The Indianapolis Colts announced today that it is releasing veteran defensive lineman Johnathan Hankins.
Hankins was a big-money free agent addition for the Colts last year, so this comes as a bit of a surprise. However, $4.5 million of Hankins’ $8 million base salary was set to be fully guaranteed on Sunday and the Colts are moving to a 4-3 defense and apparently felt that they could use the cap space elsewhere to improve their roster.
Hankins, 25, is a former second-round pick of the Giants back in 2013. He played out the final year of his rookie contract last year before signing a three-year, $27 million contract that included $14.5 million guaranteed with the Colts.
Hankins was set to make base salaries of $7.5 million and $8 million over the next two years of the agreement.
According to OverTheCap.com, releasing will Hankins free up $8,468,750 of available cap space while creating no dead money.
In 2017, Hankins appeared in 15 games for the Colts and recorded 44 tackles, two sacks, and three pass defenses. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 20 interior defensive lineman out of 122 qualifying players.
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