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Indianapolis Colts: Should they bring back Dwight Freeney?

By Federico Ferrari

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After 11 years with the Indianapolis Colts and two years with the San Diego Chargers Dwight Freeney is now a free agent. Despite some early speculation about a re-signing with the Chargers, general manager Tom Telesco announced that the team wasn’t interested in bringing back the veteran pass rusher in 2015, per ESPN reporter Eric Williams (via Twitter):

After so many years in the league there was the possibility for him to retire but Freeney is not ready to call it quits on an already great career. The following statement was released by the 7-time Pro Bowler to Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego earlier this month:

I could retire tomorrow and still be happy with what I’ve done in this league. But I think I have a lot in the tank as well. It’s one of those things where I’m going to wait for the right situation to come across the table.

Could that “right situation” be a return to Indy? It could very well be, in my opinion. The 35-year old veteran is obviously limited as a football player at this stage of his career but he can be as good a contributor as any in the role of a situational pass rusher.

Even if the Colts focused on improving their run defense, a unit that ranked 18th in yards allowed per game in 2014, there’s always room for an extra pass rusher on a roster since getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks is extremely important, especially in today’s NFL.

With Kendall Langford and Nate Irving in for run support and a healthy Dwight Freeney and a healthy Robert Mathis the Colts’ defense could be scary…really scary.

A lot of people will say that they’re too old to compete at a high level but two players with the talent of Freeney and Mathis are dangerous on every snap no matter what.

Freeney was drafted 11th overall in the 2002 NFL draft and In his 11 years with the Colts the three-time First Team All-Pro recorded a grand total of 107.5 sacks, most of them thanks to his signature spin move that has been (and still is) a nightmare for many offensive linemen. His 111.5 career sacks currently rank him 20th in the all-time list, a half-sack ahead of former (and possibly future) teammate Robert Mathis.

Injuries slowed him down in the past few years but Freeney showed that he can still be productive, when healthy:

In the 2007-2011 time span Freeney failed to rank in the top-ten of 4-3 defensive ends just once, in 2011, while finishing first overall in 2009, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Money shouldn’t be a problem as the Colts sit at $11, 400,210 under the cap, per OverTheCap.com. Sign Freeney to a one-year, $1/$1.5 million deal and see how much he’s got left in the tank for 2015. If his body isn’t ready for the stress of another NFL season he can, if anything, retire a Colt.

Next: Grading Colts' signing of LB Nate Irving

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