Report: Colts have interest in defensive end Jack Crawford

We’ll likely be hearing about a number of players the Colts may or may not be interested in over the coming days, as free agent talk will really begin ramping up with the NFL Combine coming to a close.

One such player the Colts might have interest in is Cowboys defensive end Jack Crawford. According to Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole, the Colts are one of five teams interested in Crawford in free agency, along with the Cowboys, Bills, and Jaguars (and presumedly another mystery team Cole didn’t mention, since he said five teams and listed four).

Crawford was drafted in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL Draft out of Penn State by the Oakland Raiders, and he spent two seasons in Oakland before he was waived during the 2014 preseason. He soon found a spot with the Cowboys, however, and has played for them the past three years. In total, Crawford has spent five seasons in the NFL and has played in 57 games and made eleven starts (with ten of those coming last year). He’s recorded 72 tackles, 9.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. By far his most extensive workload came in 2016, when he played in all 16 games and started ten for the Cowboys, recording 25 tackles and 3.5 sacks. But at the same time, as Big Cat Country noted, “Pro Football Focus ranked him 106th out of 109 qualifying EDGE defenders.”

Here’s the deal: if the Colts were to sign Jack Crawford, it should be as depth and as a situational guy who can step in and start when need be but who ideally wouldn’t be the clear-cut starter. The Colts could use depth all over the defense, though, so that’s not a bad thing to target either. With Chris Ballard, I’d expect the Colts to focus a lot on some of these mid-tier free agent guys that would add depth and - a Ballard favorite - competition to the roster. Just don’t expect them to be the answer to the team’s problems or exciting moves for fans.