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Colts Get Eagles DT Corey Simon To Fill Middle of Defensive Line
INDIANAPOLIS - AP (Sept. 1, 2005) -- The Indianapolis Colts, hoping to fix their one glaring weakness, reached a multiyear agreement with Corey Simon, a Pro Bowl defensive tackle released by Philadelphia in a contract dispute.
Simon wanted a long-term deal with Philadelphia and refused to sign a
one-year franchise tender. The Eagles removed the franchise tag on the
former first-round draft pick Aug. 28, making him an unrestricted free
agent.
The Colts were quick to pounce.
"You can chase a lot of these guys, but if they don't have a motivation,
you're usually spinning your wheels," Colts coach Tony Dungy said after
practice. "When we talked to him early on, it was evident we were one of
the places he was truly interested in. We felt we had something good to
offer, and he felt the same way."
The negotiations didn't take long.
Roosevelt Barnes, Simon's agent, said he finished the deal with Colts
president Bill Polian on the morning of Sept. 1 and that Simon, who has
32 sacks in his five-year NFL career, would probably be in Indianapolis
on Sept. 2 for a physical. Dungy said Simon might join the team in
Cincinnati for the final preseason game Friday night, but he would not
play.
"It's going to be different for him," Dungy said. "We play a completely
different style than Philadelphia. He's going to have to get used to
that, get used to our terminology. It's not going to be the type of
thing where he's going to come in and all of a sudden everything's going
to click for us. We've got to get him going.
"He played in a system similar to this at Florida State, so it'll be a
little bit of muscle memory. But he'll help us very quickly, I think."
Simon was the Eagles' first-round pick and the sixth overall selection
in the 2000 draft. In five seasons with Philadelphia, he had 270 tackles
and 32 sacks. He had 24 tackles and 5¬‡ sacks last season, when he was
named to the Pro Bowl, but he did not sign a one-year, $5.13 million
franchise tender the Eagles offered him because he wanted a long-term
contract.
He skipped all of Philadelphia's minicamps and its training camp.
"You don't think a guy like that is going to become available, certainly
without compensation," Dungy said. "It's really kind of staggering."
Simon is listed at 293 pounds but is probably well over 300 pounds,
Dungy said.
"He's a different type of player than we've had. He's really a power
player and a really physical presence inside. He's a much bigger body
than we've had," he said. "There's going to be a danger if we say this
is a cure-all to everything that ails us, but certainly you've got a
major weapon in there in a guy who has played in some great defenses."
The defense, even with last year's NFL sacks leader Dwight Freeney, is seen as the weak spot in the Colts' drive to the
Super Bowl.
Their explosive offense is set -- including Peyton
Manning, whose 49 touchdown passes set an NFL record last
season -- but the inconsistent defense kept them from getting home-field
advantage in the playoffs, and they lost postseason games at New England
the past two seasons.
In the college draft this year, the Colts took Michigan cornerback
Marlin Jackson with the 29th overall pick, then solidified their
secondary with Illinois cornerback Kelvin Hayden
in the second round.
Dungy said he hoped Simon would be ready to play in the season-opener
Sept. 11 at Baltimore.
"He says he will, so we'll take it at that," Dungy said. "He's been
working out on his own, not knowing where he was going to be, obviously.
We'll get him here and get him acclimated, get him in tune to what we do
and see where he is. ... He's not going to be a 60-play-a-game guy early
on, but we'll get him going."
www.sportsbusinesssims.com
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