Willie McGinest: Colts are Tamba Hali’s ‘Ideal Landing Spot’
According to NFL Network’s Willie McGinest, the Indianapolis Colts are the ideal landing spot for Kansas City Chiefs soon-to-be free agent pass rusher Tamba Hali:
"“I like Tamba Hali, and I like him in Indianapolis,” said McGinest. “You always talk about a guy that can impact the game from the line of scrimmage. Somebody that they need. They brought in Trent Cole last year, (it) really didn’t work out too much. They got Mathis back, but if you play Tamba Hali, I’ll tell you I’d like to go to war with him against anybody. He’s fierce. He plays the trenches. And they (Kansas City Chiefs) won’t be able to re-sign both him and Derrick Johnson back again…Great fit for him is Indianapolis.”"
Of course, Willie McGinest knows pass rushers. Love him or probably hate him, the former New England Patriots standout pass rusher was a 2x Pro Bowler and 4x Super Bowl Champion (ugh), frequently terrorizing quarterbacks throughout his 15-year NFL career.
The 32 year old Hali is coming off a 6.5 sack season with the Chiefs, in which he also recorded 48 tackles and 2 forced fumbles in 15 regular season games.
However, that doesn’t tell the entire story regarding Hali’s pass rushing success this past season.
According to ProFootballFocus (subscription), Hali was the NFL’s 5th best 3-4 outside linebacker with a +35.2 grade overall. Specifically, his +28.4 pass rush grade was the 4th best in the entire league at his position.
Not to mention, Hali was 7th in total QB hits with 10 total hits and 2nd only to Oakland Raiders superstar Khalil Mack in total QB hurries with 55 total hurries on the season.
Originally a 2006 first round pick of the Chiefs, Hali has consistently become one of the NFL’s best pass rushers as a 6x Pro Bowler, 2x Second-Team All-Pro, and NFL Sacks Leader (2010).
Hali ranks 48th in NFL career sacks with 86.0 career sacks in 10 NFL seasons.
While Hali played on a $4.9M cap number this past season, he’s figures to get a significant pay raise once he hits the open market. The prolific pass rusher’s age is a bit of a concern, but veteran pass rushers such as DeMarcus Ware and Dwight Freeney have recently shown us that the position still ages considerably well.
Still, the Colts signed a highly regarding veteran pass rusher last offseason in Trent Cole, yet didn’t ultimately receive the pass rushing production the team initially anticipated. Cole finished with just 3.0 sacks and didn’t really make much of an impact until late in the season–finishing with 3.0 sacks in his final 5 games.
It’s possible that the Colts could cut Cole this offseason and use the $6.125M in cap savings toward signing another veteran pass rusher such as Hali.
Regardless of whether Hali is actually a realistic target, the Colts defense desperately needs to upgrade their pass rush. The defense tied for the 22nd least amount of sacks with 35.0 sacks this past season.
As the Denver Broncos showed by winning the Super Bowl, a relentless pass rush can really solve a lot of a defense’s problems and ultimately dominate football games.
Right now, outside of a 34 year old Robert Mathis and Cole (if he returns), the Colts really lack proven pass rushers. Signing someone such as Hali could go a long way toward improving the Colts pass rush going forward, but whether he’s actually a realistic possibility remains to be seen.