The Colts added another former 49er to the defensive line, signing Day to a one-year deal. There is a clear motivation to improve the defensive line as much as possible.
Another day, another former 49er defensive lineman is headed to Indy. This time it’s Sheldon Day. The defensive tackle has been signed to a one-year contract, and he is now on his third team in five years. Day should help an interior that was extremely poor last season.
Day’s numbers don’t jump off the page at you. He only has 6 career sacks in four seasons in the league, including just one last year as a member of the 49ers. In fact, he only has 53 career tackles. But his production can be a little misleading in terms of his impact on the game.
Day is beefy at 6’1 294 pounds. He is an interior tackle that can help push the pocket back and plug up running holes. Day wasn’t signed to make a massive impact as much as he was signed to help out with depth along the defensive line to improve their rotation.
Signing Day to just a one-year deal also preserves future cap space. We all know how much Chris Ballard loves his cap space. With players such as Ryan Kelly, Malik Hooker, and T.Y. Hilton needed an extension next season, it makes sense to leave as much space as possible around.
The Colts are clearly trying to win in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Their offensive line was already one of the best in the league, and now they are trying to mold their defensive line in a similar fashion. It will be interesting to see how the work that d-line rotation.
DeForest Buckner, Denico Autry, and Justin Houston would seem to get the most playing time along the line. Day, Kemoko Turay, and Ben Bangogu seem likely to get a ton of time as well. Next season will be a lot of fun to see how the d-line rotation plays out.