With a boatload of cap space at their disposal, the Colts are in position to act aggressively on the open market this year. Already linked to high-end free agents-to-be like A.J. Bouye, Dontari Poe, Nick Perry and Kevin Zeitler, the club also has genuine interest in pass rusher Jabaal Sheard, tweets Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star.
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Sheard, whom PFR’s Dallas Robinson ranks as the second-best edge defender in the 2017 free agent class (behind Perry), has served as a more-than-capable rusher in both Cleveland and New England during his six-year career. All told, Sheard has piled up 36 sacks, including 13 over the past two seasons with the Patriots.
Despite ranking 22nd in the NFL in quarterback hurries in 2016, Sheard endured a somewhat rocky year with the Super Bowl champions. In the midst of following an eight-sack, four-forced fumble 2015 with a five-sack, zero-forced fumble campaign, Sheard was a healthy scratch for the Patriots’ Week 11 win over San Francisco. Head coach Bill Belichick sat Sheard for performance-related reasons, though he did end up partaking in the rest of the Pats’ regular-season games and their playoff run.
Sheard is now on the verge of hitting free agency for the second time since 2015, when he landed a two-year, $11MM deal. In Indianapolis, he’d figure to bolster a pass rush that tied for 19th in the league in sacks and finished dead last in hurries in 2016.