While all of us are glued to Twitter and PFT looking for news about Jerry Hughes getting signed or whether or not Reggie Wayne and Robert Mathis showed up for the start of training camp, Adam Shefter of ESPN was working his butt off by providing us this little nugget:
A nice little pickup for Indianapolis. Former Steelers cornerback Deshea Townsend signed with the Indianapolis Colts.
Very solid pick-up! For a team that is thin at corner behind starters Kelvin Hayden and Jerraud Powers, Townsend offers a strong, veteran presence that should help round out the secondary. Townsend will likely battle with Jacob Lacey for the nickelback spot.
Signing Townsend tells us the Colts themselves are aware of their weakness in the secondary. Powers, Hayden, and Lacey are all good. After them, the situation gets dicey. Adding Townsend helps level things out a bit.
Deshea has been in the league a long time, drafted the same year as Peyton Manning (1998). He's been a stalwart for the Pittsburgh Steelers for the past twelve years. He was the starting corner on the 2005 team that won the Super Bowl 40. This means that he was indeed wearing black and gold when Mike Vanderjadt hooked that 48-yarder in the Divisional Round of the 2005 Playoffs between the Steelers and Colts.
With Townsend signed, it likely means the Colts now have little to know interest in acquiring former-Ravens corner Frank Walker.