Why the Colts Are a Natural Trade Destination for Logan Wilson

In Wilson's 75 games for Cincinnati, he's recorded 536 total tackles (19 for loss), 5.5 sacks, 25 passes defended, 11 interceptions, six forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries.

The Colts have already tried out a couple of former Bengals linebackers, including Joe Bachie, who the team cut just over a week ago, and Germaine Pratt, who the team signed after the Las Vegas Raiders released him.

The Bachie experiment failed miserably. Pro Football Focus graded him out as the eighth-worst linebacker in football (45.4 overall grade) after five starts with the Colts. Of course, PFF grades aren't the divine metric by which all players should be judged, but the tape itself isn't pretty.

Bachie was never a go-to starter in Anarumo's defense in Cincinnati, and he proved that he wasn't able to make that necessary step in Indianapolis. That's exactly where Wilson differs.

Wilson has half a decade of experience playing under Anarumo, helping lead the Bengals to the Super Bowl in the 2021 season. The Colts could use a starter with that type of playoff experience this year, as everything has aligned perfectly for a deep postseason run.

Even though Wilson has started in all seven games for the Bengals this year, his snap count has diminished. Wilson played in over 75% of snaps in each of the first five games, but he played only 12% against the Green Bay Packers in Week 6 and 46% against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 7.

The sixth-year veteran likely just wants more playing time, and the Colts are able to offer just that.

With two years left on a four-year, $36 million contract extension he signed in 2023, the Colts almost have the available cap space to take on Wilson's deal. Front offices can always find a way to move money around to bring in a player they're confident about, and Wilson could be a guy that Anarumo pushes for behind the scenes.

It's hard to argue that Wilson wouldn't be worth a late-round draft pick just to give the Colts' defense some extra depth as the season nears its halfway point.

Last year, Wilson finished the season with a 90.0 run defense grade per PFF, ranking him fifth in the NFL. The Colts could solidify their run defense with another great tackler and bring even more familiarity for Anarumo.

With the trade deadline just over a week away, it'll be interesting to see if Colts general manager Chris Ballard makes some calls for the veteran linebacker.