Colts considering signing Tank Johnson and trading for Gerard Warren

Tank can offer you a discount on some slightly used Uzis if you are interested. Oh, and he can play DT for you for about half the season too.

If you watched last night's pre-season game between Miami and KC (and if you are a starved football dork like me-- you did) you saw ESPN's Chris Mortenson talk prior to the game about the Colts. He stated that the Colts are interested in signing former Bears DT Tank Johnson and possibly trading for Denver DT Gerard Warren. Remember, Johnson is suspended for the first 8 games of the regular season because he spent some time in a prison shower with two dudes named Jamal and Jose. And Gerard Warren, while not convicted of a crime as far as I know, is a known lazy bastard.

What surprsied me out of all this was Mortenson said Bears coach Lovie Smith sang Tank's praises to Tony Dungy, and that Lovie's love of Tank is a big reason the Colts are considering signing him. I'd always assumed Lovie was a big reason Tank was no longer a Bear, but I guess that had more to do with Bears GM Jerry Angelo.

If Johnson (25 years old) is signed, I'd imagine he'd get a 3-4 year deal with some serious behavior clauses. The Colts were burned big time by the lies of Corey Simon. They do not want to repeat that scenario again this time with a known ciminal. Also, his first year salary would need several incentives, and rated as if he's playing only half the season (which he is).

The one thing holding this up isn't Tank Johnson but actually Bill Polian. Apparently, he and Dungy like what they are seeing out of rookie DTs Ed Johnson and Quinn Pitcock. However, let's be realistic here: The Colts need depth at DT BAD!.

I'm very interested to see how this plays out. I'm fine with the Colts going out and getting some depth at DT, but these two guys need to prove to me that they are willing to come to Indy with a strong work ethic and a clean rap.