Report: Colts have had talks with Zach Brown

In recent days, we’ve seen a number of reports about the Colts’ interest in inside linebackers on the free agent market. Yesterday, they reportedly visited with Cardinals linebacker Kevin Minter. Then today, it was reported that the Colts had also visited with Titans linebacker Sean Spence and Lions linebacker Jon Bostic.

We can add another name to the list of linebackers the Colts are interested in, as NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport tweeted tonight that Bills linebacker Zach Brown, who is visiting with the Raiders, “has also had talks with the Colts about a potential deal.”

Brown was drafted in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans, where he played from 2012-2015, and after that he wound up signing a one-year deal with the Buffalo Bills - where he had a career season, being named a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro in 2016. He has played in 65 career games and started 49 of them, recording 410 tackles, 14 sacks, four forced fumbles, 17 passes defensed, and seven interceptions (two returned for touchdowns). In 2016, he started all 16 games and recorded 149 tackles, four sacks, two forced fumbles, four passes defensed, and an interception.

He’s a very good player and we might see him decide where to go soon, since Dont’a Hightower made his decision today. The Raiders have him in for a visit, but it sounds like the Colts have interest too. That makes sense, as the Colts are thin at inside linebacker and really need to upgrade that position. They have Edwin Jackson and Antonio Morrison, but not much else - so the Colts need to address the area. The good news is that it seems like Chris Ballard realizes that, and we’ve now heard of four inside linebackers that the Colts have interest in - three who have visited the team and another who they’ve talked with.

The bottom line? Expect the Colts to make a move at inside linebacker sooner rather than later.