Colts cut corner Vontae Davis, ending brewing drama between the player and team

Shalise Manza Young
·Columnist

The Colts announced they’ve waived cornerback Vontae Davis on Thursday, after Davis reportedly decided to undergo season-ending groin surgery on the advice of multiple independent doctors.

Indianapolis Star reporter Stephen Holder, citing a source, wrote on Wednesday night that Davis has been told he has muscle separating from the bone and that continuing to play with the injury would make it worse.

Colts coach Chuck Pagano benched Davis for last Sunday’s game against Houston, and at the time, Pagano insisted it was for performance reasons, not due to injury (of course, if Davis was playing with a groin injury, he’d likely suffer a decline in his performance, but we digress).

The Colts released two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Vontae Davis on Thursday, less than 24 hours after Davis took his complaints about the organization public. (AP)
The Colts released two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Vontae Davis on Thursday, less than 24 hours after Davis took his complaints about the organization public. (AP)

Davis, a first-round pick of the Dolphins in 2009, said on Wednesday that he felt disrespected by Pagano and how his demotion was handled. Davis said it was not Pagano who delivered the news that he was being benched, but defensive coordinator Ted Monachino and defensive backs coach Greg Williams.

Davis has been with Indianapolis for Pagano’s entire tenure with the club, and felt they were close; Pagano even traveled to Davis’ wedding in Puerto Rico two years ago. So when the two finally met, Davis didn’t hold back.

“It should be more about the respect. I’m a professional,” Davis said. “I’ve been in (the NFL) long enough. When I look at the situation, I feel like there was no respect. Knowing Chuck, I figured it would come from him. It really bothered me.”

And despite Davis going to two Pro Bowls as a member of the team and was the Colts’ best cornerback for several years, their tweet announcing the move was as cut-and-dried as you can get: “We have released CB Vontae Davis,” was all it said. That might be standard for some teams, but likely underscores trouble from a team that hangs banners for appearances in conference championship games.

Davis was in the final season of a four-year, $36 million deal he signed with the Colts in March 2014; his base salary for this year is $9 million. Because we are now after the trade deadline, all players hit the waiver wire, but it is unlikely we’ll see Davis claimed if his injury is bad enough to require surgery.