According to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Caplan, former Indianapolis Colts 2013 first round pick Bjoern Werner has signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars:
#Jaguars signed former #Colts DE/OLB Bjoern Werner.
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) May 11, 2016
The 6’3″, 255 pound pass rusher was released by the Colts earlier this offseason after three seasons of ineffectiveness and injuries. The 3-year veteran had 81 tackles and 6.5 sacks while with the Colts.
While Werner is a native of Berlin, Germany, he did play his collegiate football at Florida State University in Tallahassee, which is just a 2 hour and 30 minute drive from Jacksonville, Florida along I-10 East. In that sense, it’s a bit of a homecoming for Werner.
Both the Colts and Werner desperately needed a fresh start. It was clear that Werner was never going to live up to his high draft billing with the Colts and had clearly fallen out of favor in the outside linebacker rotation.
Meanwhile, Werner played his best football at Florida State with two hands in the dirt, and there’s an argument to be made of whether he was somewhat miscast as a free-standing pass rushing outside linebacker in the Colts 3-4 defensive scheme.
If nothing else, he figures to be a better strongside linebacker for his new team against the run than a pass rushing outside linebacker that he was initially envisioned to be by the Colts.
For the Colts, they’ll get to face their former first round pick twice next season with one of the games being held in London.