The Indianapolis Colts decided to add to their secondary even more, signing former Pro Bowl cornerback Xavien Howard to hopefully return to his past form.
The Colts have dealt with injuries to the secondary this offseason, including prized free agent signing Charvarius Ward who had some leg tightness earlier in the month. Kenny Moore, JuJu Brents and Jaylon Johnson have all dealt with injuries of their own as well. The signing of Howard makes sense given their current situation.
Howard sat out all of 2024 after being released by the Miami Dolphins in early 2024. The former 2016 second-round pick spent eight years with the Dolphins, totaling 331 tackles, 95 passes defended, 29 interceptions and eight tackles for a loss. Howard was named to the Pro Bowl in 2018 and each year from 2020-22. Howard was also a First Team All-Pro in 2020, when he recorded a league-high in interceptions (10) and passes defended (20).
The Colts worked out Howard earlier in the spring, as they felt now was the right time to bring him in. He also has experience playing under defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, as he was Howard’s defensive backs coach in Miami from 2016-17.
He can go get the ball. And he’s proven that throughout his NFL career that he’s been an elite interceptor. So, we’re hoping — we’ll give him some time to get back into football shape, because that takes a while — but we’re hoping that we can get some of those interceptions going.
If Howard can return to his Pro Bowl form in Indianapolis, this could turn out to be a high reward signing for the Colts.