After a season that was over before it started, the Indianapolis Colts go into the offseason with plenty of cap room at $91,798,964, but also plenty of needs. Colts general manager Chris Ballard was criticized for not utilizing his plethora of cap space this past offseason, but that narrative should flip this go-around.

This Colts team has obvious needs on the offensive side of the ball, but in order to regain third foothold in the upper echelon of teams, the Colts should invest most of their money on the defensive side of the ball. Look at most of the top teams this past season and you can see that most of them have dominant defenses.

The 49ers, Ravens, Patriots, and even Chiefs all had great units on defense that helped take the load off their offenses. The Colts were middle of the road in terms of their defensive ranks, ranking 18th in points allowed and 16th in yards per game.

With cornerstones in Darius Leonard, Justin Houston, and Malik Hooker, the Colts have some great pieces and just need to add a few more
playmakers to this unit to see it win the Colts some games.

Luckily, this is a free agency class that should help them find some chess pieces to climb next years rankings.

Here are three free agents on defense that Chris Ballard must target to get the Colts back into the playoffs.