Possible Colts free agent target: Za’Darius Smith

From his first days in office, Chris Ballard has been transparent about his approach to free agency, “eventually what you would like to happen is you are paying your own guys.” With big paydays awaiting some Colts over the next couple of years, it makes sense to start saving up some cash.

Players like Anthony Castonzo (‘19), Ryan Kelly (‘19 but there is 5th-year clause), Eric Ebron(‘19), T.Y. Hilton (‘20) and Andrew Luck (‘21) are gonna require some major cash if the Colts choose to bring them back.

However, with $105 million in the bank, the Colts have more than enough to re-sign their own, and maybe make a splash in the free agent market. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a possible target.

Za’Darius Smith

Smith finished the season with 8.5 sacks and 45 tackles. He might scare some away due to the low numbers and the fact that his second-highest sack count was 5.5, during his rookie year. However, with 24 QB hits (equal to Demarcus Lawrence), his theoretical sack count is around 11, much higher than his recorded amount.

The Ravens have to pay talented defensive players like Pro Bowler C.J. Mosley and legend Terrell Suggs. The national media seems to have realized that the Colts want nothing to do with Le’Veon Bell, and it seems like the Ravens are the new favorite to land him.

With that in mind, the Colts certainly could offer Smith a hefty paycheck and pry him to Indy, but I’m not sure if they should. A few days ago Zach Hicks broke down Smith’s tape in a much more in depth piece. You should read it here. To borrow from his analysis, Smith rushed very well from the inside (against both run and pass) and very poorly from the outside to go along with a lot of missed tackles. He is, in short, a younger Denico Autry with a little more upside.

Overall, no sense paying $15-17 million dollars for something the Colts already have.

The probability of signing with the Colts: Average, he could go to the Colts or he could go elsewhere. I think he may like to head to Indy just because of the surplus of money, but I am unsure if the feeling is mutual.