Indianapolis Colts Should Pursue Alshon Jeffery In 2017 NFL Free Agency
Alshon Jeffery is set to hit the open NFL free agency market in 2017, and there are going to be a lot of teams lined up with an interest in signing him. It isn’t very often that a superstar wide receiver hits the open market. His current situation with the Chicago Bears hasn’t gone very well, and there are serious issues that the two sides have with each other.
Chicago will likely attempt to re-sign Jeffery, but he is not happy with the way they have negotiated with him thus far. He may very well stop listening to their offers and might have already decided to move on from the Bears.
According to a report from Jeff Dickerson of ESPN, Jeffery has shrugged off his disappointment about not getting a new deal and is focused on the upcoming NFL season.
One team that should make an aggressive move to sign Jeffery next offseason is the Indianapolis Colts. He would give star quarterback Andrew Luck a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver. Jeffery would also make for one of the NFL’s top one-two punches at the wide receiver position with T.Y. Hilton.
Last season with the Bears, Jeffery ended up catching 54 passes for 807 yards and four touchdowns. He is one of the league’s most physical and athletic receivers and will go catch anything thrown his way. Those numbers were put up in just nine regular season games, due to injury issues that he struggled with throughout the entire season.
Jeffery is mentioned as one of the many candidates to win the NFL MVP award by Bovada Sportsbook. That doesn’t mean a whole lot, but still shows that he is a well-respected player.
There will be a lot of teams that the Colts will have to compete against if they want to sign Jeffery. He is one of the best wide receivers in the league and a lot of big contracts will be thrown his way. That being said, the Colts can offer him a much better opportunity to compete for a ring than most teams can.
Ryan Grigson has been known to be very aggressive in free agency over the years. He has made some very good moves but has also come through with some boneheaded decisions. Signing Jeffery would not come with much risk with the consistency that he has shown throughout his career.
It will be interesting to see what the Colts’ 2016 NFL season looks like when everything is said and done. They are hoping to bounce back from the disappointment that they dealt with throughout the 2015 season. Luck dealt with major injuries last season, and his return should help the Colts get back into the upper echelon in the AFC.
Expect to hear plenty of rumors with Jeffery’s name attached next offseason and throughout the 2016 season. If the Colts are smart, they will be one of the teams with the most interest in signing him. Jeffery would be a franchise changer for the Colts and would make Luck a much more dangerous quarterback than he has been thus far in his career.
Do you think that the Indianapolis Colts would be one of the top landing spots for Alshon Jeffery in free agency? Would the Colts become a top Super Bowl contender moving forward with him on board? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below!
[Photo by AP Photo/Matt Rourke]
