On Saturday afternoon, the Indianapolis Colts and eight-year cornerback Xavier Rhodes agree to a one-year deal reportedly for a maximum value of $6.5 million dollars.
The 30-year old Rhodes will enter his ninth NFL season, second with the Colts, and is a key re-signing for Indianapolis after a strong 2019 season.
Now that Rhodes is re-signed, cornerback isn’t as big of a need for the Colts as they head towards the draft given that the positional group is a little deeper now.
Here’s how the cornerback group looks now with the re-signing of Xavier Rhodes:
Starters
Indianapolis will return their starters next season, Kenny Moore, and Rhodes, and that will be key as the Colts will be facing top flight WR this year, including DeAndre Hopkins, D.K. Metcalf, Stephon Diggs, among others.
Rotational pieces
While Rock Ya-Sin is not technically a starter, he plays over 50% of the snaps. While he was bugged with injuries and inconsistent play in 2020, Ya-Sin still played 53% of the snaps on defense. Look for him to be in the mix for CB3 this year.
Fresh off opting out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns, Marvell Tell will be looking to compete with Ya-Sin for the CB3 spot. Tell had promising moments late in the 2019 season, but there are a lot of questions on what he’s been doing with his down time this past season.
Outsiders
Isaiah Rodgers was a spark plug on special teams last year, but played little to no snaps in his rookie season on defense. He did have an eye-catching near-interception in the wild card game vs the Buffalo Bills. Look for him to be in the mix during camp.
The Colts also have Nick Nelson who had played in 10 career games, all in 2019. And Roderic Teamer, who last played in 2019 with the Los Angeles Chargers.
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