Dec 14, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Ricky Jean Francois (99) reacts to making a quarterback sack against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
The Indianapolis Colts announced today that they have parted ways with defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois. This is another in a growing list of cost saving moves by the Colts.
The Colts will save $4.875 million against the cap by releasing Jean-Francois.
The defensive tackle was brought in to be a starter, but never really played like one. He was a rotational player who was simply making too much money.
We took a look at potential cap casualties since the season ended and RJF was certainly a candidate.
RJF posted 28 tackles, four for a loss, and three sacks in 2015. He also defended six passes and recovered a fumble last season.
The Colts appear to be stock piling cap space for one of two tasks. They are either going to spend a ton of money in free agency in an attempt to win the Super Bowl next season. Or they are saving money to sign all of the 2012 draftees, chief among them being Andrew Luck.
With the release of Jean-Francois, the need for defensive line help jumps to the top of the list next to safety. The line was already a concern given up badly the Patriots have run all over it in their past three meetings.
Today we also learned that the cap is going to be higher in 2015 than previously expected:
The union projects the cap to at least $143M. The NFL gave clubs one in Dec. at $138.5M, which was intentionally low for budgeting purposes.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) February 23, 2015
The Colts will have nearly $40 million in cap space to work with in 2015. There are a number of free agent targets the team surely has their sights set on.
With this amount of cap, the Colts will likely be one of the most active teams in free agency this offseason.
This is an important offseason for GM Ryan Grigson. The Colts budget is about to get a lot tighter and they need to nail not only free agency but also the draft.