AFC South Notes: Mosley, Jaguars, Texans

While the Colts have shown considerable restraint in free agency during Chris Ballard‘s three offseasons as GM, continuing this year despite the team’s league-high cap space figure, they did identify a position they wanted. They just didn’t fill it until the draft. Previously mentioned as one of C.J. Mosley‘s many suitors, the Colts made a “serious” run at the inside linebacker in March, Albert Breer of SI.com notes. Clearly, Ballard was not prepared to go as high as the Jets did — $17MM AAV — for the sixth-year linebacker. The Colts were not mentioned as a finalist for Mosley, with the Ravens increasing their offer before Mosley opted for New York.

Indianapolis wanted a three-down linebacker to pair with Darius Leonard and is encouraged by third-round pick Bobby Okereke‘s outlook early, Breer adds. Known more (at this point) for Pat McAfee’s announcement of his Colts arrival, Okereke being longer and bigger than Devin White or Devin Bush (though not by much at 6-foot-1, 239 pounds) was important to Ballard’s staff — just as Leonard’s frame appealed to the Colts last year.

Here is the latest news coming out of the AFC South:

• Continuing with the Colts, the team’s decision to trade out of the first round and pick up a 2020 second-rounder in the process earned praise by multiple NFL executives as the best move of the draft, Mike Sando of ESPN.com writes (ESPN+ link). The Colts acquiring the Redskins’ 2020 second-rounder strikes the anonymous execs as a value move, given that Washington’s picks are likely to be higher than Indianapolis’ next year, and labeled moving out of a late first-round spot this year was savvy given the top-heavy makeup of the 2019 class. The Colts chose Rock Ya-Sin, Ben Banogu and Parris Campbell in the second round.
• The Jaguars‘ Josh Allen pick will protect them in the event prospective negotiations with Yannick Ngakoue escalate to an undesirable price point, offers another exec (via Sando). Ngakoue left Jaguars workouts in a likely contract-related maneuver. The defensive end became extension-eligible this year, but talks are not believed to have begun yet. The Jaguars already have Calais Campbell making $15MM per year, but given the new deals handed to Frank Clark and DeMarcus Lawrence, Ngakoue will likely aim higher than Campbell’s pact when the time comes. Allen is locked into his rookie contract until 2022. Conversely, an exec from a team in need of a pass rusher said his team did not have Allen graded particularly high. Said exec viewed the Kentucky product may end up as an off-ball linebacker at some point.
• A year ago, the Texans hired John Ritcher from the Jets to be their southeast area scout. They have now promoted him to a national scout, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle notes. Ritcher joins Mozique McCurtis as the Texans’ national scouts.