Is defensive tackle Raekwon Davis a potential cut candidate for the Indianapolis Colts this offseason?
Pro Football Network recently listed this as a possibility if the Colts are in search of additional salary cap space.
Davis was one of the two outside free agent additions the Colts made just last offseason when they signed him to a two-year deal worth $14 million.
Now entering Year 2 of that contract, the Colts do have an out if they want to move on.
Davis comes with a cap hit of $8.96 million in 2025, which is the 11th highest on the team. However, none of his salary this season is guaranteed.
The only thing the Colts would have to eat salary cap-wise is the pro-rated signing bonus of $2.5 million, which would stay on the books in 2025 as a dead cap hit if Davis were released.
But in terms of cap-savings, the Colts would create an additional $6.46 million in cap space for this offseason if they moved on from Davis, according to Over the Cap.
Behind DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart, Davis would only play roughly 30% of the defensive snaps this season, and that season-long number is even a bit inflated when compared to his usual per-game snap count because there was a stretch where Davis took on a larger role when Buckner was on injured reserve.
From Weeks 9-18, when Buckner had returned, Davis averaged 15.5 snaps per game, including just 32 in total over the last three weeks combined.
Davis would finish the 2024 season ranked 122nd out of 124 eligible defensive tackles in PFF’s pass rush productivity metric, which measures how often a pass rusher gets after the quarterback and is more heavily weighted towards sacks.
In the run game, Davis ranked 149th in run stop rate and had eight tackles the entire season.
As I detailed recently, regardless of what decision the Colts make about Davis for this upcoming season, the defensive tackle depth behind Buckner and Grover Stewart has to improve.
With Taven Bryan hitting free agency as well, whether it be free agency or the draft, defensive tackle is a position group the Colts need to add to.