INDIANAPOLIS – Honestly, the writing was on the wall back in the early parts of last season.
Before the halfway point of the 2019 season, you could see the Colts having Margus Hunt—at the money he was making—was no longer a huge priority.
That thought was confirmed on Monday when Hunt was released by the Colts (as first reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network).
The move saves $4 million that Hunt was due in the final year of his contract in 2020.
Hunt’s time in Indy did have some very productive moments.
Chris Ballard originally signed the 6-8 and 295-pound Hunt in 2017, the first offseason for the new Colts general manager.
An outstanding 2018 season from Hunt (5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 6 quarterback hits in 15 starts) led to the Colts giving the veteran defensive lineman a two-year extension last spring.
But that contract extension will last just one season, as Hunt regressed in 2019.
His playing time went from 69 percent of the defensive snaps in 2018 to just 43.5 percent of defensive action in 2019. After the disruptive ’18 campaign from Hunt, he did not record a single sack, tackle for loss or quarterback hit last season.
The emergence of younger defensive tackle Grover Stewart sent Hunt to a reserve role after the first few weeks of the ’19 season.
Hunt, who turns 33 in July, was in a defensive line reserve group with several younger guys and at a position that the Colts know they need to upgrade this offseason.
