Indianapolis Colts cornerback Greg Toler (28) celebrates a play against the Oakland Raiders at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts won 21-17. Mandatory Credit: Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports
Indianapolis Colts No. 2 cornerback Greg Toler was a solid offseason signing for the Colts, and he’s had a solid year when he’s been healthy. Unfortunately, health has been difficult to come by for Toler this season, as he missed seven weeks of the regular season with a groin injury and was placed on the injured reserve after aggravating his groin injury against the Kansas City Chiefs (he was also roasted in coverage repeatedly in that contest).
Cassius Vaughn was the man who replaced Toler as the Colts No. 2 CB whenever the former Arizona Cardinals starter was out with the groin injury, and it’s clear that Vaughn, who is an impending free agent, is a heckuva lot worse than Toler. Although Toler is no Vontae Davis, who did an excellent job by and large as the team’s No. 1 corner last season, he was good when healthy and is an important player due to the lack of depth at the position. Due to his inability to stay healthy, the Colts will need to look into getting some more depth at corner in the offseason, because they would be in a huge pinch if either Davis or Toler went down with an injury.
According to Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star, Toler will have surgery on his torn groin and is expected to have a four-week recovery timetable and won’t miss OTAs. Many fans would like the Colts to cut their losses and release Toler due to his injury issues, but they simply don’t have enough depth at the position to release a quality veteran who may have just been suffering from one nagging injury that won’t be repeated again. It would be very imprudent to cut Toler, even if he is owed a significant chunk of cash going forward. If he struggles with injuries or regresses next season, then the Colts can talk about releasing him.