Mike Wells, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Colts should go after Richie Incognito

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Colts already have an inexperienced interior offensive line. And to make things even worse, those same inexperienced players are also dealing with injuries.

Former Pro Bowl guard Richie Incognito is available, and Colts coach Chuck Pagano did not rule out the possibility of the team having interest in him Tuesday afternoon.

 “I think anybody that’s on the street right now after cut downs this weekend, anybody that comes available we’ll discuss,” Pagano said. “We will not ... say yay or nay based on history. If it makes sense, if it’s going to help us win, and it’s the best thing for the team and this organization, it doesn’t matter if it’s Richie or anybody else, we’ll do what’s right for this organization, for what’s best for this team. What gives us the best chance to win.”

The Colts would be taking a risk in pursuing Incognito because he has baggage going back to his hazing and bullying of Jonathan Martin while with the Miami Dolphins last season.

An issue that could come up is that Andrew Luck, Coby Fleener, Griff Whalen and Delano Howell were teammates of Martin at Stanford.

Incognito was cleared by the NFL to return to the league Monday and met with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the same day.

The Colts have a history of signing players with baggage. Look at Chris Rainey, LaVon Brazill, Da’Rick Rogers and Nu’Keese Richardson in recent years.

The difference between Incognito and those players is that he’ll make an impact in the game.

The Colts aren’t looking to just make the playoffs. They’ve done that each of the past two seasons with Luck. They want to win a Super Bowl.  The interior part of their offensive line leaves a lot of doubt.

Starting center Khaled Holmes has been out almost three weeks with a sprained ankle, rookie guard Jack Mewhort has missed time because of a knee issue and fellow guard Hugh Thornton did not practice Tuesday.

The Colts have enough veterans inside the locker room where Incognitio wouldn’t need to do anything other than block. Luck, linebacker Robert Mathis, receiver Reggie Wayne and defensive lineman Cory Redding have the leadership part already taken care of. Those players won't put up with Incognito trying to bully or haze any of his teammates. As cornerback Vontae Davis said last season, the Colts have a "brotherhood" inside the locker room.

Incognito’s job would be to help block to give Luck time to throw to his arsenal of weapons on the outside and open up holes for the running backs.

At this point, it's worth the Colts taking a flyer on Incognito because you would like to think he realizes he's under the microscope and has little room to mess up again.

 

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