Margus Hunt is to leave the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, ERR’s sports portal reports. Defensive linesman Hunt, 32, made the announcement on his own social media page on Monday, March 16th.
“Thank you Indy! Thank you to the [Colts’ owners] Irsay family and [General Manager] Chris [Ballard] for bringing me in three years ago,” Hunt wrote.
“We’re grateful for the time we got to spend in Indianapolis and the memories we made as a family,” Hunt continued.
Hunt also noted that the decision had been related to his performance in the 2019 season where the Colts, of the AFC South, started strongly and were leading their division, only to fade in the latter part of the season and miss out on the playoffs.
“This is a performance-based business and my performance last year wasn’t up to my standards. I will keep on improving and working daily to be the best player I can be on the field! All the best to my teammates and stay healthy! On to the next chapter!”.
According to the Colts’ official site, Hunt played in 47 games, starting 25 of them. He completed 55 tackles in that time, 21 of them solo, made 19.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, four passes defensed, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble during that time.
Hunt, originally from Karksi-Nuia in Viljandi County, started as a field athlete and joined the Colts in March 2017 as a free agent from the Cincinnati Bengals, who drafted him from Southern Methodist University (SMU) in 2013.
He had signed a new contract with Indianapolis just over a year ago. Some reports at the time said the contract was for two years and was worth US$9 million (about €8 million), plus bonuses, which would have made him the most highly-paid Estonian sportsperson of all time, based on yearly salary.
