The Indianapolis Colts are taking a shot on veteran cornerback Xavier Rhodes, hoping he will be able to bounce back from one of the worst seasons of his career in 2019.
The Colts signed Rhodes to a one-year deal after releasing Pierre Desir, who quickly signed with the New York Jets. Now, Rhodes will be a part of a starters trio with Rock Ya-Sin and Kenny Moore.
Role
The Colts signed Rhodes to compete for a starting job on the boundary. This won’t keep them from drafting a cornerback in April to compete with him, but Rhodes is currently at the top of the depth chart on the boundary across from Ya-Sin.
Rhodes is likely to be a starter entering training camp and after an injury-riddled and tough season in 2019, he will be looking to regain his form.
He had plenty of struggles during the season when working on an island. Those struggles likely won’t be highlighted often given the fact that the Colts run a zone-heavy scheme, typically some variation of Cover-2—or Cover-3 if they go single high.
Having a zone-heavy scheme will benefit Rhodes plenty as he can still press at the line but keep his eyes in the backfield when looking to make a play on the ball.
Contract
The details of the contract haven’t been released yet but Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that the deal is the range of somewhere around $5 million on the one-year deal.
My understanding is Rhodes’ deal with the #Colts is worth around $5 million. Not a bad payday after #Vikings cut him, and a bargain if he returns to top form. https://t.co/jszv0CdusM
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 26, 2020
The Colts were set to pay Desir roughly $7 million so they got the same type of player while saving $2 million, give or take depending on the details of the contract.
This isn’t a bad deal contract-wise for the Colts and makes the signing better in terms of optics. Also, it being a one-year deal means there is no problem with future implications and it allows the team to still select a cornerback in the second round of the draft if they see fit.
Conclusion
The Rhodes signing is an interesting one. He’s a big name but has steadily declined over the last few seasons. Maybe the injuries took a huge toll. Maybe he isn’t as strong of a man corner as he was in previous seasons.
When looking at the totality of the deal, the veteran presence and the fact that the zone-heavy scheme should benefit Rhodes, it’s a good deal with some upside but it doesn’t solve the need at cornerback for Indy.
Grade: C+