Colts Urged to Poach Player from AFC Contender’s Practice Squad
But the Colts remain thin at cornerback overall. On November 6, the Bleacher Report NFL staff argued for the Colts to add veteran cornerback Sidney Jones from the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad.
“The Colts are in desperate need of cornerback help, and that was before rookie JuJu Brents was ruled out for Sunday’s game because of a quad injury,” the BR NFL staff wrote. “This is a team that needs both short- and long-term help at the position, so targeting someone like 27-year-old Sidney Jones IV would make sense.
“The 6’0″, 180-pound corner is on the Bengals’ practice squad, which means the Colts would have to steal him by signing him to the active roster.”
Indianapolis could add Jones for nothing as long as they sign him to the active roster.
Jones has spent the entire season on Cincinnati’s practice squad and not played in a game this season. Last year, he appeared in seven games for the Las Vegas Raiders and three for the Seattle Seahawks.
In those 10 contests, he had 12 combined tackles and 1 pass defense.
Jones began his career as a second-round pick for the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2017 NFL draft. He appeared in one regular season game as a rookie during Philadelphia’s Super Bowl season.
The following two years, Jones played in 23 games, making 8 starts. He recorded 50 combined tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 10 pass defenses and 2 interceptions in three seasons with the Eagles.
In 2020, Jones appeared in nine games for the Jacksonville Jaguars. In 2021, Jones recorded the best statistical season of his career during his first stint with the Seahawks. He had 66 combined tackles, including 1 tackle for loss and 10 pass defenses in 16 games.
Jones would bring 57 games of NFL experience to the Colts active roster. He has started 26 contests in his career.
Adding a cornerback such as Jones would help Indianapolis overcome the loss of starting cornerback JuJu Brents. He has missed the past two weeks with a quad injury.
Colts work out free agent offensive tackle Badara Traore on Tuesday
The Colts worked out an athletic offensive tackle on Tuesday, who could provide some positional depth.
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According to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson, the Indianapolis Colts worked out free agent offensive tackle Badara Traore on Tuesday:
Originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Chicago Bears, the 6’7,” 327 pound Traore has also spent time with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Arizona Cardinals organizations.
He’s appeared in two career games, and most recently with the Cardinals last season. Traore actually made his career debut with the Jaguars against the Colts back in January of 2022.
Traore was released by Arizona before this season as part of their final 53-man roster cuts.
Collegiately, Traore was a backup swing tackle for the National Champion LSU Tigers back in 2019—making three starts.
Although he’s reportedly ‘getting close,’ the Colts have been without starting right tackle Braden Smith for four straight starts, and rookie Blake Freeland, while he was active and started on Sunday in relief of Smith, might still be a bit banged up.
