The Colts are casting a wide net to find help at a cornerback position that has been decimated by injuries during training camp.
Indianapolis is signing Xavien Howard, according to agent David Canter, after the former Dolphins All-Pro sat out the 2024 season in the aftermath of a Lisfranc injury to his foot.
Howard is signing a one-year deal worth up to $5 million, a league source indicated.
Howard, 32, was once one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks, a four-time Pro Bowler who twice led the NFL in interceptions, picking off seven passes in 2018 and 10 in 2020. A Lisfranc injury suffered at the end of the 2023 season lingered into 2024, and although he worked out for Cincinnati and Dallas last season, the veteran cornerback did not sign.
The Colts have been decimated by injuries at cornerback.
Veteran slot cornerback Kenny Moore II is dealing with a knee injury, the Colts lost promising rookie Justin Walley to a torn ACL and the two third-year cornerbacks competing with Walley for a starting spot on the outside, Jaylon Jones and JuJu Brents, are both dealing with hamstring injuries, making cornerback the one area that Colts head coach Shane Steichen acknowledged was a concern heading into the season opener.
“We’re working through that,” Steichen said. “Obviously, we’ve got some injuries there that we’ve got to figure out there, for sure.”
Howard represents a risky addition, not only because of his injury history but also because of a history of legal issues off the field.
The former Dolphins cornerback was arrested and charged with domestic battery in December of 2019; the charges were later dismissed, according to ESPN. A lawsuit filed last summer accused Howard of sending a sexually explicit photograph of a teenager’s mother to her son because she refused to get an abortion, ESPN reported, along with secretly recording himself having sex with another woman and showing the images to others.
No criminal charges have been filed because of the lawsuit.
By signing Howard, the Colts signal that they understand the risks that come with signing Howard. First-year defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is familiar with Howard; he coached Miami’s defensive backs during Howard’s first two seasons in the NFL.
The need at the position is also critical. Indianapolis has been hit so hard by injuries at cornerback that the Colts lost Johnathan Edwards — the undrafted free agent from Tulane who has been playing with the starters — to a concussion in Saturday’s preseason loss to Green Bay.
Even before Edwards suffered the injury, the need at cornerback was obvious.
Assistant general manager Ed Dodds was asked last week about the process of finding players at the end of training camp to fill unexpected holes, and Dodds responded by stating the obvious.
“You must be talking about corner,” Dodds said. “That’s why you do the work ahead of time. You don’t wait until you have an injury. You kind of do that work ahead of time, and we have a list available.”
The Colts worked out Howard in the spring, a source told IndyStar, and put him on the list, although Indianapolis has cycled through a couple of veteran cornerbacks before signing Howard.
The Colts briefly rostered former Jaguars starter Tre Herndon, and Indianapolis still has former Bears cornerback Duke Shelley, who was signed along with Herndon after the Colts lost Brents and Jones.
Ultimately, Indianapolis decided to take a flyer on Howard, hoping the former Dolphins star still has good football left in him after the foot injury.
“Now, it’s just is that player available or not?” Dodds said last week. Can we get him? How long is our guy going to be out? Is there a someone young on our team that we weren’t expecting who’s going to step up and make a big contribution? That’s where you start weighing all of that stuff.”
Nate Atkins and Joel A. Erickson cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts sign 4-time Pro Bowler to injury-decimated cornerback room
Reporting by Joel A. Erickson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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