Grading Colts Signing of Samson Ebukam

The Indianapolis Colts got off to a relatively-slow start the opening week of NFL Free Agency, but they made a big splash signing former San Francisco 49ers edge rusher Samson Ebukam.

Pro Football Focus (PFF) thinks the Colts did well with both the player and his contact, giving Indianapolis a 'B+' for both fit/need and value.

Ebukam set career highs across the board in 2022, with a 69.1 overall grade, 43 quarterback pressures and 11.8% pressure percentage. The former fourth-rounder profiles as a solid replacement for Yannick Ngakoue in Indianapolis, as the smaller wide alignment edge rusher with Kwity Paye and Dayo Odeyingbo the bigger defensive end types.

Ebukam has produced in various fronts, earning pass-rush grades above 60.0 in five straight seasons. -- PFF

PFF had previously linked Ebukam as the "perfect fit" for the pass-rush deficient Atlanta Falcons,

"Ebukam is coming off back-to-back seasons with 45 quarterback pressures, and he’s not just a pure pass-rusher, totaling 51 defensive stops over the last two seasons," wrote PFF's Brad Spielberger of Ebukam. "Ebukam has shown flexibility as a bit of a tweener with his 6-foot-3, 245-pound frame between his days spent as a stand-up outside linebacker with the Los Angeles Rams and a defensive end in San Francisco."

PFF had predicted a contract in the neighborhood of 3-years and $31 million for Ebukam, and the Colts came in just under that at 3-years and up to $27 million according to reports.

Ebukam's signing likely signals the end of Ngakoue's time in Indianapolis. Ngakoue was a consistent pass-rush presence, but the Colts preferred to go with a more dependable run defender in Ebukam.

Ebukam had a 65.5 run-defense grade from PFF, while Ngakoue's was a pretty miserable 43.7.

With the structure of Ebukam's contract, he counts just $5.3 million against the salary cap in 2023 according to Spotrac.

Following the release of Matt Ryan, the Colts improved their cap number to sixth best in the NFL with just over $24-million available.

The Colts may have started slowly this week, but they've gotten good value in Ebukam, still have plenty of available-cap space, and the No. 4 overall pick in the NFL Draft.

Indianapolis is sitting in a good position to improve in a lot of areas in the coming weeks.