them on tape and seeing what they can do. And hopefully that they're some quality linemen, if that's the case. Otherwise, I would almost prefer that they just took a guy, and I don't want a project either. I don't want a lineman in the first few rounds, but if they can get a guy who's I don't want a project either. I don't want alignment in the first few rounds, but if they can get a guy who's just sitting there,

who's a really quality technical right tackle, I think that they take him, or left tackle for that matter. They really need a solid guy that's going to be able to back up Costanzo for the next few years. He's been largely healthy. We don't know how long that's going to last. A lot of people want to talk down about Costanzo for the next few years. He's been largely healthy. We don't know how long that's going to last. You know, a lot of people want to talk down about Costanzo. But let me tell you, if he wasn't on this offensive line, it would have been even worse and considerably worse had he not been on this team. So always consider that when you're talking about the

quality of the offensive line. It's not great. He's had bad games, no doubt. But it would be absolute garbage trash on the left side if Costanzo wasn't there a lot of the time. So now, with all of that, here's the guys that I want the Colts to bring in. This is a wish list almost. Melvin Ingram, outside linebacker. Zach Brown at inside linebacker. A.J. Boye at corner. Nick Farrelly at defensive tackle. Latavius Murray at running back. If I could bring in the right amount of people for the right amount of money, that's what I would bring

in. That would bring us into about $34 million of that $59-plus million that the Colts have available. That, I think, is a pretty damn good pull in free agency, and they can do quite a bit more than that through the draft. But like I said, the Colts only have seven-plus, maybe eight picks. They can't redo everything with that. So they've got to pull in some guys they've already got on staff, and they've got to bring in some quality guys. If they could only bring in three of those guys, give me Bouye,

Zach Brown, and Melvin Ingram. Other than that, I'll live without the rest because defensive line to me is a process here. They've got some guys working it in, and running back isn't nearly the need that some people apparently think that it is. And that would be right around $26 million for all those guys, and that's kind of low ball for the most part, so maybe $27 to $28 total. But that's what I got for my ideal free agency poll. Thank you guys for joining me. If you guys have any questions about any of this stuff, feel free to hit me up at LockedOnColts on Twitter,

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deal and I'd really appreciate it. Thank you guys for stopping by with me today and that's it for the week. Thank you and we will talk again next week right here on Locked on Colts. You are Locked on Colts, your daily podcast on the Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.