For Colts, 5 Frontline Free Agents to Avoid

Aug 7, 2014; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins outside linebacker Brian Orakpo (98) celebrates after sacking New England Patriots quarterback Ryan Mallett (not pictured) in the first quarter at FedEx Field. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Number 4: Brian Orakpo, Outside Linebacker

Player: Brian Orakpo

Age: 28

Ht/Wt: 6’4″, 257 pounds

Buyers Remorse: Big on name recognition, but the once heralded star young pass rusher for the Washington Redskins has been injury prone over his past 3 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.

For a 28-year old player looking to cash in on a lucrative long-term contract, Orakpo poses a major risk because of his injury history.  The Redskins franchise tagged him last offseason, but will probably let him walk after a disappointing season that saw him end on injured reserve yet again.

The Indianapolis Colts do have the cap room to make a major push for a pass rusher like Orakpo, and as mentioned, they could use one. In his case; however, it doesn’t appear they should really want to. He likely wants to make quite a bit of money, but given his injury history and production as of late, it would appear to be too risky of a proposition for the Colts.

Unless it’s on a 1-year “prove it” deal, similar to the one the Colts signed last season with wideout Hakeem Nicks, then Orakpo should be avoided entirely.