Billy Winn indicates he will not be re-signed by Colts

As the start of the new league year and free agency quickly approaches, teams are making decisions on which players to re-sign and which ones to let walk.  Based on Billy Winn's recent instagram post, it appears the Colts may be letting the defensive lineman test free agency and not opt to re-sign him.

Colts.com's Kevin Bowen took a screenshot of Winn's post (his account is private) and tweeted out the following:

From DE-Billy Winn’s instagram. He was one of the 12 unrestricted free agents for the Colts this offseason pic.twitter.com/gc5PvS8jWz

— Kevin Bowen (@KBowenColts) February 22, 2016

The text reads: "Would like to thank the #Indianapolis #Colts organization for the opportunity.  It's been a blessing to live the #NFL journey for 4 great years.  Let's hope there are more to come.  #footballislife #grind #Truth #freeagency"

The post would appear to indicate that Winn won't be returning to the Colts in 2016.  He did a solid job last year whenever he was asked to step in, capably holding his own along the defensive line.  He was acquired by the Colts in a trade with Browns shortly before the season began, and he played in 12 games (starting three) for the Colts in 2015, recording 14 tackles and two fumble recoveries.   His season ended a few weeks early, however, as he was placed on injured reserve with a torn rotator cuff in mid-December.  In his career, Winn has played in 51 games (starting 21) and has recorded 92 tackles, three sacks, five passes defensed, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries.

Winn played well enough in 2015 and was a solid depth piece, but it's still not a huge surprise if the Colts truly do plan to move on from him.  The Colts' defensive line already has Henry Anderson, Kendall Langford, David Parry, and Arthur Jones, as well as other depth guys like Zach Kerr and T.Y. McGill, among others.  The defensive line, then, is an area where the Colts do have some depth, which makes re-signing Billy Winn less of a priority.  Hopefully he's able to find a job somewhere with a team in a similar role to the one he had last year in Indy, as he did a pretty solid job there overall.  It appears based on today's instagram post from Winn, however, that he won't be back in Indy.