He's 6'6 and 270 so he's a potential DE.

Philon seemed like a good fit on the interior DL and that's not a huge contract. It leads me to think two possibilities:

1) The front office likes the combination of Autry, Hunt, Lewis, Stewart, and Ward.
2) Interior DL could be a target high in the draft and Ballard doesn't want to overcrowd the above depth chart when he's anticipating adding another quality player.

Ian Rapoport
@RapSheet
The #Colts may not be done adding edge help: Source said they hosted former #Broncos first-rounder Shane Ray. A day after they added pass-rusher Justin Houston.

Also to the point that Chris Ballard is not necessarily always drafting choir boys:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QV05mGQSVc

And the Oscar goes to...

Trip was probably planned before the signing. I'm not sure they have a guaranteed roster spot to make the $$ worth it, but maybe Ray's stock is low enough that they can get him on a cheaper deal than I expect.

Not a huge Ray fan. The production doesn't seem to be there for me.

One year prove it deal?

It's way down with all the injuries.

Injuries will do that. So will having 2 top 5 picks in front of you on the depth chart.

Ditto

I want to see more production if you are playing next to Von Miller. We might be kicking the tires on a lot of guys this off season.

He had 8 sacks in his second year pre injury. Got injured year 3 and lost his spot to Chubb year 4. I don't really see the fit with the Colts because of the investments Ballard has made at DE, but he may give some team surprising production.