The Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday signed free agent safety Armani Watts, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs to a one-year deal.
This acquisition adds young and healthy depth to a safety group that has really thinned out this off-season. With the departure of former All-Pro special teamer and safety George Odum, who signed a three-year deal with San Francisco, snaps are up for grabs at both of those spots this season in Indianapolis.
Watts, 5-foot-11 and 205 pounds, also has a history of heavy contribution on special teams in Kansas City under coordinator Dave Toub.
In his 53 games played since being drafted in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL draft out of Texas A&M, Watts has only one defensive start while playing nearly 1000 snaps on the special teams unit.
He should slide into a similar reserve role for the Colts and continue to improve an already talented special teams group.
Another big factor that likely led to this signing is the health of starting free safety Julian Blackmon, who tore his Achilles in practice last year. The road to recovery from an Achilles injury is difficult for anyone to put a timetable on, so it makes sense to bring in competition should Blackmon need more time to heal.
With Khari Willis locking down the starting strong safety spot, expect Watts to get time alongside him in training camp until Blackmon is 100% and rotate in behind the two.
The Colts are likely not done adding to a young and relatively inexperienced secondary for the 2022 season. While he may not contribute heavily on defense, Watts could go a long way to helping fill a need on one of the most important, and often overlooked parts of any football team, the special teams unit.
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