Advertisement

  Stock Sponsor
Click here for full stock listings


Published: November 8, 2009 3:00 a.m.

Sanders now hurting Colts

Thumbnail

Associated Press

Colts safety Bob Sanders had an interception last Sunday against San Francisco in his second game back. Has he played his last game in Indianapolis?

Advertisement
Thumbnail

Associated Press

Colts safety Bob Sanders had an interception last Sunday against San Francisco in his second game back. Has he played his last game in Indianapolis?

3 things to watch
•Defensive end Dwight Freeney has a sack in eight straight games. There’s no one he loves playing more than the Texans, against whom he has 11 sacks in 13 games.

•The Colts are 13-1 all time against Houston. Some think this could be the year the Texans gain divisional supremacy.

•The Colts will be without three-fourths of their starting secondary, as Bob Sanders, Marlin Jackson and Kelvin Hayden are out. The third-ranked Houston passing offense must be salivating.

Prediction: Unless Matt Schaub out-quarterbacks Peyton Manning – unlikely – Colts will slide by 31-28.

It’s time for the Colts to part ways with safety Bob Sanders.

Take a breath, fans. You can survive this. You have before, as the team has parted with many stars because it made sense to do so.

Sanders, 28, is an extraordinary player, no doubt about it. He changes games like no other defensive player in the NFL today. He has 217 solo tackles and six interceptions in just 47 games, single-handedly transforming the Colts’ run defense from porous to stingy when he’s on the field.

But the uncertainty of having him on the roster is not worth the roughly $6.1 million he’s getting from the team this season. And there are still three more seasons remaining on his $37.5 million contract.

Think about what the Colts could do with that money. They could get a couple of receivers to assist Reggie Wayne. They could bolster the interior of the defensive line. They could improve the linebacking corps. Heck, they could add some needed parking lots for the fans.

The point is, having Sanders is not an effective use of resources, not when he’s missed 40 of 87 regular-season games in his 5 1/2 years with the team. When you’re pouring so much money into a player’s bank account, you expect him to be there for more than half the games, and everyone now recognizes that half is all you’re going to get from one of the NFL’s most injury-prone players.

It’s true Sanders helped get the Colts a Super Bowl title, so the team’s investment in him has paid off, but after this season, it’s time to move on.

His propensity for getting hurt is getting worse, not better.

Last year, he suffered ankle and knee injuries, which carried over into this season. He’d been back only two games before tearing his biceps in last week’s 18-14 victory over San Francisco, ending his season.

Some of this is just bad luck for Sanders. But I can’t remember the last time he practiced for a full week.

This all has to have a negative psychological effect on his teammates. They keep holding out hope their star will be back, only to find out he won’t be – again and again.

Better to be done with it. Better to give the spot to someone who will be there. Better to groom Melvin Bullitt, who has been a spectacular replacement for Sanders with 79 solo tackles and four interceptions over the last 22 games. This guy could be a Pro Bowler, but we’ll never find out as long as he’s in limbo between starting and being Sanders’ understudy.

If the Colts cut or trade Sanders, it’s not as if they’d be leaving themselves with nothing at strong safety.

Sanders has been great for the Colts, but at some point, tough decisions must be made. The Colts did it with David Thornton, Cato June, Nick Harper, Mike Peterson and Marvin Harrison, most of whom found work elsewhere.

It’s time for another tough decision to be made. If it means losing one of the most exciting players in franchise history, so be it.

That’s life in the NFL.

Justin A. Cohn is a writer for The Journal Gazette and has been covering sports in Fort Wayne since 1997. He can be reached by e-mail jcohn@jg.net; phone, 461-8429; or fax 461-8648; or to discuss this column or others he has written recently, go to the "Sports" topic of "The Board" at www.journalgazette.net.