INDIANAPOLIS – It was a win/win the Colts had longed for at the safety position.
The Colts had tried something similar a year prior and it worked, beyond probably what anyone could have imagined.
Signing a veteran free agent, well after the bulk of free agency had completed, to fill a needed starting role?
Mike Adams turned out to be that guy in 2014.
Dwight Lowery fit that script in 2015.
With 2014 starters in LaRon Landry and Sergio Brown gone, the Colts needed a starting safety to go alongside Adams last season.
They signed Lowery on April 3, more than three weeks after free agency began last offseason.
When the Colts didn't draft a safety in the first two days of the 2015 NFL Draft, the starting position was all but Lowery's.
In seven previous seasons, Lowery hadn't been able to start an entire season.
He did it though in Indianapolis, and that was needed with Adams missing a rare three games.
"It's hard coming in and only being on a one-year deal and having to create that bond, when there's really just a lot of unknowns," Lowery said at the end of the season. "Some guys have been here the past two and three years together. That's what made it difficult.
"By the end of the season, that's when I felt it was comfortable and felt like I was one of the guys. It was fun."
Lowery turned 30 years old earlier this week.
His status for 2016 could very well surround how the Colts view rookie Clayton Geathers.
When Adams missed time in 2015, it was Geathers, the fourth-round pick from 2015, showing why the Colts coveted the hard-hitting safety.
Geathers was more than an adequate sub when entering the starting lineup.
Do the Colts feel it's time to get younger at safety (Adams will turn 35 in 2016) and turn to Geathers as a full-time starter?
That answer could have a trickle down effect on Lowery's free agency.
For yet another offseason, what the Colts do at safety will be a key storyline.
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