On Wednesday, Jordan Raanan of ESPN brought word that free agent and former New York Giants defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins had a "mystery" suitor in addition to his incumbent squad. Less than 4 hours later, that mystery team reportedly closed the deal with Hankins, as the Indianapolis Colts picked up help along the defensive front with a three-year contract.
Schefter also said that $14.5 million of those dollars are coming in guaranteed form. This is, pretty obviously, a huge pick-up for the Colts, who desperately needed quality depth along the defensive line. Furthermore, Indianapolis has been quite a mess defensively for quite some time and, even if Hankins is not a full-blown superstar, he is a serious upgrade.
It has been widely reported that Hankins, now 25 years old, has been in search of a $10 million average annual value and, with this deal, he accomplished that. Where the Giants go from here remains to be seen, but the Colts made a big-time addition and bolstered their roster with arguably the best free agent still available on the market. That's not a bad day at the office for new Colts general manager Chris Ballard.
