Safety Tom Zbikowski becomes another Ravens Indianapolis Colts wooed off free agent-NFL News
The Indianapolis Colts confirmed to have signed another Baltimore Ravens’ player, the safety, Tom Zbikowski, off the free agency on Saturday, March 17, 2012.
Cory Redding, the defensive end, is other Ravens who joined Colts off the free agency last week and with their head coach, Chuck Pagano, already deserting Baltimore a month earlier, Colts now have three former Ravens members with them.
Zbikowski’s signing had come a week after the team signed Redding and the player apparently has earned support from their former defensive co-ordinator and present Colts head coach, Pagano.
The coach said:
"Tom is a very dedicated and fiery player. His competitiveness drives him to perform at a high level and his aggressive style of play parallels the attitude we're looking for from the defensive unit."
The value, tenure and other terms of the deal were not available but this comes another notable signing by Colts since release of the QB, Peyton Manning, and waiver of another half a dozen players a week earlier.
Jim Irsay, the owner of the team, who has already departed ways with his former managers and coaches, described the team to be in a phase transition and rebuilding.
He had started the rash cleansing of the team soon after they came out of one of the worst seasons of their franchise history.
The team, which had relied on Peyton Manning extensively in the past 14 years, was exposed at all positions in his absence due to a neck injury. It could manage only two wins out of the total 16 games they played in the 2011 NFL regular season.
Irsay called the situation to be the most embarrassing time of his life and started hammering down all the members who were part of the team during all those games.
Colts now have a new general manager, head coach, assistant coaching staff and members of the squad. Signing of the players, which comes as probably the last part of the rebuilding campaign, has continued with a player being taken on board every now and
then.
Interestingly, few days after Colts confirmed to have allured the Ravens defensive co-ordinator, Baltimore Ravens confirmed to have taken their former head coach, Jim Caldwell, as an offensive co-ordinator. So at the end it seemed to be a practice of swapping
officials.
Meanwhile, Colts are reported to have increased the pace of their activity in the free agency market. They are reported to have signed the Pro Bowl defensive end, Robert Mathis, recently.
Mathis has reached a four-year deal with the team. It values to total $36 million to be paid to the player over the course of next four years.
Further signings are expected to come in the near future. The head coach is said to be actively involved in the changes and in the pursuit is getting help from the former players.
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