INDIANAPOLIS — Chris Ballard is very familiar with Jon Bostic.

In fact, Ballard was a scout for the Chicago Bears when the team selected Bostic with its second-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.

And while it's been a while since Bostic last saw some regular-season action — a foot injury suffered early last August kept him on Injured Reserve the entire 2016 season — Ballard wants to see if Bostic can come in and continue to rise the level of competition for an Indianapolis Colts defense that will look significantly different in 2017 and beyond.

Ballard, now the Colts' first-year general manager, on Thursday signed the veteran Bostic, who represents Indy's 12th outside free agent signing this offseason — the eighth of which Ballard has used to revamp the Colts' defensive front seven.

"It's been a long year," Bostic said upon signing with the Colts. "But, for me, I'm just glad to be back healthy in a place where I'm going to get a chance to go out and compete."

Bostic played the first two seasons of his career in Chicago, where he played in 29 games with 17 starts, collecting 103 tackles with two sacks, four passes defensed, one interception and one fumble recovery. He was then traded to the Patriots in September 2015, and would play in 11 games in New England that season, starting one contest.

Bostic was then traded to the Detroit Lions — the same franchise where his father, John Bostic, played 29 games as a defensive back from 1985-87 — last offseason, and he was expected to be a key playmaker for the Detroit defense. But he would suffer a broken foot during a training camp practice against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and would never see the field in 2016.

Bostic said last week his foot is now "doing well."

"I'm finally pain-free running," he said. "So everything's good now."

Bostic comes in a gets a chance to play in the middle of the Colts' defense, which now features two veterans and two youngsters that should provide plenty of competition for playing time. The team had already signed veteran Sean Spence earlier in free agency, while Edwin Jackson and Antonio Morrison return for their second NFL seasons in 2017 after finishing off the 2016 campaign as the Colts' primary inside linebackers.

So what did Ballard see in Bostic that made him want to reunite with the Florida product in Indy? Let's check out his video highlights:

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