The Indianapolis Colts have started making progress towards improving the team for 2015. Today, that began with a list of cuts.
First on the chopping block was safety LaRon Landry. He was quickly joined by tackle Xavier Nixon and linebacker Andrew Jackson.
Here we go.... #Colts released LaRon Landry, Andrew Jackson and Xavier Nixon.
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) February 11, 2015
None of these players made much of an impact in 2014 and the argument could be made (easily) that Landry was detrimental to the team on the field.
The simple fact with Landry was that he was owed $4.75 million in 2015 and $5.75 million in 2016. He isn’t worth anything close to either of those amounts. The Colts will save $2.1 million in cap space by cutting Landry. We recently took a look at what cutting Landry would mean for the team financially.
Landry played fairly well in the second half of the season, but he was once again a liability in the playoffs.
All three players suffered from incidents that were detrimental to the team.
Landry also served a suspension this season and sat out four games for violating the league’s performance enhancing drugs policy. Considering Landry’s physique, it was the least surprising suspension in the history of the NFL.
Nixon put himself on thin ice when he missed the team flight to the AFC Championship game. He also spent most of the season on the IR Designated to Return list.
Jackson was arrested for a DUI in Kentucky just a few days after the end of the season. It was the second DUI in a year for the rookie.
This round of cuts leaves the Colts bare at the safety position. Mike Adams is a free agent (although he’s likely to re-sign) and the Colts will once again be looking to find a solution at the position.
There will likely be more cuts from the Colts before the start of the 2015 season on March 10 (looking at you, Trent Richardson).