Who Could Be the Next Salary Cap Casualties for Colts?
Art Jones, Defensive Lineman
The releasing of Art Jones seems pretty likely right now, as cutting the oft-injured veteran defensive lineman would save the Colts $5.15M in cap space for 2017.
Since signing a 5-year, $33 million deal with the Colts in the 2014 offseason, Jones has missed 31 games over the past three seasons–including the entire 2015 regular season and simply hasn’t seen the field enough to make any sort of meaningful impact.
In addition to a number of ankle injuries, Jones was also suspended the first four games of last season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
The 30 year old appeared in 8 games for the Colts last season–recording 30 total tackles, but was eventually shut down near season’s end because of injuries.
Out of all of the Colts potential cuts, Jones release seems like the most likely. In fact, it would be pretty surprising if he’s still a member of the team come next season.
In theory, Jones could help the Colts as a ‘run-suffer’. Problem is, that simply hasn’t happened as he’s been hurt too often to see the field.