The Indianapolis Colts made one of the biggest splashes of the NFL offseason this month, signing linebacker Justin Houston to a two-year deal.

On Wednesday, Colts general manager Chris Ballard compared his team's acquisition of Ballard to the Chicago Bears' signing of Julius Peppers back when Ballard was working for the Bears' front office back in 2010:

“When we signed Peppers, Julius was 30 yrs old and had 81 sacks,” said Ballard, according to Stephen Holder of The Athletic. “Justin's 30 years old and has 78 sacks. And I think this scheme is gonna be good for him.”

Ballard added that one of the things he is most excited for in bringing in Houston will be the Colts' ability to have an eight-man rotation along the defensive front to keep everyone fresh:

“One of the things we really sold him on was we want to be able to play eight guys (on the defensive line),” said Ballard. “You would hope when you get it right, the most anybody is playing is 60, 65 percent (of snaps). That way you're getting a rotation where they're not wearing down.”

Houston spent the 2018 campaign with the Kansas City Chiefs, playing in 12 games and finishing with 37 tackles, nine sacks, an interception, five forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries.

The 30-year-old, who played his collegiate football at the University of Georgia, was originally selected by the Chiefs in the third round (70th pick overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft.

His best season came in 2014 when he racked up 22 sacks, coming within one half of a sack of tying Michael Strahan's single-season record. He also added 68 tackles and four forced fumbles that year.