Colts Should Strongly Consider These Top 7 Free Agents

7. A.J. Bouye, Cornerback, Houston Texans

Stop it, I know what you’re thinking already. 

Why would the Colts pay for another high priced cornerback, when opposing quarterbacks already have enough time to set up camp in their backfield and pick the Indianapolis secondary apart–having the luxury of facing a non-existent Colts pass rush.

However, 25 year old standout cover cornerbacks rarely hit the market, and A.J. Bouye could be one of the few exceptions as the Houston Texans have roughly $24 million of cap space and are already paying Johnathan Joseph and Kareem Jackson some big money at the position.

Originally signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent, the 6’0″, 191 pound cornerback appeared in 15 games (11 starts) for the 2016 AFC South Champions, recording 63 tackles, 1.0 sack, and an interception in what was a breakout campaign.

Per Pro Football Focus (subscription), Bouye was rated as their 3rd best cornerback with a +90.9 grade overall.

Besides making him one of the highest paid cornerbacks in football, the only other downside to the 4th-year cornerback is that he only has had one season where he’s played at an elite level–meaning there’s some ‘buyer beware’ here.

That being said, the Colts have clearly struggled finding another cornerback to pair on the other side of Vontae Davis in the starting lineup, as Patrick Robinson suffered an injury plagued debut this past season, while Greg Toler battled both injuries and ineffectiveness even earlier.

While it’s a lot of cap space invested into the position, it may not be necessarily for long, as with Davis playing in the last year of his Colts contract, Indianapolis could potentially let the veteran walk at season’s end (especially if he has another down season) and allow Bouye to take over the reigns as the team’s new number one cornerback going forward.