Shaq Leonard, 3x All-Pro, Released Suddenly By Colts

From 2018-2021 , Darius Leonard was one of the greatest defensive football players I had the privilege of watching play for the Indianapolis Colts. One of the best in the league. Darius Leonard was a 3x All-Pro.

Shaq Leonard... not so much. I'm not sure if those two things are related, but the facts are on July 26th, 2022, Darius announced to the world that he's no longer Darius. Moving forward he would be Shaq. Then everything went to shit.

On top of undergoing a name change in his late 20's, seemingly out no nowhere the Colts announced that Leonard had undergone back surgery. On top of that he was dealing with an ankle injury. His body just broke down. He was never the same again. All in the midst of a hefty contract.

If you look on Twitter, you'll find fans of every team begging their GM to pick him up. People are questioning why the Colts didn't try to trade him. I think the answer to that is fairly simple. Nobody wants to eat that contract on an underperforming player who can't stay healthy. By all accounts it looks like he'll clear waivers no problem. I'm assuming someone will give him a veteran minimum. He's at least got to be worth taking a flier on at a cheap price. I hope someone does. I'd love nothing more than to see him make an impact on a playoff team this year. He did plenty for the Colts.

Good on Jim Irsay for letting him go. I'm sure it wasn't easy to do. I truly believe that Irsay cares about his players. I'm sure he hated having to do it. But this was clearly the right choice for the Colts. It also kinda seems like he managed to release him before the rest of the league realized he isn't good anymore. That was nice of you Jim.

Thanks for the incredible run Shaq. I will call you Shaq because I respect you as a person, but if you wanna get your magic back maybe consider changing your name back to Darius. Just look how good Darius was.