Colts Reportedly Interested in Pass Rusher Brian Orakpo

According to Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports, the Indianapolis Colts will talk to Washington Redskins pass rusher Brian Orakpo and his representation later this week:

Earlier, we considered Orakpo one of our “5 Frontline Free Agents to Avoid” for the Colts. It’s not because of a lack of talent, but Orakpo has been incredibly injury prone in recent seasons:

"“The former 2009 first round pick out of Texas suffered a season-ending torn pectoral in Week 7 of this past season, but only had 0.5 of a sack before the injury. For Orakpo, he’s now torn his pectoral in 2 of the past 3 seasons and has missed 24 total games during that span. It actually marks the 3rd time that Orakpo has suffered the same pectoral injury in his NFL career too.”"

Unless it’s on a 1-year “prove it” deal and at a significantly discounted price tag, Orakpo poses way too many injury red flags for my personal liking. The 28-year old pass rusher is still young enough to turn his career around, but the Colts can’t afford to pay big money to a defensive player who’s never actually on the field.

While the team could clearly use another pass rusher with Robert Mathis being 34 years old and coming off a season-ending achilles injury, signing Orakpo would figure to be a highly risky proposition. Even before his own season-ending injury, Orakpo wasn’t all that effective with 0.5 sacks in the Redskins first 6 games. It’s a fair question of whether all the injuries have taken their toll and if Orakpo is still the same player he once was when he registered 10 sacks in 2013.

On a discounted contract, maybe it’s worth a roll of the dice. Otherwise, it would seem to be a big gamble for the Colts, especially given Orakpo’s health and production last season.

Dec 22, 2013; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins outside linebacker Brian Orakpo (98) prepares to run onto the field prior to the Redskins game.