The next stop for cornerback Antonio Cromartie will be with the Indianapolis Colts. The veteran cornerback worked out for the Colts on Monday and the team announced a one-year deal later in the day.
Colts add Antonio Cromartie to secondary with 1-year deal
Cromartie’s best days in the NFL are likely in the rearview mirror, but he’s a durable cornerback who has spent the large majority of the last nine seasons as a top-quality starter.
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Cromartie, who turned 32 in April, is set to enter his 11th season in the NFL and has been a durable and full-time starter for almost all of it. A first-round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, Cromartie didn't take over as a starter until his second season with the San Diego Chargers, but made a Pro Bowl despite starting only half of the team's games.
He led the NFL in interceptions that season with 10, including a three-interception game against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday Night Football that made him an instant star. He eventually fell out of favor with the Chargers and was traded to the New York Jets, where he elevated his play and earned a four-year, $32 million contract.
After two Pro Bowl seasons with the Jets, Cromartie was released in 2014 as a cap casualty, spent one year with the Arizona Cardinals and was released by the Jets as a cap casualty again in 2016.
While he’s not the player he once was and could be close to through in the NFL, he’s still a player who has been a starter for eight years and has missed just two games over that span. Cromartie will at least provide depth, which the Colts need in a desperate way.
“It’s not pretty. It’s a little scary right now,” Colts head coach Chuck Pagano said earlier Monday when asked about the current state of the secondary.
Indianapolis has suffered several injuries at cornerback, including to No. 1 corner Vontae Davis. Davis suffered a sprained ankle last week and could miss the first month of the season.
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