Indianapolis Colts: 5 Realistic targets in 2019 NFL free agency

4. Markus Golden, DE

If DeMarcus Lawrence hits free agency, you can slot his name here. However, Dallas Cowboys‘ owner Jerry Jones has shown the willingness to pay whatever amount of money it takes to keep his team competitive, so Lawrence will likely get franchise tagged or receive a high-dollar extension. They have plenty of good run defenders, but they could use an every-down pass rusher like Markus Golden.

Golden has dealt with injuries the past couple of years, but, during his last healthy season in 2016, he ran up 12.5 sacks to go with 22 quarterback hits. He would give them a legitimate presence on the edge that opposing teams would have to pay attention to during their game planning. The Colts did an ok job of scheming pressure last year, but they don’t have any players on the roster that can just go and get to the quarterback on a regular basis.

Good pass rushers are normally going to cost around $15 million per year. Golden might come a little cheaper than that due to the down couple of seasons that he has had, but he will likely still be at least a $12 million per year player.

This pass-rushing class doesn’t have the raw talent that other classes have had, but Golden is one of the better ones that the Colts can bring aboard.